The endless lugging with bicycles on the ferry from Woudrichem to Slot Loevestein is a thing of the past. Hugo, the boat that brings passengers to the other side of the Damed Maas, is being replaced by a more accessible and more sustainable alternative.
Former ferry boss Philip Vink received the back and forth of all the e-bikes he had to lift on board in 2019. “They are very heavy,” he told Omroep Brabant earlier. Because he more or less collapsed under the heavy weight, he stopped at the time after ten years.
With the arrival of a new ferry, partly subsidized by the Biesbosch Streekfonds, all that lugging on the Hugo comes to an end. “It will be a sailing platform that becomes accessible to everyone,” says Aart Geurtsen, chairman of the Boven ‘t Gat Foundation, the manager of the bicycle and foot spring. E-bikes, cargo bikes, prams, mobility scooters and wheelchairs can easily be driven into the ferry.
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The Hugo currently transports a maximum of 18 people. If bicycles have to be on board, there is room for a maximum of six passengers. With the new ferry, the capacity doubles to twelve cyclists. “That is how the waiting time decreases,” says Geurtsen satisfied. “Great, because with Whit Monday there is always a whole row of cyclists here.”
The crossing also becomes a lot more sustainable. The new ferry is electrically powered and equipped with twelve solar panels.
Piece of history
The ferry has been sailing between the fortified town and the castle for centuries. Historians think that the ferry has been in use since the construction of Slot Loevestein, around 1360. It brought soldiers back and forth that were stationed at the castle or in Woudrichem. A group of drunk soldiers killed the blind ferryman Bastiaan Pippeling at the end of the 19th century because he refused to transfer them.