Transporting Sydney, one early bus at a time
This week we are looking at Fantasea Crusing. They have been operating in Sydney since 2010 and operate a variety of services.
This week we are looking at Captain Cook Cruises who are one of largest private ferry operators on Sydney Harbour.
“Captain Cook Cruises began in Sydney in 1970 and for over four decades has proven to be the market leader and premier Sydney Harbour cruise line. Our fleet of restaurant, sightseeing, ferry and sailing vessels offer an exciting range of public cruises and private charters for 2 to 2000 guests.”
They operate four hop on hop off routes with 11 stops across the four routes with services on most routes beginning at 7am and concluding at 7pm daily. These services can be bought with a multi Day discount or in conjunction with attraction entry for futher discounts.
They also operate a commuter rocket ferry service between Sydney CBD and the Lane Cove River during Weekday Peak Hours.
Return rocket ferry between one of the following
And one of the following Lane Cove River Wharves
This week we are staring a series on the various Private operators that operate ferries in Sydney Harbour (Other than government owned, but privately run Harbour City Ferries). We are starting with Manly Fast Ferries.
Features of this line include
Hop on Hop off 24 hours passes are avalible to ride the service as many times as you like, this is particularly marketed at tourists with views of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Luna Park, Fort Denison, Walsh Bay and Sydney Heads billed as the highlights.
Today we will be looking at the HarbourCat ferries. They were the first of two classes of ferries delivered under the Carr state government with Carl Scully as Transport Minister.
The ferries operate on the F3 Parramatta River and F4 Darling Harbour lines.
They were based on the design of the RiverCats however are slightly shorter with a lower capacity and less displacement. These modifications allow the ferries to travel futher up Parramatta River at lower tides than the RiverCats. This led to a reduction in cancellations of ferry services to Parramatta at low tide from 1 in every 2.5 days to one in every 25 on average.
There are 2 HarbourCat ferries that were both delivered in 1998 and carried on the tradition of being named after Aussie sports stars from the RiverCats. They were named Anne Sargeant and Pam Burridge.
They have a passenger capacity of 150 passengers, a top speed of 22 knots, a length of 29.6 metres and a displacement of 35 tones.
This week for ferry Friday we are giving you a quick network update. The series on the types of ferries will return next week.
From this Monday 26th June ferry services to King Street Wharf will cease and services will instead operate to the new Barangaroo Wharf, where work is understood to be nearly complete with some minor work continuing this weekend.
In addition to this timetable changes will occur for the F3 Parramatta River Line and F4 Darling Harbour Line. Extra F3 services will be added during weekday mornings nd evening peak to allow better capacity and services on Sundays will now run till 9:30pm instead of 7pm. F4 services will receive minor timetable changes to reflect the changes to the wharves used.
This week for ferry Friday we are looking at the Freshwater class ferries. They operate solely on the F1 Manly line between Circular Quay and Manly.
There are 4 Freshwater class ferries bulit between 1982 and 1988 by the State Dockyard. They are all named after a beavhbin Sydney’s Northern beaches, the first being Freshwater in 1982 followed by Queenscliff in 1983 and Narrabean in 1984 with Collaroy arriving in 1988.
The ferries have a capacity of 1100 across 2 decks and use 6 crew. There ferries are 70m long and have a displacement of 1100 tons.
This Friday, we will be looking at the the SuperCat ferries. The SuperCats were ordered in 2000, with an inital order for eight ferries which was later reduced to four.
The SuperCats were constructed by the Australian Defence Insdutires at Garden Island.
The ferries were delivered in 2000 and 2001. First in 2000 was Saint Mary Mackillop folowed by Suisse O’Neill. In 2001 Louise Sauvage and SuperCat 4 were delivered.
Today the ferries operate services on the F7 Eastern Suburbs Line between Circular Quay and Watsons Bay via Rose Bay
Today is another Ferry Friday. Our model of ferry that we will be looking at will be the RiverCats.
The RiverCats were bulit by NQEA between 1992 and 1995, being named after famous Australian female athletes. The first ferry Betty Cuthbert arrived in 1992, followed by Dawn Fraser the same year, Evonne Goolagong, Shane Gould, Marlene Mathews and Marjorie Jackson in 1993 and Nicole Livingstone in 1995.
They were ordered to replace the First Fleet ferries from the Circular Quay to Meadowbank service, whilst also allowing the service to be extended to Parramatta.
The ferries are 36.8 metres long with a max operating speed of 22 knots and a capacity of 230.
The RiverCats today operate on all F3 Parramatta River services and occasionally on F7 Eastern Suburbs services.
Today is Friday and therefore we will be looking at another type of ferry that graces Sydney Harbour, the First Fleet Ferries.
Nine vessels were constructed by Carrington Slipways and delivered between 1984 and 1986. They were all named after ships in the First Fleet. First to be delivered in 1984 was Supply followed by Sirius. In 1985 Alexander, Borrowdale, Charlotteand Fishburn were delivered and in 1986 Friendship, Golden Grove and Scarborough
They are 25m long and have a displacement of 83 tonnes. In 2009, they had their propellers replaced with MTU Series 60 proper lord with a speed of 11 knots. They have a passenger capacity of 400.
Today the First Fleet Ferries operate on the F4 Darling Harbour, F5 Neutral Bay and F6 Mosman Bay routes.
Welcome to Ferry Friday. Today we are starting a series as part of Ferry Friday. Over the next few weeks we will go through the various models of ferry that operate in our harbour.
Today we are looking at the Lady-Class ferries. Five were bulit by State Dockyard, The first was Lady Cutler in 1968, followed in 1970 by Lady Woodwardnd Lady McKell. The final two were Lady Street Lady Herron in 1979. Two larger versions were bulit by Carrington Slipways, Lady Wakehurstin 1974 and Lady Northcott in 1975. The ferries have a capacity of around 600 passengers and are approximately 40metres long.
Today, Lady Northcott and Lady Herron remain in service with Harbour City Ferries. They operate on the F2 Taronga Zoo Line. They are expected to continue in service until the end of 2018, which is the end of their workable life.
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