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Bemus Point-Stow Ferry’s Future In Doubt

STOW — The Bemus Point-Stow Ferry is out of service for the foreseeable future and its long-term future is in doubt.

At a recent emergency meeting Bemus Point-Stow Ferry board, board members discussed the state’s annual survey. Each year the ferry is inspected carefully to make sure it is safe to operate and for the public to ride. This year was the 10th year survey where the boat has to be hand-steered to the Steamboat cradle near Mayville Park and the bottom inspected for wear and for proper maintenance.

Board members knew the 2018 inspection would be one that might indicate a possible large expenditure of money and repair time for the ferry. Proactively, board members had the ferry hauled out at Mayville at the end of the 2017 summer season for a marine survey to help plan for repairs. The hull was sound for its age and board members said they were relieved when the ferry was returned to its dock in Stow.

Then, there was an inspection by the state on April 12 after a team of volunteers removed the ferry’s wooden decking, exposing the metal decking and watertight covers into the bilges. It was after the April 12 inspection results were delivered to the board that the ferry was taken out of service.

Paul O. Stage, a board member and volunteer, said there are a number of things that need to be fixed, but the biggest issue right now is that roughly a half-dozen frame rails that support the deck are wasting away. A repair plan can’t be finalized until after a May 30 out-of-water inspection, and it won’t be until that inspection is completed that the volunteers who operate the ferry will know for sure how much the repairs will cost.

“It’s time-consuming and expensive,” Stage said. “It takes time and money, which we’re unsure how much it’s going to be. We have a final inspectin at the end of the month, the final out-of-water inspection. We’ll have a little better idea at that point. We know it will be in the tens of thousands foofdollars. It’s expensive.”

Complicating matters is the availability of trained workers and financial position of the organization that oversees the ferry’s operation. Tens of thousands of dollars have been spent keeping the Bemus Point-Stow Ferry in working order over the past 10 years, but years of neglect before the current group of volunteers took over have taken their toll.

“Certainly, we’re going to need money,” Stage said. “Right now we have to identify what the issues are. It may be too heavy of a lift. We’re still trying to get our arms around it.”

The issues didn’t take the group totally by surprise. Volunteers knew the ferry was going to need work, especially since many of the repairs that have been made over time were minimal ones. An internal inspection by a marine surveyor hired by the volunteer group last year pointed out many of the issues the state inspector found. Volunteers also thanked the village of Mayville for allowing the ferry to be dry-docked in the village for the out-of-water inspection on May 30. Stage said the ferry has had tens of thousands of riders over the past few years, many who just ride back and forth across the lake to experience the nature of the historic water crossing.

“Ultimately, we all want the ferry to stay on the lake forever, or as long as we can” Stage said. “The repairs, if we get them done, the ferry should be good for another 40 or 50 years. It’s past the point, beyond the point, of cobbling it together.”

For more information and updates, visit the Friends and Fans of the Bemus- Point Stow Ferry on Facebook.

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