The Saint Johns River Ferry, also known as the Mayport Ferry, is an auto ferry that connects the north and south ends of Florida State Road A1A between Mayport and Fort George Island, two areas within Jacksonville, Florida. The 9/10 mile voyage crosses the Saint Johns River about 2.5 miles inland of the river's mouth and travels in an east-west direction for approximately 2000 feet on this north-south road.
The boat leaves Fort George Island at 15 and 45 minutes past each hour, with the final departure at 10:15pm daily. Departures from Mayport village are at 6:20am, 7am and on the hour and half hour until 10pm daily. The toll is $5.00 per car; $1.00 for bicycles and pedestrians.
The alternate driving route uses the toll-free Dames Point Bridge but is 28 miles long. The ferry has been in continuous operation since 1948 and is the last active ferry in Florida. [1] JAXPORT assumed responsibility over the ferry service on Oct. 1, 2007.
Two vessels operate in the ferry fleet:
primary: Jean Ribault, built 1996, 40 vehicles, 206 passengers.
stand-by: Blackbeard, built 1956, 42 vehicles, 207 passengers.
The United States Merchant Marine Memorial stands on the ferry grounds on the Mayport side. The Memorial was erected on September 14, 1999.
View sitting in a car while on the ferry: .JPG)
Bridge of the ferry and cars parked in rows upon it.
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A few Mayport shrimp boats - lots of shrimpers and fisherman come out of Mayport.
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The ferry about to dock at the south station in Mayport proper.
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This fun gentleman was one of the ferry attendants, directing cars off of the vessel after we docked. He was a hoot - he would dance and sing and wave the next car off, then dance and sing his way to the next row and repeat. He even posed for my wife when it was our turn but the combination of sun and shadow confused the camera and it wouldn't focus in time to get a picture - drats. You can see my wife in the side mirror of the car taking this photo - a photo of a photo being taken - always fun. :)
1 comment:
That does look like one fun trip! Oh and a trade of peaches for oranges would be great but so far the tree has not had fruit. I would love to see some orange blossoms as I haven't seen any for many years and I remember the smell was so sweet!
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