Time Transported in

For 83 years, Coronado ferries made the trip between San Diego and Coronado offering newcomers a wondrous first impression of Coronado and commuters a relaxed start and finish to their workdays.

Coronado Ferries Remain a Fond Memory

By LESLIE CRAWFORD

oronado celebrated many anniversaries in 2019, but one anniversary passed pretty quietly, noted for the most part only by the people who remembered it: the end of Coronado ferries service 50 years ago.

During the ferry system’s 83 years in service, it is estimated 250 million people were shuttled across San Diego Bay. In 1961, it was reported there were 338 crossings daily with four ferries and departures every six minutes. Studies showed that 4,064,000 cars crossed in 1967. There were only two sizable interruptions to service in all those years: a ferry strike in 1954 and a seismic surge from an earthquake in Japan in 1960.

While it wasn’t an official ferry of C

the San Diego & Coronado Ferry Company, Della, a 21-foot-long steam yacht, owned by H. L. Story and named for his wife, Adella, was the first transport service between San Diego and Coronado, operating as a towboat for the Coronado Beach Company. It began in December 1885, ferrying laborers to Coronado to clear land for building. It was later used to move passengers and supplies across the bay.

On April 16, 1886, Babcock and Story filed articles of incorporation for the San Diego & Coronado Ferry Company, retaining the sole right to provide transportation across the bay to and from San Diego. The first ferry was ordered to be built in San Francisco.

On the ride across the bay, you could sit in your car, look over the rail at the rushing water or go topside for a panoramic view of San Diego Bay in the comfort of an enclosed sitting area.

Not including Della, there were 10 official ferries taking people back and forth to Coronado during the years of service. The first five ferries were steam-powered paddle wheelers. The next five were diesel ships and were in operation up to the end of ferry service in 1969.

The ferries were beloved but becoming impractical by the second half of the 1960s, with cars lined up on Orange Avenue to get off the island. There was simply too much traffic. The San Diego-Coronado Bridge was inevitable. Considered competitive against bridge toll revenue, the ferry company was required to cease operations at midnight on Aug. 2, 1969, the exact moment the bridge opened for business. The last five ferries were sold by the Toll Bridge Authority. Some went on to other services while others quietly disappeared.

CORONADO (1886-1922)

The Coronado cost $15,000, was a coal burning double-ender, built with side paddle wheels so it wouldn’t need to be turned around on each side of the bay. It was formally commissioned and put into service on Aug. 19, 1886. A round trip on Sunday cost 25 cents. The Coronado measured 100 feet long and accommodated 13 horse teams with buggies and 600 people. The boat was also used to transport materials and workers for the construction of the Hotel Del Coronado. It was in service until 1922 when it was sold to a motion picture company and remodeled to look like a Spanish galleon for the silent movie Captain Blood. It was eventually blown up and sunk for the movie.

SILVERGATE (1888-1890)

The eagerly awaited Silvergate was named for the entrance to San Diego Bay. Built in the Coronado shipyard on North Island, the Silvergate was hailed to be “new and different” with elaborate woodwork and a look of the “Gay Nineties.” The ferry measured 187 feet long by 51 feet wide, with a 7-foot draft. The lower deck was able to carry 50 horse teams and the upper deck held 1,000 passengers. Launched on April 1, 1888, the ferry was a disaster from the beginning. It was unwieldy, and within a month of starting service, it crashed into piers, causing extensive damage on both sides of the bay. The Silvergate’s service ended in just two years. It was converted into a floating casino at Tent City in the early 1900s and was the headquarters for San Diego Yacht Club for a short time. It was dismantled after World War I.

BENICIA (1888-1903)

The Benicia was already 7 years old when it was purchased by the ferry company for $9,700 and was overhauled with a new boiler and fresh paint. Like the Coronado, the Benicia was 105 feet long. It was soon deemed too small and was replaced by the Ramona.

RAMONA (1903-1931)

The Ramona was the first ferry in the San Diego & Coronado Ferry Company's fleet to have incandescent lights. Built at Moore

Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. in Oakland, it measured 188 feet by 29 feet by 12 feet and could carry 14 automobiles. After it was decommissioned, it was remodeled into a beer-garden/café at the foot of Scott Street and Harbor Drive in San Diego, but a few years later it sank at the dock under mysterious circumstances.

MORENA (1920-1938)

Built in Wilmington, California, for a cost of $200,000, the Morena was equipped with a 500-horsepower, 2-cylinder steam engine (the last steam-driven vessel in the fleet), and was considered to be advanced in design, allowing passengers to embark and disembark from the main and upper decks, speeding up the turnaround time at the docks. At 170 feet by 65 feet, the ferry could carry 800 passengers and 40 automobiles. Its service ended in 1938. It was then used by the Navy to train gun crews.

CORONADO II (1929-1969)

The Coronado II was the first diesel/electric ship in service. Like the Ramona, it was built at Moore Shipbuilding & Drydock Company. At 190 feet by 60 feet by 9 feet, the hull was divided into seven steel watertight compartments and powered by two 500-horsepower Atlas-Imperial diesel engines. The lower level carried 58 cars and housed the purser’s office, restrooms and crew quarters. The second level was half open, half enclosed for passengers. The pilot house with centralized controls was on the third level. On the maiden voyage, Army pilot William Van Dusen circled over the ferry dropping flowers and a letter of congratulations from the San Diego Chamber of Commerce while other planes dropped flowers as well. After its time on San Diego

SAN DIEGO (1931-1969)

This ship was an enlarged version of the Coronado II. Also built at Moore Shipbuilding, it had three 350-horesepower Atlas Imperial diesel engines and cost $300,000. At 205 feet by 60 feet by 9 feet, the San Diego could carry 200 passengers and 66 cars. Thanks to efforts of the Coronado Civic Club, a new rule was established that trucks would no longer get right of way ahead of cars. The ferry went on to Washington, running passengers between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island from 1970 to ’74 and then went Vancouver, British Columbia, where it languished for years. In 1984, an entrepreneur wanted to bring the ferry back to Coronado as a floating restaurant but failed. In 1994, it was towed up the Sacramento River and left to vandalism and theft. After a fire damaged the upper deck, it was towed to Mare Island and dismantled.

The ferry landing on the San Diego side was at the base of Pacific Highway where Seaport Village sits now. It was a short trip straight across the channel.

NORTH ISLAND (1939-1969)

Built in 1923 in Alameda, the North Island was formally known as the Golden West. Originally in service in San Francisco, its career up north ended when the Golden Gate Bridge was completed. Slightly larger than the two previous ferries at 214 feet by 58 feet by 9 feet, it could carry 550 passengers and 70 autos. The ferry ended up in Ensenada, where it was stripped of valuable material with plans to make a floating restaurant.

SILVER STRAND (1944-1969)

Originally named the Elwha, the Silver Strand was purchased from the Puget Sound Navigation Company for $300,000. After considerable work, it was a much-needed addition to the fleet allowing for increased trips across the bay each day. The Silver Strand could carry up to 66 autos per crossing. After it was sold, the boat was anchored in Los Angeles Harbor but broke its moorings and capsized during heavy weather.

CROWN CITY (1954-1969)

The Crown City was the first ferry to be constructed on the West Coast in 25 years. It was a different design, built without an upper deck and open to the elements. At 242 feet long, it could carry 70 automobiles. Like the San Diego, it went to Washington and plied the waters between Whidbey Island, Mukilteo and Columbia Beach. The ferry was eventually sold again, towed through the Panama Canal and since the late 1990s has been plying the waters of Martha’s Vineyard.

The Coronado ferries left their mark and still resonate with anyone who remembers riding them. For a nickel and later a dime, you could ride all day. Deck chairs provided comfortable lounging to enjoy the salt air and sea breezes. Friends settled into the cabins to play bridge during multiple round trips. Kids could take bikes across the bay and have a great day of adventure in San Diego. And you couldn’t ask for a better way to start and end a date with your sweetheart. It was a 10-minute trip each way with a spectacular view of the bay, Navy ships, fishing boats, downtown and old homes along Coronado’s waterfront.

Centennial Park at Orange Avenue and First Street was established in 1986, on the 100th anniversary of the first Coronado ferry. The park stands in the corridor where cars got on and off the ferry. A salvaged ticket booth sits in the park as a reminder of the old ferry days.

Gone but not forgotten.

Tales From the Senior Captain

In 1986 veteran ferry captain Curtis Allen was interviewed by Jeanne Danis, reporter for the Coronado

Journal about his time working for San Diego & Coronado Ferry Company. Starting as a deckhand and working his way to senior captain over a 36-year career, he said his job was never boring. Getting cars and people loaded onto the ferry, putting the retaining bar in place, traversing across the bay while dodging pleasure craft, Navy ships and fishing boats was non-stop work in a beautiful environment.

Occasionally a rider would fall or jump overboard, which required quick thinking on the part of the captain to immediately reverse engines and get a life-ring in the water. Allen also remembered pregnant women occasionally holding up the ferry. It was not uncommon to hear someone yell, “Hold the boat – woman in labor,” Allen said. “I don’t know why, but mothers who lived in San Diego would want to give birth in Coronado, and Coronado mothers would want to go to Balboa Hospital.” No babies were born on the ferry on his watch, but a few were born aboard the ferries over the years.

Sometimes people even forgot they had driven their car onto the ferry, leaving it behind as they walked home. “But everybody knew whose car it was,” Allen said. “It was that kind of a town back then.” – Leslie Crawford