The Rhode Island Fast Ferry Julia Leigh was northbound in Narragansett Bay on a damp summer night when fog reduced visibility to almost nothing. Capt. Jordan Ryan flicked on the bow lights but quickly thought better of it in the harsh glare.
Suddenly, a voice cracked over the radio. A man hailed the U.S. Coast Guard on channel 16 to report a powerboat adrift near Dutch Island — right along the ferry’s path to Quonset Point, R.I. Ryan eased back on the throttles and sounded the ship’s horn before turning his gaze to the radar. Mate Tom Stralka peered out the front window, trying to identify a boat in the darkness.
“That could be it right there,” Ryan said, pointing toward an oval shape on the radar, well east of their path. “We don’t know if anyone is on that boat. But even if they can’t see us, now they know we’re here.”
The encounter occurred during the last of three daily round trips between Quonset Point, on the west side of Narragansett Bay, and Oak Bluffs, on Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. Julia Leigh traverses the 52-mile route in about 105 minutes each way.
Ryan’s first run of the day began at 1300 when he backed Julia Leigh off the dock in Quonset and headed out into fog. Mate Matt Polski gave a safety briefing that warned passengers to expect the occasional foghorn and some bumps along the way.
Julia Leigh accelerated to 28 knots, powered by two 2,000-hp MTU 12-cylinder engines. The 113-foot, 320-passenger catamaran ferry entered service in 2019 after delivery from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in nearby Somerset, Mass. It is a near-sister to Ava Pearl delivered in 2012.
Headed south in Narragansett Bay, the ghostly outline of the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge soon came into view in thickening fog that reduced visibility to a half-mile. Ryan steered through the center span, riding over 2-to-3-foot seas with relative ease, assisted by Naiad Dynamics hydraulic trim tabs.
Polski took a lookout position on the starboard side of the wheelhouse. He pointed out sailboats on the horizon and noted larger vessels that appeared on Furuno AIS and radar. He also spotted dolphins swimming off the port bow.
“You got two lobster buoys ahead,” Polski said at one point. “You can go right between ‘em.”
“Got ‘em,” Ryan said, as he took care to avoid the buoys. Striking one could cost the fisherman his trap and whatever catch was inside it.
On clear days, the ferry trip between Quonset and Oak Bluffs is as pleasant as any in the country. The vessel transits Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island Sound, and depending on the tide and the ride, varying lengths of Buzzards Bay and Martha’s Vineyard Sound before turning into Oak Bluffs Harbor. Passengers looking out the window along the way will glimpse historic lighthouses, coastal cottages and miles of rocky shores.
This route is one Ryan has traversed thousands of times during his tenure with Rhode Island Fast Ferry. He got his start in the maritime industry more than 25 years ago with a summer job collecting tickets for the Block Island Ferry. An island native, he initially thought of the ferry work as a bridge to something else.
Eventually, he worked his way onto the boats as a deck hand and later the engineering department before moving to the wheelhouse around 2003. He joined Rhode Island Fast Ferry 11 years ago, while planning was underway on the Block Island Wind Farm, which began generating power in December 2016.
“I saw opportunity with offshore wind happening and wanted to get in on the ground floor,” Ryan recalled. “I can see all the turbines from my house. And my kids will helpfully point out when one was not spinning.”
Rhode Island Fast Ferry is a sister company to Atlantic Wind Transfers, which in 2016 built Atlantic Pioneer, the first offshore wind crew transfer vessel (CTV) in the United States. These days, Ryan splits time running ferries and CTVs supporting wind farms in waters off Rhode Island and Virginia.
Polski’s path into the industry also started with a summer job after his sophomore year in college. He was hooked after a senior captain let him steer the tour boat on the way to a vessel drydocking. Although he works for a laboratory in Massachusetts full time, he has held a license for 30 years and works on ferries weekends during the high season.
“I just like going out on the ocean,” Polski explained. “Even on a crummy day like this, I still enjoy being out here.”
Swells increased to 5 and sometimes 6 feet as the vessel sailed east in Rhode Island Sound and later the western edge of Buzzards Bay. Ryan turned to starboard and cut through Quicks Hole separating Pasque and Nashawena islands. Dozens of cows from Nashawena lounged by the shore as the ferry sped toward Martha’s Vineyard Sound.
The final leg took the ferry east along the north shore of Martha’s Vineyard, where stately homes with weathered gray shingles overlooked the sound. Lighthouses on East Chop and West Chop marked the entrance to Vineyard Haven, where Steamship Authority vehicle ferries call multiple times each day.
Julia Leigh rounded East Chop and slowed to about 18 knots before easing further at the jetties marking the entrance to Oak Bluffs Harbor. From the starboard wing station, Ryan eased back to 5 knots and then spun the ferry counterclockwise 180 degrees to come alongside the landing.
“We’re here,” he said with a wry smile.
Julia Leigh returned to Oak Bluffs about four hours later for the final departure of the day. By then, Stralka had relieved Polski as mate. Once the passengers boarded, Ryan helped four other crewmembers load bicycles then headed to the wheelhouse. After a short whistle blast, he twisted the ferry off the dock and sailed into Martha’s Vineyard Sound. By then, weather appeared to be improving. Visibility was now two or three miles, and the swells maxed out at 3 or 4 feet. Ryan set a course for Woods Hole, Mass., to take advantage of favorable conditions in Buzzards Bay.
There was little traffic on the horizon, save for a few fishing boats and the Steamship Authority car ferry Island Home departing Woods Hole for Vineyard Haven.
Julia Leigh passed Nobska Lighthouse off the starboard side then entered Woods Hole, which separates the southwestern tip of Cape Cod and Nonamesset and Uncatena islands. Ryan navigated a series of S-turns around ledges and rocky shoals.
“I usually stay out of Woods Hole on the weekends because of the crowds,” Ryan said, referring to recreational boaters who can clog the channel even when doing their best not to. “But on a day like today, there are not lot of recreational boaters out.”
Julia Leigh is one of several fast ferries that connect mainland New England with Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, another resort island off Massachusetts. Local fishermen from New Bedford, Mass., tugboats and oceangoing commercial ships routinely transit this section Buzzards Bay, along with the standard contingent of ferries, sportfishing vessels and powerboats. Ryan and other ferry captains do their best to give other boats a wide berth.
“We drive this ferry very defensively,” he explained, adding that it’s better to add a minute or two to the trip than surprise someone not used to a ferry traveling at 30 mph. “We try to go around everyone.”
The swells calmed significantly in Buzzards Bay as the ferry sailed west toward Rhode Island, passing Naushon Island and others in the Elizabeth Islands chain owned by the billionaire Forbes family. Dusk set in as the ferry approached Sekonnet Lighthouse, on the southeastern tip of Rhode Island. The fog also began to thicken.
The darkening sky and darkness from the sea created a grayish blur at the horizon line. A mansion or two in nearby Newport provided the only lights on the horizon. At best, visibility was 50 feet in front of the ferry. Beavertail Light, which marks the edge of Narragansett Bay, was invisible in the fog.
Ryan reduced the ferry’s speed to about 25 knots and adjusted the range on its radars. Stralka, keeping a lookout forward, was halfway through an arrival announcement when the radio came to life. An unidentified man hailed the Coast Guard to report the powerboat that broke free from its moorings.
The caller and the Coast Guard watchstander attempted a truncated back-and-forth. Ryan hailed the man in search of additional details but got no response. Stralka peered down at the oval shape on the radar off the starboard side. He and Ryan agreed it might be the drifting craft. Ryan then turned to port, putting more space between the ferry and whatever lay out of sight to the east.
The drifting vessel now safely behind them, the crew prepared to pass under the Jamestown Verrazano Bridge. Its lights weren’t visible until the ferry was within 300 yards. Ryan pulled way back on the throttles as he eyed the navigation lights identifying the path forward. The gaps between the bridge spans were pitch black in the fog. Julia Leigh passed right through the middle of the center span.
Ryan breathed a little easier. “That was pretty wild,” he admitted. “There is not usually this much drama going on.”
The last 10 minutes were calmer by comparison. The rotating light at the Quonset State Airport helped guide the ferry toward its berth. Ryan hailed a Reinauer Transportation tugboat visible on AIS to learn their intentions. A crewman responded that the tug was tying up to its barge.
“Thank you,” Ryan said over radio. “We’ll give you plenty of room.”
Deck hand Sean McManus took position on the bow for the final approach. He tied off the ferry’s bow and Ryan appeared to take a deep sigh of relief. Another safe journey in the books, and one he’s likely to remember. •