Ice jam slows South Ferry
One hand washes another, or in this case, one boat pushes another, which is what it took this morning for Shelter Island-bound South Ferry boats to make it through ice.
Mounds of ice clogged the channel delaying South Ferry traffic around 9 a.m. this morning for travelers in both directions.It took one boat pushing another to move through the ice from North Haven to Shelter Island. A trip that would under normal circumstances take about 5 minutes was an approximate 20-minute ride.
Art Williams, who was on the front boat, said there was a slight bump when the second ferry connected to push the boat on which he was traveling.
“But nobody was concerned,” Mr. Williams said.
What did concern the captain was passengers jumping out of their vehicles to take pictures as the boats continued to plow their way through ice. He was yelling at people to get back into their vehicles, apparently concerned that there could be an accident, according to Charlie Tumino, the Reporter’s art director, who was also aboard the first boat.
Travelers trying to leave the Island this morning found themselves in an ever-growing line awaiting the arrival of ice-jammed boats from North Haven.
Meanwhile, North Haven bound traffic was backing up, with some motorists walking down to see what was delaying their trip.
“I’ve already missed my appointment,” Islander Mark Kanarvogel said about the delay. He reported that a woman in the line had been bound for a flight that, because of the delay, she had already missed.
A worker at the ferry gate said he had been told a change in wind direction was expected around 10:30 a.m. and that would open up the channel.
Ironically, just a week ago in its online history column, the Reporter carried an item about freezing temperatures coupled with high winds in February 1985 bringing South Ferry boats to a brief halt.
Company president Cliff Clark said then an ice jam resulted because of a thaw that freed ice from Sag Harbor waters and, pushed by a flooding tide, brought the ice into the frozen waters of Noyac Bay.
At that time, the normally five minute trip was reported to have taken about two hours.
Mr. Clark was involved in the effort to move the boats across this morning and unavailable for comment, but a woman in the South Ferry office commenting on this ice jam said, “They’ll make it eventually.”
