(... with thanks to Gerry and Pacemakers for the original song!)

Please post your ferry related pictures, past and present, any make and style of camera (with appropriate details of course), here .

To start us off ...

My fondness for ferries, particularly those run by Caledonian MacBrayne, comes from the fact they have so often been a major features of holidays to my favourite places, the islands and peninsulas of Scotland. David Anthony's recent ferry pictures in the Weather thread inspired me to start a "Ferry" thread as I'm sure I'm not alone in liking this mode of transport. (http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=66631#p66631) Thanks to DA for starting this train of thought and a dig through the archives of old pictures which I really enjoyed .

Here are a few to start us of.

Probably one of the busiest summer ferries for Cal Mac - the MV Isle of Mull runs from Oban on the main land to Craignure on the Isle of Mull. The trip is a round 30 minutes each way, with spectacular scenery including iconic Scotish castles and lighthouses, all with the backdrop of heather covered mountains. This is a shot of this busy ferry ploughing through Oban harbour back in 2006.

Ferry - 2006 Isle of Mull leaving Oban by Birm, on Flickr
Taken with a Pentax Optio WPi (nice little pocketable, waterproof, 6Mp P&S). Re-pp'd in LR3.

Even further back in time - 2003. The same ferry as above, this time taken from the grounds of Duart Castle on the Isle of Mull itself. The ferry is heading back to Oban on an amzing calm, blue sky day. The clear air with a blue sky over a calm sea leading to an amazing saturation of colour.

Ferry - 2003 Isle of Mull in the blue Sound of Mull by Birm, on Flickr
Taken with a Sony Cybershot P1, my first digital camera - see DPR review here http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonydscp1/. The MSRP of 799USD is scary ! Hope my wife didn't pay the GBP equivalent of this when she bought it for my birthday. It had an amazing 3 Mp, a size which the press at the time said was good enough for all but the most serious need. (My wife bought a second 8 Mb memory stick for it at Jessops and was royally ripped off!) It was during this trip to Scotand in 2003 that the P1 suffered a collision with the ground and broke the LCD display. Back in the days of OVF this was not terminal, but still inconvenient .

Here is a much smaller ferry, MV Loch Linnhe, which runs from Tobermory on the Isle of Mull to Kilchoan on the peninsula of Ardnamurchan.


Ferry - 2006 Loch Linnhe steaming past Crois Bheinn by Birm, on Flickr

More up to date in 2006 with the Sony A100 and kit lens. I'd owned the technological marvel for 8 days (10Mp!) and was still getting to grips with ISO, aperture and shutter speed.


Different year, different island. This is the MV Coruisk approaching Armadale on the ISle of Skye, from Mallaig on the main land.

Ferry - 2005 Coruisk in the Sound of Sleat by Birm, on Flickr
From 2005, and another Sony P&S, the DSC V1. A great little camera I think. I still have it for its unusual IR abilities. It was an upgrade from this camera that brought me to DSLRs and this very site!

I hope I can look forward to seeing other site members' ferry related pictures posted here .

Great stuff Birma, the Pentax Optio did a nice job on the Isle of Mull. The others include a lot more scenery as well as the ship so I like them as well. We only have the fast Cat ferries here for day or weekend trippers basically (some people shuttle too and fro for work as well) which go out to a couple of Islands but are a lot smaller than those.
Greg

nice photos birma,

these are from ko chang in thailand, health and safety is not an issue

Thanks Greg - I like the scenery as a backdrop as well

Thanks Gio67. Some very nice shots of the ferries in Thailand there. I'm sure the rules and regs are a bit more lax than in Health and Safety obsessed Europe :/ . A lick of paint would could be in order as well. Despite all of the care they seem to go to to keep everything safe on the Cal Macs my wife is still a nervous passenger, and probably one of the only people who listens carefully to the saftey annoucement on each trip. I suspect this is a hang over from the sage words of her Grandfather (an old sailor) who was very insistent that his family always planned escape routes when in strange buildings or on modes of public transport.

I found an image of one of the cat 'ferries' that are used here, I think I might have posted this one before, but it probably belongs in the ferry thread anyway.
There are a couple of barges with their own dropdown ramp that carry cars (and the drivers) back and forth as well, but I'm not sure a barge is actually a ferry strictly speaking.
Greg
KM5D KM24-105 (I think)

Nice Cat Greg - certainly looks like a nice warm tropical shot

Happy to have barges as well - a lot of the small ferries in Scotland appear little more than a flat bed with a moveable ramp at each end!

I'll watch and enjoy these ferries and not comment as of yet....

..until I get a few ferry shots myself. : )


Thanks for starting, Birma and thanks for sharing everyone.


Yildiz

Those are great shots to start off this new thread Birma.

Love those older ferries in thailand goi67. We had similar ones years back for short trips. Good to see some still in operation.

Sporty looking ferry Greg, looks like it could have enough speed to pull a few water skiers ;^) Nice shot taken from a good vantage point.

Another from last Thursday on the starboard deck with the Renaissance approaching in Active Pass, we passed port to port.

Thanks Yildiz and Greg

Yildiz, I hope we can see some pictures of the craft that ply their trade on the Bosphorus?

Very atmospheric shot DA - I have been on a few ferry rides like that myself - a little on the damp side. Not too bad for the tourists, but keeps the regular commuters inside in the warm.

Here are a couple more from me.

Here is MV Loch Fyne arriving in Fishnish on the Isle of Mull, ready to return to Lochaline on the main land. This route, on a much smaller ferry, provides an interesting alternative to the more more popular Craignure-Oban route, for those who have the time to spare .

Ferry - 2007 Loch Fyne approaching Fishnish by Birm, on Flickr
From 2007, Sony A100 with (I think) the kit lens.

Another smaller ferry on a short crossing route. This is the Coran ferry in 2007, which shuttles between Ardgour on the Adrnamurchan peninsula, and Nether Lochaber just South of Fort William.

Ferry - 2007 Corran approaching Ardgour by Birm, on Flickr
Also with the Sony A100 and kit lens.

Thanks guys, that was a good view from the promenade deck? DA, looks a tad dampish, is that from the mist? Those new ones are great Birma, the ferry/barges sure are sophisticated looking designs there…impressive, great scenery too.
Funny you should mention skiing DA, that jogged my memory about a news item I saw, I was only half paying attention it was just another ‘yawn’ record, this time about some huge number of skiers being towed by what looked like one of those big fast cats, but it was down south somewhere, Brisbane of Sydney maybe, don’t exactly remember…
Greg

All I can do in this thread is to relax and enjoy these good shots...

Birma,

Excellent images as usual.
West coast again this year?

Mike

Thanks Greg. Now, if you were to get a shot while water-skiing off the back of a Cat type ferry I reckon that would be a pretty unique selling point . (Come to think of it, DK shot a video on a zip wire, so surely water skiing should be possible?)

Doc - you're very welcome .

Thanks Mike . This year's destinations are hotly debated at the moment. It has been almost 12 months since my last visit and so withdrawal symptoms are kicking in. My father-in-law is about to start a new boat trip venture on Skye (more details to come) and so I'd like to visit when he has that up and running. Sea Eagle photos anyone ?

All these ferry photos are great and this is a cool idea for a photo thread!

Ferry in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam:



Ferry in Hoi An, Vietnam:



Ferries and feluccas on the Nile River at Aswan, Egypt: