The Snake on ferries

With Cowes Week looming - guess what is the most expensive route in the world?

World ferry fare comparison

Route	Duration	Distance (miles)	GBP/mile	US$/mile	Euro/mile
Offshore ferries
Southampton, UK - New York, USA (Queen Mary 2)	6d	3426	0.41	0.79	0.58
Le Havre, France - Porstmouth, UK	6h 30m	150	0.12	0.23	0.17
Venice, Italy - Corfu, Greece	23h 30m	525	0.07	0.13	0.11
Cape Town, RSA - St. Helena (via Walvis Bay, Namibia)	5d	990	0.29	0.57	0.42
Ushuaia, Argentina - Punta Arenas, Chile (via Antarctica)	4d	1350	0.7	1.39	1.02
Hyannis, Mass., USA - Nantucket Is.	2h 15m	32	0.46	0.91	0.67
Harbour, lake and river ferries
Central, HK - Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon	17m	1	0.1	0.19	0.14
Copacabana, Bolivia - Isla del Sol	1h 30m	15	0.07	0.14	0.1
River Amazon, Brazil
Belem - Manaus	5d	950	0.05	0.09	0.07
Inter-island ferries
Cowes (IoW) - Southampton, England	22m	9	1.2	2.39	1.76
Cape Verde Islands: Santiago Is - Fogo Is	14h	55	0.22	0.43	0.32
Society Is, Pacific Ocean: Bora-Bora - Maupiti	14h	60	0.23	0.45	0.33
Madeira, North Atlantic: Funchal, Madeira - Porto Santo	5h	21	0.5	0.99	0.73
Philippines: Kalibo - Boracay	30m	3m	0.21	0.41	0.3

After months of exhaustive research, thedailysail can now reveal startling new data of importance to many yachtsmen: statistics that will be of particular interest to competitors in many of the events and regattas scheduled to be held in Cowes, Isle of Wight, this summer.

Outstanding marine achievement should always be celebrated and The Snake has subsequently compiled The World Ferry Fare Comparison (WFFC) to highlight significant performance in the field of public transport. The figures contained in the WFFC are global examples of ferry prices per mile, based upon the cheapest available, one-way, foot-passenger ticket. The ferries sampled include services in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Ocean and cover journeys in the USA, UK, Asia and Latin America.

Obviously, on many of the ferries listed, accommodation is mandatory. The ship carrying adventure tourists from Ushuaia in Argentine Tierra del Fuego to Punta Arenas, Chile, for example, requires that passengers book a cabin for the four days on board as the vessel steams south-east along the Beagle Channel into the Southern Ocean, visiting Antartica’s South Shetland Islands before rounding Cape Horn and threading its way through the Straits of Magellan to the destination port. Although this journey is highly intrepid, the price per mile is a relative bargain at GBP£0.70 (US$1.39. €1.02) per mile.

On many Mediterranean overnight ferries, the cheapest option is a self-explanatory ‘deck ticket’ which makes the 24 hour crossing from Venice, Italy, to the Greek island of Corfu a snip at GBP£0.07 (US$0.23. Euro 0.17) for each of the 525 miles sailed. Similarly, the cheapest ticket in the WFFC is for a 950 mile voyage along the River Amazon from Belem, at the Atlantic end, to the boom town, jungle city of Manaus deep in the Amazon Basin where a ‘lower-deck hammock’ reservation costs an astonishing GBP£0.05 (US$0.09, €0.07) per mile for an unforgettable trip back in time.

One ferry journey, though, exceeds all others in terms of expense and this mighty accomplishment is (drum roll) British. What glamorous crossing can this be? The board of directors at Cunard would shudder to hear their 1,132 ft flagship Queen Mary 2 described as a ferry, but the cheapest available cabin onboard costs just GBR£0.40 (US$0.79, €0.58) per mile for the six day North Atlantic crossing from Southampton, England, to New York, USA. No, the prize for the world’s most expensive ferry crossing goes to a 22 minute, high-speed catamaran service for crossing nine miles of The Solent separating Southampton from West Cowes. So, it’s a loud ‘Huzzah!’ and hats off to the plucky team at Red Funnel Ferries.

Before investigating why this vital service is so expensive, it is worth looking at some cheaper, alternative ferry journeys around the world. This may prove nothing, but it could provide a distraction for yachtsmen travelling on the Cowes service en route to the numerous regatta being hosted at Britain's sailing Mecca this summer.

If an offshore voyage is preferable - but cruising around Cape Horn is a touch too extreme - a viable, open-ocean alternative is joining the RMS St Helena in Cape Town. As one of the mail ship's 128 passengers, you will steam north stopping briefly in the deepwater harbour of Walvis Bay, Namibia and step ashore to explore the defunct whaling station or watch the latest, high-speed antics of Paul Larsen and his Sailrocket team. Heading back out to sea, your five day voyage ends on the mid-Atlantic, British outpost of St. Helena, 900 miles off the coast of Angola. This is a Royal Mail Ship and standards of conduct onboard are high for both crew and passengers. For example, a notice board will inform passengers of the dress required for dinner each day as they roll across the ocean at GBP£0.29 (US$0.57, €0.42) per mile. Dress code may be ‘Red Sea Rig’ (informal: open-neck shirt for the men – tie not required), ‘Sundown Rig’ (semi-formal: long-sleeved shirt, tie, jacket optional) and ‘Mess Dress’ (formal evening wear which may possibly include medals, Masonic regalia, kilts etc).

Once landfall has been made on St. Helena, passengers may chose to visit the final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, buried on this British Overseas Territory after his imprisonment and death in 1821. Curiously, both Boney’s prison and his grave were handed over to the French and represent a Gallic foothold within the island.

Bargain hunters who prefer inshore travel need look no further than the Amazon boat trip, a journey undertaken by an unworldly, teenage Snakelet shortly after release from 10 years of educational servitude at an English boarding school. For five days, jungle streams passed the ferry, interspersed with open spaces for cattle grazing, deserted and crumbling mission chapels, ramshackle villages and isolated stilt huts. Hearing the throb of the ferry’s engine, Indians paddle out from the bank in bark canoes to catch packets of biscuits and T-shirts dropped from the upper deck. This was some time ago and it is possible that the locals have since swapped their delicate canoes for Jetskis and accept all major credit cards, but the price of the journey does not appear to have changed at GBP£0.05 (US$0.09, €0.07) per mile for a hammock just above the waterline.

It was on this journey that The Snake, struggling unsuccessfully to control a youthful pheromone fission reaction, first encountered exotic, foreign womanhood in the form of a German university drop-out named Elke. For a sheltered and absolutely clueless adolescent, few previous experiences compared with standing on the ferry’s upper deck, leaning over the guardrail shoulder-to-shoulder alongside this Teutonic temptress. Watching the sun plummet below the horizon (it doesn’t hang about on the Equator) while surreptitiously attempting visual contact with the contents of her loose fitting, cheesecloth shirt, the hair on our forearms rose, met and intertwined. Looking at a faded photograph of Elke, through wiser eyes, reveals what appears to be a furry, blonde and very angry pygmy marmoset staring at the camera with open hostility. One warning should you opt for this voyage (other than avoiding people named after a European moose) is buy a hammock made from fabric with a close weave as the local, blood-sucking insects will exploit any gap in a net-style or open weave hammock.

1,400 dusty miles, two infections, one arrest and a hefty bribe later, The Snake found himself onboard the highest altitude ferry on the planet: a 15 mile journey across Lake Titicaca. Located in both Bolivia and Peru, Titicaca is 12,507 ft (3,812 m) above sea level in the Andes Mountain Chain and a one hour 30 minute ferry service from Copacabana on the lake’s Bolivian shore transports you to the extraordinary island, Isla del Sol: the birthplace of life, according to Inca creation myths. Current prices for the trip compare favourably with the Amazonian service and the crossing to this mystical island at the top of the world costs only GBP£0.07 (US$0.14, €0.10) per mile.

Research shows that the island now has a number of small hotels which is - in a very selfish way - a bit of a shame. In ‘the good old days,’ Isla del Sol was avoided by all but the most determined backpacker as accommodation was limited to sharing a room with a local farmer and his entire family, or spending the night in a stone outbuilding with the smallholding’s prize llama. However, the island was a well-known haunt for a band of gringos known throughout Peru and Bolivia as ‘The Wire Twisters,’ or just ‘Twisters’. During the Vietnam War (1959-75), many Americans fled south avoiding the draft and some ventured into deepest South America. Although the war had ended many years before, the Peruvian HQ for this mothballed peace army centred in the tourist destinations of Cuzco and Machu Picchu to the north of Titicaca where Twisters would annoy the locals by cluttering up the pavements making and selling boho jewellery at absurd prices to fellow gringos.

When looking for a slice of R&R, the peacenik gang would filter south to Isla del Sol en masse for an informal gathering. It was into such an environment that The Snake blundered on his visit. Attempting to delay his first night with the woolliest and smelliest room mate in memory, The Snake wandered along unlit, vehicle-free paths around the island and eventually arrived at Cha’llapampa: a small village on the island’s northern tip. Entering the only cantina in town, The Snake was confronted by a battalion of Twisters in various states of narcotic bliss and, camouflaged by a particularly dashing alpaca poncho topped with a wispy teenage beard, installed himself at a dimly lit table with a jug of the local firewater. Destined for a commission in one of Britain’s snootiest cavalry regiments, The Snake could only boggle in confusion through the fog of weed at this pack of American conscientious objectors until, in a defining moment, an exceptionally wasted Twister grabbed a guitar and belted-out the ultimate anti-war anthem, Eve of Destruction, by Barry McGuire (to watch McGuire performing this 1965 hit wearing the tightest trousers in California: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39ESOKkU1ho ).

As the cantina’s rafters became obscured by cumulus clouds of cannabis smoke, The Snake joined in lustily with McGuire’s chorus and began hugging hippies, reaching the first major crossroad in his life. It is certain that Isla del Sol and McGuire were jointly responsible for a firm decision to skip 20 years strapped into the turret of a tank, thus saving the UK taxpayer a heap of money and preventing embarrassment, anguish and friendly fire for the British Army.

One of the most venerable, scheduled ferry services runs passengers across Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong: a 17 minute journey from Central, HK, to Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Established in 1888, the Star Ferry company’s most recent addition to the fleet was in 1989, but these remarkable craft with open lower decks share a few similarities with the hyper-expensive, high-tech, high-speed link between Southampton and Cowes. Both services ferry around the same number of passengers per trip; 200 for the Hong Kong harbour crossing and 187 for the trans-Solent journey. At just one mile, the Star Ferry journey is far shorter although the time taken is roughly the same with the UK crossing lasting five minutes longer and both services navigate waters full of commercial and leisure traffic. But there, any similarity ends. Red Funnel pre-dates the Asian service by a little less than 70 years although her fleet is a good deal more youthful, ripping across nine miles of Solent at around 33 knots while the Star Ferry chugs along at about 5 knots. However, the most astonishing difference between these two vital, very busy ferry routes is the price: the Star Ferry costs just GBP£0.10 (US$0.19, €0.14) per mile. A staggering 8% of the cost of her Anglo, commercial cousin.

Perhaps the quality of the destination is a key factor in the expense of a journey. Although many visiting yachtsmen are unlikely to venture further than 100 metres inland, it is certain that the Isle of Wight has some of Britain’s most beautiful pockets of coast line and areas of undisturbed wilderness. As a gateway to the Island, however, Cowes does not immediately suggest that a beautiful interior lies behind a waterfront where new residential developments compete for space among the older buildings. The current crop of Cowes developers have chosen to combine architectural elements from both the Corniche (nautical Deco) and the Communist Bloc (contempt for the community) in a confusing ‘Soviet Chic’, neo-classic KGB style.

One final WFFC anecdote can illustrate that the quality of a destination rarely influences the price of travel. In 1986, The Snake and three friends were accidentally involved in the overthrow of President Ferdinand Marcos in Manila. Reports in the Western press at the time described this take over by the People Power Movement as ‘peaceful’, however, the city’s police sensed a money-making opportunity and incarcerated many tourists. So, as Imelda Marcos packed her infamous shoe collection and her kleptocrat husband stuffed suitcases with gold bullion and skipped to Hawaii, The Snake & Co paid a US$70:00 ‘fine’ per head (the average Manila cop’s monthly wage was US$17:00) and high-tailed out of town to the island of Boracay.

After a short internal flight and a truck ride through the jungles of Kalibo in a jeepney truck that doubled as a troop carrier for the island’s poorly-armed freedom fighters, we connected with a canoe-ferry at Caticlan. The 30 minute, three mile crossing to Boracay is still a bargain today at £00:21 (US$00:41, €00:30) per mile and although The Snake’s journey was slightly extended due to the propeller dropping off (remedied by lending the helmsman a mask and snorkel), the island was an unparalleled paradise of stilt huts and hurricane lamps. There were no roads on the island and no vehicles, though many locals wore motor cycle crash helmets in strong winds as a defence against falling coconuts. Today, however, the island has an airstrip, a golf course, mains electricity and a thriving property business. In 1986, room service was limited to a soft knock on your hut’s door after dawn and the complimentary gift of a coconut shell filled with magic mushrooms. It is possible that the semi-naked, four-year-old girl who delivered this breakfast of champions is now general manager at one of Boracay’s luxury hotels.

It appears, then, there is no clear link between ticket price and a ferry’s destination, its location or the duration of its journey. One group determined to find the answers to this mystery is the Ferry Passengers for a Fair Deal organisation based in Newport on the Isle of Wight. Determined to study the impact of the ferry’s cost on Islanders’ and Island businesses, the group is petitioning the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission, the House of Commons Select Committee on Transport and the Secretary of State for the Department of Trade and Industry to provoke a new investigation into the ferry pricing. To sign the petition online: http://www.competition4iowferries.blogspot.com

Dealing with this amount of bureaucracy is time consuming, so until a positive answer from the British Government is forthcoming, it is worthwhile looking at some of the figures involved: In 2000, AB Ports, owners of Southampton Docks, sold the ferry service to JP Morgan’s private equity wing for £71million. Four years later, the business was sold on for £100 million (including debts) to Halifax and Bank of Scotland (HBOS) and in June this year, Infracapital – a wing of the insurance giant, Prudential – paid £200million for the company. With HBOS senior staff and management holding a stake of 51% in Red Funnel, the suits at the top of the food chain pocketed a cool £40million in this deal including a £32.5million profit. Nice work, team.