The summer was long, hot and very busy for the bicycle and pedestrian ferries in and around the Biesbosch. “The season was magnificent”, says Thera van de Heuvel of Pontje Steur, who sails back and forth on the Steurgat in the Biesbosch with eight permanent skippers and three reserve ‘captains’. “On Monday we transferred a 25,000th passenger and that is an absolute record. It has never been so busy.” And that applies to all ferries in the area.
“On the busiest day of the summer, we transferred just over five hundred passengers,” she says. “Especially a lot of cyclists, who packed and packed through the Biesbosch and traveled along the major rivers this summer.” She explains the large increase in passengers by the fact that there are no more corona measures in the Netherlands and many other countries this summer. really came from everywhere. A lot of Germans and Italians, but also passers-by from Canada and Australia.”
“If the boat had been bigger, we could have transferred double the number of passengers.”
Mark de Leeuw van ‘t Leeuweveerke, a small ferry that shuttles back and forth between Lage Zwaluwe and the Jacominaplaat in the Biesbosch, also looks back with satisfaction on almost last summer.
“We have had a good season. So far about 20,000 passengers have been transferred, but if the boat had been bigger we could have transferred double that.” The ferry will continue to sail back and forth until the end of September, weather permitting.” ‘t Leeuweveerke can transfer twelve passengers per crossing.
“As a ‘bottom find’ we also had an old shirt in the screw.”
The smallest ferry is the foot ferry between the fortified town of Woudrichem and Slot Loevestein, which is also positive: “We are now heading towards forty or forty-five thousand passengers. That is about twenty percent more than in previous years,” says Aart Geurts. He also saw many cyclists who traveled through the area packed and bagged.
Due to the extreme drought, the water was lower than low everywhere this summer. “We have certainly noticed that,” says Thera van de Heuvel of Pontje Steur. “We have had an extreme amount of trouble with aquatic plants on our sailing route.”
“Entire placards of detached aquatic plants floated by, with the result that the stuff got entangled in our sailing cable and pulley that we are attached to. We also had an old shirt in the screw as a ‘bottom find’. They really had to get it out of the screw toddler.”
“In the winter we only sail back and forth on weekends.”
At the end of September, beginning of October, ‘t Leeuweveerke and Pontje Steur will be taken out of service for the winter break. The pedestrian ferry in Woudrichem will continue to sail until the beginning of November, after which it will switch to the winter timetable. “Then we only sail back and forth to Slot Loevestein at the weekend,” says Geurts. In January of next year we will be completely out of service for maintenance and inspection.”
And that 25,000th passenger of Pontje Steur? Kees and Corry van Gils from Bavel are numbers 25,000 and 25,001, they were given a book about the Biesbosch from skipper Kees.
