Growing up on Vashon Island meant that I spent a lot of time with ferries. They feature strongly in my memories and, like many islanders, I have a passionate love/hate relationship with ferries. Anyway, one of the highlights of the weekend was riding the ferry to Cat Ba Island. I thought I would do a comparison between the Cat Ba Ferries and the the beloved Washington State Ferries (WSF).
-It was kinda hard to tell who the ferry workers were in Cat Ba. Some of them were wearing uniforms (more like the army variety) and some were wearing business suits. The anonymity of the workers didn't seem to hinder their performance as they got down to business and loaded the ferries on time! This all boils down to a definite absence of the power trip sometimes found among WSF workers (Mad Marge - need I say more?).
- The ferries were loaded and unloaded in a somewhat random fashion. Cars, buses, motorbikes, and pedestrians got on and off at their leisure. It was a little alarming for someone used to the more orderly approach of WSF.
- The ferry docks were essentially concrete slabs and there was usually more than one ferry there at a time. Imagine all of these ferries loading and unloading in their special way and you get the picture of the relative chaos that reigned. Still, everyone seemed to get to the right place and this was all done without blinking lights and walkie talkies (I'm just saying that might be one way to keep the WSF ticket prices down).
- There was a snack place on the Cat Ba ferries and, believe it or not, I could afford the snacks.
- The bathroom on the ferry was a wooden outhouse with a drop box philosophy. The lock on the door was broken which gave way to the obvious problem of the door being opened at inconvenient times. Give me a WSF bathroom any day.
-Undoubtably, WSF is faster. I had to keep looking around to see if we were moving. There wasn't much of a wake.
- We ended up eating our lunch on the Cat Ba Ferry sitting in a circle on the floor (not a lot of benches to be had). Of course, it was the floor of the control room at the top of the ferry. The WSF have plenty of padded benches and tables but I've never been in the control room. I guess it's a toss up which I would prefer.
- There is a definite theme of safety in the WSF system. Bright orange vests, warnings, posters, drills... Bryce used to get nervous when we parked in a cross-hatched area of the car deck. We didn't really notice that same theme here. There
were some orange life rings that were obviously very accessible since the students seemed to have a good time playing with them.
- After taking the Cat Ba Ferry we started to realize all of the paint that must go into keeping the WSF system going. Paint for the outside, the inside, the warning signs, the car deck... It
is a lot of paint, but I think it is worth it. The alternative is an amazing amount of rust and bewildered passengers.
This guy was making containers for the pieces to be fired in. He was mixing materials with his feet here in a cool little dance. 
Bryce and Titus worked together to make a snail with their hands. You can kind of see the big block of clay in the background.
There is a woman there who paints the same design on tea cups all day. Her hands moved so fast it was impossible to tell what she did and when. One second the cup was blank and then next it was finished and nestled in stacks with hundreds of others. She let Titus and Maggie paint a few cups of their own. They had some very original, if less precise, designs.
This family made tea cups and tea pots. These are the cup molds. In the background you can see the door to the kiln. It's coal powered and wasn't on today.
We also went shopping. There were so many beautiful things. I kept trying to remind myself that ceramics aren't easy to take home in your luggage. Of course, I bought stuff anyway. What else could I do on a beautiful sunny day in a town full of shops?
