Sep. 1—EDITOR’S NOTE — Ever wonder what’s the story behind that person you see picking up roadside garbage in Old Lyme? Or what’s the deal with that usher at the Garde Arts Center in New London who takes your tickets with a giant smile? The Day is launching a Get to Know Your Neighbors series, where for the next week you will learn about the people in your community who make a big difference but often go unnoticed.
On the Connecticut River ― Eric Koch retired last year after 35 years as a self-employed contractor. Then he landed another job.
And it seems like a sweet one.
Koch, 57, of Ivoryton, the village in Essex, is first mate/relief captain on the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, the quaint transportation mode that plies the Connecticut River every day from spring to November.
A resident of the immediate area most of his life, Koch first rode the ferry as a child. Later, he used it to commute.
“This is my backyard,” he said.
Cruising at 5 knots, it takes the ferry, MV (motor vessel) Selden III, a little more than three minutes to make the quarter-mile crossing.
It doesn’t turn around to make the return trip.
Koch, one of four captains who man shifts seven days a week behind the ferry’s two back-to-back wheels, just walks around to the other wheel and steers the ferry in the other direction.
Selden III, celebrating 75 years in operation this year (the ferry service dates to 1769), can accommodate up to eight or nine vehicles, including SUVs and pick-ups, and motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians.
“It’s nice to get paid for doing something you enjoy,” Koch said on a Wednesday in August. “Every trip is different, every group of cars, the passengers … the weather, the nature about you. There’s something new to see every single day.”
Koch was lucky to learn about the job opening.
A friend who happens to be one of the ferry captains told him the state Department of Transportation was looking for a deckhand qualified to pilot the ferry. Coincidentally, Koch’s wife had spotted the opening on a job search site.
Koch, who owns a 28-foot power boat, had the requisite boating experience to pursue a captain’s license last summer.
A mix of tourists and commuters rides the ferry. Many of the tourists take it to Gillette Castle State Park on the Hadlyme side, the castle’s stone ruins rising up above the river’s bank in full view of ferry passengers.
“Most people who come aboard know about the castle and have some background on it,” Koch said.
He can also refer them to the ferry’s movie career. It’s seen crossing the river in “Parrish,” a 1961 Troy Donahue vehicle about a Connecticut tobacco tycoon, and 1971’s “Let’s Scare Jessica to Death,” filmed in and around Old Saybrook.
Lately, Koch said, traffic diverted from the East Haddam swing bridge, which is under construction, has caused the ferry’s vehicle count to swell, surpassing 300 some days.
In 2023, the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry and the Rocky Hill-Glastonbury Ferry, which operates farther up the river, combined to carry nearly 50,000 passengers and more than 123,000 vehicles, according to the Department of Transportation.
The Chester-Hadlyme ferry goes back and forth, summoned by a yellow light that starts flashing as soon as a vehicle queues up on one landing or the other.
“We don’t wait for a full boat or anything like that,” Koch said. “If somebody’s on the other side, we go get them.”
The ferry runs from 7 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. on weekdays and from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. Rates are $5 per vehicle on weekdays and $6 per vehicle on weekends, and $2 for pedestrians and bicyclists.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
