Ferry service likely by mid-May

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Gulf Islands National Seashore, the City of Pensacola, Fla., and Escambia County officials say they likely will be ready to start ferry-passenger services – from downtown Pensacola, Fort Pickens, and an unfinished site behind Quietwater Boardwalk on Pensacola Beach – by May 19, officials say. “We are on schedule to have a ferry operator under contract by this spring," said Dan Brown, superintendent of Gulf Islands National Seashore. Two 150-passenger ferries – designed to tentatively from May to October- were originally scheduled to begin service between the sites last spring, but was been delayed for a year because of problems constructing ferry landings and finding a contractor to operate the ferries. "We are in a far different place today than we were a year ago," said Brown. A contest to name the two ferries by school children resulted in Turtle Runner and Pelican Perch. The ferries are being funded with $5.2M BP oil spill restitution monies. Gulf Islands National Seashore is spearheading the project. The ferries are covered in protective plastic wrapping in dry dock at the Port of Pensacola. They are slated to be taken from dry dock and undergo sea trials in April by the U.S. Coast Guard. Each leg of the triangular trip would take up to 45 minutes. (Source: Pensacola News Journal 01/29/18)