Air 2 River Ferry

swooshdave · Jan 26, 2021

A nice relaxing video watching the Canby Ferry on the Willamette River near Portland, Oregon. There has been some flooding in the area which is why the river looks high and dirty. There wasn't a lot of traffic on this Saturday afternoon but there were some motorcyclists having a nice ride.

This is the first real watercraft I've shot. There are power lines on either side of the ferry so that makes it challenging. And I had a late afternoon sun glaring off the water. Still I managed to get a couple good shots.

Thomas B · Jan 26, 2021

Interesting.... electric ferry powered by cables overhead?

teeroy · Jan 26, 2021

That's pretty cool, I've never heard of such a ferry guided by underwater cable yet powered by electricity. Had to look it up on the internet. Canby Ferry - Wikipedia

My son is a deckhand on a ferry close to home here, it is a barge pushed across the Peace River with a diesel powered tugboat. The only one of it's kind in Canada.

hiflyer201 · Jan 27, 2021

cool video...back to simpler times

tlswift58 · Jan 27, 2021

swooshdave said:
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A nice relaxing video watching the Canby Ferry on the Willamette River near Portland, Oregon. There has been some flooding in the area which is why the river looks high and dirty. There wasn't a lot of traffic on this Saturday afternoon but there were some motorcyclists having a nice ride.

This is the first real watercraft I've shot. There are power lines on either side of the ferry so that makes it challenging. And I had a late afternoon sun glaring off the water. Still I managed to get a couple good shots.

Would suggest you go to the other side and have sun at the drones back - to reduce the glare.

Yeah, power lines are nasty, esp when you can't really see them and the drone may not pick them up till too late.

swooshdave · Jan 29, 2021

teeroy said:
That's pretty cool, I've never heard of such a ferry guided by underwater cable yet powered by electricity. Had to look it up on the internet. Canby Ferry - Wikipedia

My son is a deckhand on a ferry close to home here, it is a barge pushed across the Peace River with a diesel powered tugboat. The only one of it's kind in Canada.

View attachment 122558

Now THAT'S an odd setup.

We have at least one other ferry like the Canby one, underwater cable and electric. The Willamette River doesn't have any major traffic. There's a falls (and no lock) just north of the Canby Ferry so no passage there. So all of the traffic is local and recreational so they can get away with these types of ferries.

This is not my video but gives you an idea of the falls.

swooshdave · Jan 29, 2021

tlswift58 said:
Would suggest you go to the other side and have sun at the drones back - to reduce the glare.

Yeah, power lines are nasty, esp when you can't really see them and the drone may not pick them up till too late.

The opening shot is from the other side like you suggest and it does look better. Unfortunately the power lines on that side are in the way and I wouldn't have been able to get the same kind of close up shots that I did from there.

It's hard to get good shots when you know there are power lines all over that will drop your drone into the drink in a moments notice. So I went slow and stayed where I thought I was safe.

teeroy · Jan 29, 2021

swooshdave said:
Now THAT'S an odd setup.

We have at least one other ferry like the Canby one, underwater cable and electric. The Willamette River doesn't have any major traffic. There's a falls (and no lock) just north of the Canby Ferry so no passage there. So all of the traffic is local and recreational so they can get away with these types of ferries.

This is not my video but gives you an idea of the falls.

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The Peace is much the same, only recreational traffic like kayakers, canoes, and a lot of jet boats. The river freezes during winter so the ferry and tug have to be pulled out every season and put back in once the ice lets loose in the spring, usually in late April or May.

There are a few cable ferries in Alberta, but there is a diesel engine on the boat that powers a pulley with the cable wrapped around it to pull the ferry back and forth, the cables are above water and anchored to the shore on either side.

I made a short vid of the ferry dry docked this fall. I'll get some footage of it operating next season.