There's Nothing Like An Old Ferry

Twin cargo ferries ---- MS Isla Mujeres and MS Isla Blanca ---have been carrying trucks, cars, and foot passengers like me from the mainland for about 45 years. They were built in Louisiana and motored the 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico in 1965 when the world was bigger. Low and slow, these oldies were classic plodders with saltwater spraying on the vehicles. When you walked onto the steel gangplank you didn't expect any comforts. And you would be right --- the 45-minute passage was on a pocked steel upper deck in sun and wind. I loved every journey on these tubs, the closest thing to an old Humphrey Bogart movie but in rust-and-diesel instead of black-and-white.

Things have changed. This past summer one of the twins, the Isla M, was retired, like an old friend who just disappears from your contact list with no forwarding address. In it's place is a new/old ferry re-christened the Sergio Gracia Aguilar. It was built in South Korea in 2006 but motored in 2010 across the Pacific Ocean, through the Panama Canal, and up to the Caribbean! Think about how the world has gotten smaller. That journey took 2 months and they had to carry huge tanks of extra diesel fuel, but here it is. Must have been a great price!

The Sergio is faster and prevents salt water hitting the vehicles, but has a smaller capacity. And someone forgot to measure the gangplank --- it didn't match the pier and a new concrete ramp had to be built before it could be used! Oh sure, passengers now have comfy indoor seating with giant plasma TV screen. But if I have a choice of sailing times, there's nothing like the old ferry.