Ferry in dry dock
5 DAY PAUSE
If you’re like me, you sometimes marvel at the Daintree Ferry as it transports you across the Daintree River, from one side to the other, over croc infested waters.
It’s like a mini cruise, although there’s no time to mingle with passengers and the captain certainly isn’t going to invite you to his table. I don’t know if he actually owns a table. Anyhoo, it’s a small adventure jungle ride that’s iconic and part of the Daintree experience. So, when I heard the ferry would be out of the water for almost a week, I just had to see for myself what that looks like.
It’s mostly a hard hat site so I didn’t venture out of my car. Voilà! there it was in all its glory on terra firma, well not quite, it’s sitting on dry-dock airbags which were placed on the concrete ramp at the southern side of the Daintree River and inflated slowly to help tow the vessel to shore. Inflation and deflation of the airbags is regulated by gauges to control lift capacity, ferry height and airbag pressure. An engineering feat in itself.
Safety first
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) is conducting an out-of-water safety inspection of the Daintree Ferry this week. The operators are closing the vehicle ferry for five days from Monday 6 March to 5am on Saturday 11 March to allow the inspection and vital maintenance tasks to be completed. The ferry will also be washed down. Plenty of notice was given to locals, however a few visitors I came across, who were not in the loop, or didn’t get the memo, had to do a U turn after discovering the ferry was now a temporary land lubber. No one begrudges that the work needs to be done, after all safety comes first.
Bridge over troubled waters
A bridge of course would do away with all this inconvenience, now and at the height of tourist season but we’re told that was voted down last time the question was put to the ratepayers.
On December 1, 2020, Council published a survey of ratepayer’s views re a ferry v bridge. We were told that most of you preferred a two-ferry crossing at the Daintree River with 66% of the count, compared to 33% of people who chose a bridge. The remaining 1% apparently provided no response but indicated a preference for the crossing to remain a single ferry. The two-ferry question in the survey was totally absurd, because that was never going to happen.
Dredging for two ferries was a pipe dream and the cost to rayepayers would have been astronomical if it was ever approved at all, and my money was on the EPA giving it the thumbs down. The decision in August 2022, to replace the existing Daintree Ferry with a single ferry capable of increased loading capability and associated landside infrastructure upgrades on both riverbanks is the best we can hope for at this time.
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