Harbor Towns Cruises’ third ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the new ferry passenger service’s launch was delayed about an hour last week when no bridge tender was immediately available to open the S-Bridge in Hertford to allow the vessel to pass under the span.
Tex Gallop, senior captain of The Penelope, and the boat’s crew found themselves circling on the Perquimans River in the 45-foot specially designed vessel, patiently waiting until a state Department of Transportation bridge tender could arrive.
“None of the (Harbor Towns Cruises) boats will fit underneath it (the S Bridge),” Gallop said. “We called the number on the sign there at the bridge and it transferred me to the Elizabeth City bridge. The Elizabeth City tender there called me on the radio and said the DOT man will be there in half an hour.”
After the DOT worker arrived and opened the S-Bridge, the Penelope cruised into Hertford’s municipal dock to cheers from the crowd that had waited patiently on Friday, April 19, for the boat’s arrival.
Among the passengers later taking an inaugural, 30-minute cruise of the Perquimans River aboard the Penelope were Hertford Mayor Ashley Hodges, Town Manager Janice Cole, members of town council, three students from Perquimans County High School, and several local citizens. The town of Hertford had held a lottery open to all Perquimans County residents for 10 of the available seats on the first ride.
Gallop said he and his crew didn’t mind the wait on Friday for DOT to open the S-Bridge.
But he also noted: “When we are in here it would be nice to have the bridge manned. I see they’ve got a great house up there (on the bridge); it would be nice to have someone in there.”
Gallop said Friday’s incident is partly why Harbor Towns Cruises is holding ribbon cuttings and introductory cruises in its destination cities and towns: to find out the potential snags and fix them before regular passenger service starts next month.
“That’s why we do all this — trial and error so we learn these things,” he said.
Gallop said he plans to have a conversation with DOT officials about ensuring there’s a regular schedule for openings of the S-Bridge when Harbor Towns Cruises’ boats are scheduled to be on the Perquimans River. He said the boats’ captains can also call DOT in advance of arriving in Hertford just to make sure a bridge tender is on duty. If one’s not on duty, at least they’ll know to anticipate a delay in getting the bridge open.
“We will call them when we get in the river and someone will be there when we get here,” he said.
Harbor Towns Cruises will be providing passenger ferry service between six towns: Elizabeth City, Edenton, Hertford, Plymouth, Columbia and Manteo.
Harbor Towns held its first ribbon-cutting in Plymouth on Tuesday and a second in Elizabeth City on Thursday. Columbia will celebrate the boats’ launch at the town’s municipal docks on Wednesday and Edenton will follow with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday.
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