PORT CLINTON — Getting from Point A to Point B is sometimes monotonous.
But when your mode of transportation is a ferryboat, getting there is part of the fun.
“We really look at this as the whole island experience starts when [guests] get to the dock,” said Nicole DeFreitas, spokesman for the Jet Express, just one of several daily ferry transportation services from the mainland to the Lake Erie islands.
It’s been a company-building year for the Jet, which started service in 1989 by four partners, and a new, $3.2 million catamaran, and is operated by majority owner and President Todd Blumensaadt and the McCann family. This year, it added trips to Cedar Point to its schedule, and has focused on increasing weekday travel, Ms. DeFreitas said.
Since its inception, the company has added three catamarans, which are all between about 88 and 99 feet long and hold between 150 and 400 passengers. They were built by Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding in Somerset, Mass.
“To me, the boat ride is a crucial part of the trip,” said Linda Barthel, 73, of Louisville, Ohio, who was a passenger on the Jet as part of a bus tour visiting the islands from the Canton area.
PHOTO GALLERY: Lake Erie ferries
John Ansberg, 69, was looking for something to do after he retired from his business, Ansberg-West Funeral Home in Toledo, almost four years ago, and fit right in at the Jet Express.
“It almost seemed like a dream job; too good to be true. I go to work now in shorts and a shirt, as opposed to a dark suit and tie,” he said as he helped clean the catamaran after a trip.
While the Jet ferries passengers around to the north side of the island at a faster clip, the Miller Boat Line offers passengers a shorter, slower-paced ride to the south side of the island straight from the Catawba point.
The Miller family started the company in the early 1900s as a fishing charter and ice business before it morphed into a passenger service in the 1970s when tourism took over as the primary economic driver. The Miller family sold the business to the Market family in the 1970s. Currently owned by siblings Julene, Bill, and Scott Market, the family said they continued the Miller name as a “salute to the Miller family … our island heritage, and goodwill the company has cultivated over the past century.”
The Miller caters to those who want — or need — to take a vehicle to Put-in-Bay. Its four, drive-on ferries have the capability of holding up to 500 passengers and from 16 to 26 vehicles.
Mark Keiser, 62, one of the Miller Boat Line captains, enjoys his job at the helm, and always makes sure he has treats in his pockets for the many dogs who go back and forth to the islands.
“We are kind of maritime baby sitters in a lot of ways. Some people have never been on a boat, and we have to give them a little guidance,” Keiser said.
On the other side of the mainland, in the village of Marblehead, 29 captains and crew members man the decks of four ferries that can each transport 149 passengers to Kelleys Island per trip.
The biggest ferry for Kelleys Island Ferry Boat Lines, The Shirley Irene, named after owner James Paladino’s mother, holds up to 35 cars. The other three boats named after Paladino’s five granddaughters — the Juliet Alicia, the Carlee Emily, and the Kayla Marie — hold between 15 and 24 vehicles.
“Weekends are crazy through October,” said Kelleys Island Service Capt. George Danchisen, who estimates the ferry service probably hauls about 1,000 vehicles and more than 6,000 people on a big weekend.
For more information about ferry services, go to kelleysislandferry.com, jet-express.com, millerferry.com.
Contact Roberta Gedert at: rgedert@theblade.com or 419-724-6075 or on Twitter @RoGedert.
First Published July 17, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
