Free Bike Ped Ferry
BY DARIEN MURRAY
A free bicycle and pedestrian ferry between the east and west sides of Marina del Rey will begin operation Saturday, August 24th.
Ferry hours will be between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through September 21st, Stacia Wells of Environment Now said. It will also operate Labor Day, Monday, September 2nd.
Bicyclers, skaters, pedestrians, people pushing strollers and people using wheelchairs may board the ferry for the 12-minute trip across the Marina.
The new ferry service is called Marina CoastLink. It will provide "a safer, shorter and fun alternative to the existing bike path," Wells said.
"The Marina CoastLink ferry essentially connects the coastal trail and gives bike path users a beautiful view of the Marina del Rey harbor en route," Wells added.
The ferry will stop at a dock at Mothers Beach near Palawan Way on the west side of the Marina and at Fisherman's Village and Burton Chace Park on the east side of the Marina.
The ferry boat will be the 50-foot Miss Christy owned by Shoreline Leasing Co.
"Miss Christy is an aluminum crew boat that was built to transport equipment and crew to offshore oil rigs in the Gulf," Kenny Lawrence of Shoreline said.
The 50-foot crew boats were sold when oil companies built rigs further offshore and needed bigger boats, Lawrence said.
"The Coast Guard maximum is 58 people aboard Miss Christy," Lawrence said.
Miss Christy has been in the Marina for some time, making trips to Catalina Island carrying equipment and supplies for the Scout Sea Base at Emerald Cove, Lawrence said.
Shoreline is making some modifications to the boat so that the vessel is wheelchair accessible, Lawrence said, adding that the dock "ramps are already ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) compliant."
Miss Christy will use a dock at Fisherman's Village that is accessible from "a ramp between Angler's Choice and El Torito (restaurants)," Lawrence said.
The one-month ferry service is a pilot project called Marina CoastLink, David Meyerson of Environment Now said.
"If the Marina CoastLink ferry demonstration project is a success, expanded operations might occur as early as next year," Meyerson said.
The sponsors of the ferry project are Environment Now, the California Coastal Conservancy and the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, Meyerson said.
"Assistance on this project is also provided by the Santa Monica BayKeeper and the L.A. County Bike Coalition," Meyerson said.
Information, Environment Now in Santa Monica, (310) 829-5568 ext. 4.