Ballyvaughan Bay Hop - Fast ferry to Galway

dasium

Just cut and pasted the info from their site, but feel its a great idea.... any thoughts?


Ballyvaughan Bay Hop will run a fast ferry service between Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare and Galway City during the week of the 25th June, culminating with a service to coincide with the opening ceremony of the Volvo Ocean Race on Saturday 30th June.

Departing from the New Pier, Ballyvaughan, the service will run 3 times daily and will facilitate commuters from the North Clare area needing to travel to Galway. With ample parking available at the pier, commuters can park and ride across the bay directly into the heart of Galway city, leaving the stress of traffic jams and parking behind them. A 10-journey commuter ticket is cheaper than a tank of petrol, making the ferry a more cost-effective eco-friendly commuting option.

This service will also provide travellers from Galway with a novel way to visit and explore the Burren, with accommodation and meal value packages with Ballyvaughan eateries and guesthouses available to enhance their trip.

The service will be operated by Rib West on behalf of Ballyvaughan Bay Hop in a fully licenced enclosed passenger rib as part of a pilot project to establish a community fast passenger service serving the North Clare region.

http://www.ballyvaughanbayhop.com/

Share their page to be in with a chance of winning free tickets on facebook...

http://www.facebook.com/BallyvaughanBayHop

Brennans Row

I agree a great idea!

We holiday nearly every year around Ballyvaughan and a day trip to Galway City is always on the agenda.

Definitely a fab alternative than going by car! :cool:

CptSternn

Thats a brilliant idea. I hope enough people take advantage of it to make it a permanent option.

Chavways

It'd be a pretty fast journey aswell.I've seen those RibWest speedboats and they're extremely fast.

dr.fuzzenstein

Cool! Must check for tickets, what a neat idea and what an appropriate way to arrive. I'm first in line for the roast pig.

dasium

Obviously of more interest to those using the service from Galway.... but a good deal all the same..

This seems a good offer for a day trip...

BurrenBikes and Ballyvaughan Bay Hop have teamed up to offer a special ferry+bike combo return ticket for just €25!

dasium

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...r&notif_t=like

Great photograph of the first sailing....

two wheels good

What a good idea! And Ballyvaughan is a nice spot to visit too.
BTW that facebook link didn't work - looks abbreviated.
PS Maybe you should post in the sailing forum too

dasium

[IMG][/img]

Here's the image..

Facebook page(where I stole the image from) is: http://www.facebook.com/BallyvaughanBayHop

dasium

two wheels good wrote: »

What a good idea! And Ballyvaughan is a nice spot to visit too.
BTW that facebook link didn't work - looks abbreviated.
PS Maybe you should post in the sailing forum too

Didn't even know there was a sailing forum! not normally nautically minded! But hope this community venture takes off...

interl00per

Looks like this trial has been discontinued.
It seemed to be going really well.

https://www.facebook.com/BallyvaughanBayHop

dasium

posted on the Galway City thread re the Bay Hop

Cancellation
Hi Everybody,

its great to see such interest in our project. We are very disappointed that we were not able to complete the trial as everyone who tried out the service enjoyed it. We would especially like to say sorry to everyone who had booked for the remaining days as all remaining sailings were practically fully booked. One thing that's clear is from the trial is the demand for this type of transport option between Galway and North Clare.

The trial was not cancelled due to the weather as some have speculated (though if there had been a small craft warning in place the rib would not have travelled). Sadly, the trips have been discontinued because our chartered operator decided to cancel the sailing on Thursday morning without any notification. He subsequently decided to cancel all further sailings. We've learnt a lot from the few days the service was running and our project to establish a community fast ferry service will continue and hopefully it won't be too long before we have another boat, this time a Redbay Stormforce 11 passenger cabin rib, in the water.

Great to see their enthusiasm is undiminished despite an unscrupulous charterer, and that they gleamed enough info to prove it's viable...

two wheels good

I hope you can sue them for breach of contract.

CptSternn

Makes you wonder if the abrupt cancellation by the companies involved were in any way politically motivated? As we have seen with the airport(s), whenever anyone mentions connecting rail lines to them the local merchants swing into action and get the council to quickly shut down the idea. Even with the new bypass you had the same knee-jerk reaction by businesses who for some reason think if you create new roads their business will be looked over as commuters travel a different route.

If it hasn't become an issue yet, I'm sure it's just a matter of time before the same mentality takes over and there is a movement to kill such initiatives. Sad really, considering it would have the opposite effect sure.

Ribtickler

No, there was no political motivation behind the sudden cancellation. All was going great until the morning of the 4th day when the chartered operator decided to cancel the day's service without notifying us, and when we tried to ascertain whether the trial would continue for the remaining days he withdrew his vessel. As a result, we had to disappoint all the passengers who had booked for the final 3 days.

There has been a lot of discussion about the profitability of this project. The community will benefit if this service gets off the ground as it will provide opportunities for local residents to travel and work in Galway city and it will attract visitors to Ballyvaughan and the Burren. Our aim has always been to progress this as a sustainable community service rather than an outright commercial venture.

It's great to see the interest the project has attracted and we are following all your comments with interest.

haybob

Please excuse me, I’m slightly confused here but before I ask you to clarify my confusion I’d like to wish you well with the venture and hope you get it up and running.

Was the bay hop different to the Ferry from Ballyvaughan to the Volvo ocean race or is it the same

Ribtickler wrote: »

No, there was no political motivation behind the sudden cancellation. All was going great until the morning of the 4th day when the chartered operator decided to cancel the day's service without notifying us, and when we tried to ascertain whether the trial would continue for the remaining days he withdrew his vessel. As a result, we had to disappoint all the passengers who had booked for the final 3 days.

There has been a lot of discussion about the profitability of this project. The community will benefit if this service gets off the ground as it will provide opportunities for local residents to travel and work in Galway city and it will attract visitors to Ballyvaughan and the Burren. Our aim has always been to progress this as a sustainable community service rather than an outright commercial venture.

It's great to see the interest the project has attracted and we are following all your comments with interest.

Ribtickler

haybob wrote: »

...
Was the bay hop different to the Ferry from Ballyvaughan to the Volvo ocean race or is it the same

Ballyvaughan Bay Hop was running a trial fast ferry service to test the demand and appetite for this type of service between North Clare and Galway City.

O'Brien Line ferries are running two special trips over to the Race Village on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th in a larger vessel. See http://www.obrienline.com/ for details

dasium

Might be of interest to those following this thread....

From Spring 2013, it is envisaged that a private operator will offer a basic service to regular commuters - one sailing across to Galway in the morning and a return sailing that evening, with potential to increase this service based on demand.

Ballyvaughan Bay Hop is delighted to report that a new independent private marine start-up venture focusing on marine ecotourism and professional services is interested in operating the commuter fast ferry service between Ballyvaughan and Galway City. This service has the potential to stem the village's declining population by positioning Ballyvaughan as a viable commuter town for Galway City, which is the largest centre of enterprise and employment nearby. In the absence of a reliable public transport service with a timetable suited to working commuters, employment and education options for the community of Ballyvaughan remain limited with wider options only available to those with access to private cars. The short water trials in June indicated a very real appetite and enthusiasm for this type of transport service to Galway City.

More details to follow!



They also have a survey on their facebook page....

Do you regularly travel to Galway from the North Clare area? If you do, please help to shape this community ferry service by completing this short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BT2HRQG