My thanks to “Park and Float” skipper Dave Fearn, of the passenger ferry Black Swan for the interesting two days I spent acting as his deckhand. From 1000 until 1800 each day we ran a continuous ferry service from the Ponsharden Park and Float terminus to Custom House quay and back.

Dave, who is a highly-experienced skipper, has worked on various ferries during his time in the port. A qualified tree surgeon, he spends his time on the water during the summer, then in the winter he takes to the trees. His partner Sam Evans works at the Park and Float Ponsharden terminus for FalRiver, Cornwall’s largest independent ferry company.

We were running the service alongside Kenny Pilson, owner skipper of the ferry Pride of Falmouth.

Black Swan carried hundreds of passengers on our 24 trips each day. At Custom House quay our passengers were greeted by FalRiver’ s Louise Jones who directed them to the various amenities Falmouth has to offer, whilst ensuring other people destined for St Mawes and Place were allocated the right ferry.

Skipper Richard “Richy” Warwicker of the St Mawes ferry May Queen is celebrating 41 years working on this well known vessel during which time he has carried tens of thousands of passengers across the harbour from Custom House quay.

The Park and Float operation is a carefully planned operation whereby visitors can leave their vehicles at Ponsharden, then catch either a bus or boat into the heart of Falmouth, thus reducing the town’s traffic congestion and pollution levels. It works well with passengers remarking to me that the service also provided them with a short but enjoyable harbour cruise down the Penryn River to the town.