A passenger ferry service has returned to the Hudson River. WAMC’s Southern Adirondack Bureau Chief Lucas Willard took the trip that connects the City of Hudson with the small town of Athens.
Returning to the Hudson River on Memorial Day weekend, a ferry once again shuttles riders across the river from Hudson to Athens and back.
A regular route for travelers before the construction of the Rip Van Winkle Bridge in the 1930s, the ferry functioned in varying capacities until the pandemic shutdowns of 2020.
Today, the ferry is running under the ownership of the new Hudson Ferry Company.
Captain-partner Nick Rogers is piloting the Haendel, standing at its wooden instrument panel inside the cockpit. The Haendel is a 45-foot-long steel vessel that has been navigating the waters of the Northeast for almost 60 years.
“It’s from 1965. It was built for the Army Corps of Engineers, we believe, as a dredge tender,” said Rogers.
Captain Nick says the Haendel spent time ferrying passengers on Lake Champlain in the 1970s and 1980s, before it worked as a tour boat in the Finger Lakes. Eventually the Haendel made its way to the Hudson River.
“I mean, it’s pretty unique, is what it is. It’s like, we could just a have power boat running people back and forth, it might do it faster. There’s other tour boats that are larger and, well, more plastic. It’s just…we like our little steel boat. You know? It’s a heavy boat. It’s got two big engines in it, it can turn on a dime…”
The Hudson Ferry Company purchased the vessel after it ran between Hudson and Athens last year under different ownership on a more limited schedule, says Captain-partner Sam Merrett.
“Yeah, I mean, last year was really about getting this vessel up to this community and seeing if it was good fit. And we ran a schedule that was more limited than what we’re currently doing, but it was really to build the relationships and to make sure it was the right vessel. And then this year we got a whole group of folks involved to where we’re really all excited about this idea of connecting people to the river, and we’re going to try to run a more full schedule,” said Merrett.
With service running Fridays, Saturday, and Sundays – as well as for private events – Captain Sam said the Haendel will not function as a regular commuter ferry, but as he puts it, “kind of the opposite.” His goal is to connect the next generation to the river in two communities that have grown and attracted new residents in recent years.
“There’s a lot of people in both these communities, but very few people would use us a commuter ferry, but lots of people would use us as a dinner ferry, as a sight-seeing adventure, to visit a friend. And any time we can get a car off the road and get another person on the river, I think it’s a win,” said Merrett.
Aboard the Haendel, connecting Columbia to Greene County from public docks can be done in under 10 minutes, but there’s lots to see with a longer voyage.
“There’s a really fun trip that we do where we go north around the island. There’s an old fishing shack just north of Hudson in the north bay. There’s an old barge graveyard just north of Athens, over in the cove in the boat launch there, where the Murderer’s Creek comes in. I mean, it’s a totally fascinating area. And you can always go down and watch the sunset over by Catskill over the Rip Van Winkle bridge,” said Merrett.
And the ferry provides one of the best views of the Hudson Athens Lighthouse, which has been standing off shore since 1874.
“Keeping a light on used to be a fire, right? And it used to be a family ordeal. Up until a few years ago, there was a woman alive who grew up on that lighthouse. And a big part of our program with the Hudson Ferry Company is connecting on both sides of the river to the lighthouse,” said Merrett.
The lighthouse was big deal for Doug Forster and his son Jackson, who was taking his first boat trip.
“So why did you want to choose the ferry instead of drive today?”
“Are we at the lighthouse? “Because he loves boats, he just didn’t know that he liked to be on boats. So this was a nice short ride that we thought we’d try,” said Forster.
The Haendel will run through October. The Hudson Ferry Company also operates the 64-foot Schooner Appollonia for sightseeing tours.
For more information, visit: https://www.hudsonferry.co/
