California Delta Ferry Real McCoy

Rather than cause thread creep on the http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/s3/tides-forward-progress-8177.html thread, I figured I'd move the Real McCoy ferry discussion here.

(apologies for the poor quality cellphone camera pix.)

markpierce mentioned that he saw the Real McCoy ferry on the water in his neighborhood. I had an opportunity to ride and photograph the Real McCoy before its retirement and got on the Real McCoy II while it was in the yard being modified.

Here's the Real McCoy which has been removed from service. It was the oldest piece of machinery in the CalTrans inventory; serial number 0001.








Two helms...








It was replaced with the Real McCoy II pictured below, but reliability problems in the drive system immediately surfaced on the new vessel. Real McCoy was placed back into service until repairs and modifications could be made and for months, the original Real McCoy sat tied up to the ferry landing structure, as pictured above, waiting to spring into service if needed.

Here's the Real McCoy II which seems to operate reliably enough to permanently retire the Real McCoy.















Two helms...

Do you suppose it was the original Real McCoy I saw at Mare Island today?

What route(s) are the McCoys used on?

markpierce said:

Do you suppose it was the original Real McCoy I saw at Mare Island today?

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I suspect it was. I saw the Real McCoy II operating last week while I was on my way through the fog sturgeon fishing.

Real McCoy (Ryer Island Ferry): Tourists' most wanted hotspots on Google Maps, analyzing Social Media

The several California Delta ferries have very short routes: just across the narrow channels:

"There are four ferries remaining in the Delta that allow public access, but three of them lead to islands that are private property. So there are only two that represent a ferry ride that can be taken by the public, and both are free. One is the Real McCoy, a free-running (no cable) ferry powered by twin diesel engines that takes vehicles across Cache Slough to Ryer Island (and vice versa) and the J-Mack cable-drawn ferry across Steamboat Slough. The other three ferries are a cable-drawn ferry across Little Connection Slough at Herman & Helen’s Marina and a cable-drawn ferry across Middle River to Woodward Island. The Victory II is a handsome free-running ferry that takes vehicles from Jersey Island to both Webb Tract and Bradford Island."

markpierce said:

The several California Delta ferries have very short routes: just across the narrow channels:

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Thanks Mark. The link FlyWright put up shows the Google Earth view of the McCoy's run, too.

Just curious, looking at this short run across a narrow waterway, am I correct in assuming that it is more cost-effective to put a ferry here than a bridge?

Marin said:

Just curious, looking at this short run across a narrow waterway, am I correct in assuming that it is more cost-effective to put a ferry here than a bridge?

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That's likely. Expensive lifting bridges would be required without blocking navigational use of the channels/sloughs/rivers. Road traffic is relatively light.

Found this tid bit online about the Real McCoy II: This ferry was designed to NOT be able to allow recreational vehicles to use it, even though large school busses and CalTrans equipment uses it. The problem is that due to the ferry design, RV bumpers tend to scrape the ferry deck or ramps at low tides. So now all RV traffic to Ryer Island must use the bridge at the north end of Ryer Island.

though later in the same article they advise anyone with an RV that wants to use the ferry to wait until high tide??? http://www.snugharbor.net/ferries_and_bridges.htm

so not sure if the Real McCoy II can accomodate RVs or not... the ferry is one of two ways to get to Snug Harbor (which has an RV park), thus their having an article about the ferries on their website.

Who'd have thunk that RV owners would need tide tables for the Delta?

Pineapple Girl said:

Found this tid bit online about the Real McCoy II: This ferry was designed to NOT be able to allow recreational vehicles to use it, even though large school busses and CalTrans equipment uses it. The problem is that due to the ferry design, RV bumpers tend to scrape the ferry deck or ramps at low tides. So now all RV traffic to Ryer Island must use the bridge at the north end of Ryer Island.

though later in the same article they advise anyone with an RV that wants to use the ferry to wait until high tide??? Ferries and Bridges of the Delta

so not sure if the Real McCoy II can accomodate RVs or not... the ferry is one of two ways to get to Snug Harbor (which has an RV park), thus their having an article about the ferries on their website.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that, PG. I forgot about Snug Harbor..I rarely get up Steamboat SLough anymore. I used to fish that area extensively with my small Sea Ray. Maybe we should make Snug Harbor one of our delta destinations this summer! I called them a couple of ago and learned that they have dock space with power for boats our size.