The Valley View Ferry will not operate over the next month or so. Recertification and repairs will place the decade-old John Craig 2 in dry dock for that period of time.
The ferry, founded in 1780, a dozen years before Kentucky became a state, runs across the Kentucky River with Fayette and Jessamine Counties on one side and Madison on the other. Ferry Captain Clayton Embly said one priority area during Coast Guard inspection is hull plating, checking for corrosion.
“And then they go in and they check welds because we are a boat that carries heavy vehicles and you make sure that welds and things of that nature do not break,” said Embly.
Embly said the Valley View Ferry carries about 14,000 people a month, around 120 free trips daily, every day except Christmas Day. The captain noted the cost savings in gas, tire, and car maintenance runs into the millions.
Credentialed mariners serve in the deck crew.
“So with credentialed mariners things like painting, things like grinding, things like needle gunning, and painting down inside the barge. You know, these guys want to be merchant marines, well they got to do merchant marine stuff,” said Embly.
Embly said it amounts to saving taxpayers a good amount of money without the need for contractor service. The captain said jail inmates used to serve in the deck crew.
Embly noted the governments of Fayette, Jessamine, and Madison Counties provide funding for the ferry. He added it’s been 18 years at the same level of funding from local governments. Embly said the state has been good in its financial support of the oldest continually operating ferry in the country.
Here's more with Valley View Ferry Captain Clayton Embly:
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