Elizabeth Castle Ferries
Jersey Maritime Services Ltd.
ST AUBIN and DAME DES ILES
Jersey Maritime Services Ltd.
ST AUBIN and DAME DES ILES
The company commenced a ferry service from St. Helier Harbour to Elizabeth Castle soon after WW II, but it could not compete with the service operated by the D.U.K.W.’s, and was withdrawn.
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WILDFIRE Operating the Castle Ferry in early 1948.
The hull colour was green with white top, and CASTLE FERRY can be seen on a name board on the shelter top.
The boat was still to be seen in St. Aubin’s Harbour, Jersey, until February 2016, when it was sold to a Jersey resident as a feature for use in his children’s play area.
The hull colour was green with white top, and CASTLE FERRY can be seen on a name board on the shelter top.
The boat was still to be seen in St. Aubin’s Harbour, Jersey, until February 2016, when it was sold to a Jersey resident as a feature for use in his children’s play area.
The first reference in the local newspaper to a DUKW service at West Park appeared in the Evening Post on Monday 26 July 1948 when a photo showed a craft coming ashore that morning on the slip at West Park, with a caption of “how different the scene was from three years ago when the craft were used at the Liberation of the island”.
The D.U.K.W’s were ex military six wheel drive amphibious craft.
The D.U.K.W. was an American designed craft and the acronym comes from the manufacturer General Motors Corporation, D = Vehicle designed in 1942, U = Utility (Amphibious), K = all-
In military service they could carry 30 fully equipped troops but on the Castle service they were limited to 12 while on the water, but had seating for 18, this was to see a number of overloading cases brought to Court.
There are few records to be found regarding the early operation, and the dates given below have been gleaned from the newspapers, and personal reminisces, thus there could well be errors.
The initial service between the slip at West Park and Elizabeth Castle was commenced by the Locke Brothers.
The operation was based at Elizabeth Castle during the summer months and then normally at a farm for major overhaul during the winter.
In February 1949 the brothers purchased a wrecked barge and its cargo which had gone ashore on the Dogs Nest rocks outside St. Helier during the War. They stripped a DUKW and used it as a barge for the operation, and upon completion of the job it was left for years to disintergrate in the Castle Harbour.
The service was in difficulties at the end of 1951, and in May the following year George Binet took over the service, travelling to England to purchase two craft to operate the service. What happened to the Locke Bros craft is unknown.
By 1955 the operation had passed to Mr. L. F. Howes who modified the craft to being only four wheel drive, but still having six wheels.
Two years later (1957) the service was in the hands of Jack Noel Bardin who decided in 1960 to use a landing type craft on the service, and had the hull of the craft built in Guernsey, and it arriving in Jersey early in April that year. The craft was 46’ long and had a beam of 10’ and it was intended to carry 50 passengers. Maybe it was intended to operate in the same manner as that used in Fermain Bay, Guernsey, but nothing came of it. The craft lay as a bare shell until about 1967 when it was fitted out as an excursion vessel and entered service as JERSEY WANDERER operating bay cruises.
In August 1965 Jack Bardin and two drivers were charged with overloading, and following a further case later in the season the owner said that he would not operate the following year unless the passenger certificate was increased to 21 (the number of seats in the craft).
On March 31 1966 it was stated that no increased passenger certificate would be granted, and thus the operator would not start the service. What happened has not yet come to light, but on May 10 1967 the service was transferred to John Henry Pirouet, it later being stated that Mr. Bardin sold due to ill health.
At about this time the craft were greatly modified, with bow sections being added and changes being made to the wheel drive system.
On June 17 1970 the DUKW service back returned to former owner J. Bardin who had previously owned the operation for ten years before J. H. Pirouet. He continued to operate the service until May 1976 when it passed to D. Daw and H. Goed.
On August 1 1976 an accident occurred when a DUKW was reversing down the slip. The resultant Court case revealed the lack of any legislation covering the operation of vehicle travelling over water and land, and thus the service was halted until the matter was sorted out.
When the service commenced in 1977 Mr. Goed had become the sole owner and traded as Castle Ferries.
The craft were given Jersey vehicle registration numbers and later Public Service Vehicle numbers as follows –
No. 1 J 45231 364
No. 2 J 45360 374
No. 3 J 23731 387
No. 4 J 51951 344
It was stated in November 1981 that the DUKW’s were nearing the end of their useful life, and Mr. Goed set about the task of building a craft from scratch. By September 1983 the first purpose built craft was nearing completion, having been built within the Castle walls, and it was launched in May the following year as VICTORY CF3, being J 42159. A further craft followed the next year and was named VANGUARD CF2 being J 45360, and incorporated improvements learned from VICTORY, most noticeable being the shape of the bow.
By this time the operation was trading as Beaver Landing Craft Ltd, and when VANGUARD entered service it had B.L.C. Amphibians painted on the side. The craft were able to carry 27 passengers.
Using a public slipway which required reversing down onto the beach had over the years caused a number of problems, and thus when a further area of the beach was reclaimed, it was decided to construct a new slipway further to the east thus removing the hazard to the public, and this came into use in 1994.
The operation of Elizabeth Castle had over the years been under the care of the States of Jersey Public Works Committee, but following the formation of the Jersey Heritage Trust, the latter became involved in its operation and was party to the drafting of the first service level agreement to operate the DUKW service. This was signed for a nine year period with Beaver Landing Craft Ltd. and commenced at the start of the 1994 season.
In 1997 Hank Goed was in the midst of constructing his third new craft, but due to health problems, he decided to sell the operation and offered it to the Jersey Heritage Trust but they declined. The new craft was completed in late April 1998, being named VALIANT, and was a somewhat altered craft to the two earlier models.
On May 7 1998 with the craft were ready for service, it was announced that the operation had been sold to Puddleducks Ltd., a company set up by four local businessmen.
During the season the only change was that large images of Waltz Disney style caricatures who were involved with the Castle, and were painted on the hulls
Valiant Lizzie
Victory Walter
Vanguard Charles
At then end of the season in addition to the craft being overhauled, they were taken to the Jersey Prison where they were re-
The contract to operate the DUKW service to the Castle ran out at the end of the 2003 season, and although offered a renewal, this was not taken up, but the company continued to operate the service on an annual basis.
The decreasing number of tourists to Jersey, resulted in a falling number of visitors to the Castle, in 1989 there had been 150,000, but this had declined to 41,000 by 2006, which made the business marginal to operate.
In June 2006 Puddleducks Ltd wrote to Jersey Heritage informing them that they would not be operating after th+company offered to sell the craft to the Heritage Trust, but they declined, and after much discussion the Trust decided to put the operation out to tender.
On December 20 2006 it was announced that a ten year service contract had been signed with Pure Adventure Jersey Ltd., a company which had just commenced a water born adventure business from the beach at West Park, hiring out high speed ribs, jet skies, and having a raft in the middle of St. Aubin’s Bay.
The company would not acquire the Puddleduck vehicles, but would purchase two new American built Hydra Terra vessels (also known as Aqua Ducks) for the service. These craft could carry 36 passengers, and would not only be able to operate to Elizabeth Castle but could also travel on the roads, and provide a link to other of the Heritage sites.
There was little time to build these craft before the start of the next season, and in early February 2007, Pure Adventure informed Heritage that the builders of the CAMI craft were experiencing a delay in receiving parts from the European suppliers for the vessels, and that there would be a delay of perhaps a month in delivery.
Jersey Heritage decided to delay the opening of Elizabeth Castle until May 26, but further delays ensured, and to try and meet the new opening date, Pure Adventure acquired a second hand craft for £80,000. It duly commenced on May 26 2007, but immediately ran into difficulties, and it was not until 2nd June that there service got underway, but problems continued throughout the summer, and traffic declined by 17%
With the new craft still not delivered by the end of the season, and with problems mounting for Pure Adventure, Jersey Heritage decided to try and purchase the operation. On February 26 2008 a severance agreement with Pure Adventure was signed, which would take effect on May 2 if both vessels were delivered and deemed fit for purpose after survey, the cost of the deal was £513,000.
Following the failure by Puddleducks to sell the craft to the new operator, or hire them out following the late delivery of the new craft, the DUKW’s were put into storage. They remained there until June 2009 when the two smaller craft were sold to a German operator, while the larger unit went to North Devon, and was pictured on June 10 in the local press leaving Jersey.
The two new craft passed their certification March 2008, and were deemed to have passed to Jersey Heritage on May 2 2008. The craft were named CHARMING BETTY and CHARMING NANCY after two Jersey Privateers which operated in the mid 1700 hundreds, and Jersey Heritage maintained the service since then.
The somewhat ungainly craft suffered initial teething problems which took some time to overcome, and over the next few years have been modified including a new drive system, and had the forward section altered to give a better bow profile when in the water.
In time for the 2015 season the craft had a colour change with decals being applied which represented the days of the privateers with gun openings and crew on deck.
In June / July 2015 CHARMING NANCY was used at St Aubin’s, to transport competitors out to the Fort during the Island Games. For this the craft gained a day signal for a craft “restricted in ability to manoeuvre”!
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A D.U.K.W. makes its way to Elizabeth Castle.
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In the water but not floating.
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A D.U.K.W. in its original form. Seen here on the slipway at West Park approaching the moveable access platform.
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A fine postcard showing the West Park slipway area with the West Park Cafe which was officially opened on Saturday April 29 1961. A DUKW is on the beach, Elizabeth Castle in the background, with a DUKW just about to go up the slipway.
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No. 1 unit August 14 1972
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No. 1 emerging from the water at the Castle, August 14 1972.
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Entering the water at Elizabeth Castle August 14 1972.
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No. 2 September 14 1972.
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No. 2 unit. September 30 1972
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No. 2 coming ashore at West Park, October 14 1972.
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No. 3 September 14 1972.
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No. 3 September 30 1972.
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No. 4 unit was kept in its original form and only used when the crossing was dry which allowed more passengers to be carried.
Pictured September 30 1974.
Pictured September 30 1974.
Ashore at their base -
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No. 4 having been stripped out.
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L to R No. 2, No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4, (just visible) grouped outside their base in the Castle walls.
1984 4 May. Underwent final road trials and entered service. Designed and built by Mr. Henk Goed at Elizabeth Castle, it cost £30,000 and took four years to construct.
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VICTORY as built, July 18 1984. Its road registration number at this time was J42159, later to become J45129.
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VICTORY September 24 1985. Later the bow of the craft was modified in line with that of VANGUARD.
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Another view of VICTORY August 8 1993. Now with a modified bow and a solid cabin top.
VANGUARD 1985
Designed and built by Mr. Henk Goed at La Collette, St. Helier.
1985 30 May. Vehicle road tested, seating is for 27 passengers.
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VANGUARD September 24 1985.
Vessel passed inspection on May 31, and it was stated that it had a different bow construction to VICTORY.
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A card of the two vessels.
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Henk Goed completed his third and last craft in May 1998, and named it VALIANT, and as can be seen it had a raised steering position. It was at this time that he sold the business to Puddleducks.
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VALIANT
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VALIANT May 1989
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VANGUARD
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VICTORY (Walter)
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VICTORY and VALIANT
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Interim vessel operated by Pure Adventure, pictured on July 13 2007 on its way to re-
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CHARMING NANCY seen July 3 2010.
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Proceeding up the slipway.
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CHARMING BETTY seen at the top of the slipway.
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CHARMING NANCY seen at sea on August 31 2010.
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CHARMING NANCY 27.03.2014 Now with a grey / blue colour scheme, and with a new sliding door.
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CHARMING NANCY 2015
Seen on 02 July 2015, this picture shows the altered bow, and position of the lights.
At the stern is the day signal added while she was used to transport competitors from St. Aubin out to the Fort during the Island Games. The signal stated the the craft “was restricted in ability to manoeuvre”!
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CHARMING NANCY a close-
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