New ferry service, starting this Saturday, departing from the same Aberdeen ferry pier as our Tsui Wah ferries to Pak Kok and YSW. All the signage at the Aberdeen pier has been updated already.

This looks like a "sister company" of Tsui Wah, sharing the same office and winning the Transport Dept tendering last year for this new route.

Anybody coming along on Sat to Aberdeen, then to Cheung Chau on this brand-new route ($32)?

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Not to complain (it is a nice new service) but it does not seem to be a good fit as in connection-wise for our ferry service. Am I right in assuming it will be about an hour journey? Would love to hear how it goes for you on Saturday, if you go, L-G.

Photos in progress of a 1-hour Sunday trip on the new route to Cheung Chau,
plus a good chat with Monita of Tsui Wah/Maris Ferry, trying to find out why they can't combine the service with their Aberdeen-Lamma route, even though they wouldn't mind doing so.

Basically, the Pak Kok ferry pier is way too small for the much bigger boats of the Aberdeen-Cheung Chau service, awaiting a not-yet-confirmed rebuilding.
They might be considering YSW in the future, depending on the experiences of the new Cheung Chau route which is basically going around North Lamma on its way to Cheung Chau.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

A lot more photos from my Sunday, Aug 9 journey on this ferry, with a big focus on bike parking on another Outlying Island:
https://www.facebook.com/Lamma.Gung/media_set?set=a.10153672979908149.1073741849.683218148&type=3

Plus some more photos of an intrepid traveller on the maiden voyage on 8/8, 7:15am:
http://www.hkitalk.net/HKiTalk2/thread-916890-1-1.html

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Dickie writes:
"As if the shock to the system of returning to school after the summer holidays was not enough, it was with a shocked expressions that the some of the Lamma teaching community and students sat in the Aberdeen Harbour waiting for the new Cheung Chau ferry service to disembark from the Aberdeen pier at around 7.15 sm.

This dismay soon turned to panic, when we started missing buses to get to school on time and in some cases, a few people had to grab taxis. The difference of the Lamma ferry docking a few minutes later than usual had caused chaos for many of us creatures of habit!!

What to do? Like any kind of Lamma crisis, turn to the man in the know... Lamma-Gung!! Within 24 hours of speaking to Lamma-Gung and a polite letter to the manager of the Tsui Wah Ferry service, the wonderful and very accommodating Monita Leung, normal service was resumed, with the Lamma ferry docking first and the Cheung Chau ferry following very close behind.

Thank you so much to all concerned for listening and reacting so quickly and positively to help the Lamma community!"

I've been a fan of the extremely responsive, friendly Tsui Wah ferry service with outstanding crew since moving to Pak Kok. They even returned to pick me up a few weeks ago at the Pak Kok pier when I was a few seconds late; or last week when the staff returned my Octopus card (I had left it on a ferry seat) to my wife in person the next morning!

Their first little fare increase in 6 years is coming up on Sep 27. Details to follow very soon...

In the meantime, check out their new Aberdeen-Cheung Chau service, from the same Aberdeen ferry pier. Highly recommended and very scenic, like an inter islands cruise!

Lamma-zine story and links...

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

Ferry fare increase on the Yung Shue Wan - Pak Kok - Aberdeen ferry by Tsui Wah from Sep 27.
This is the first increase in 6 years and it's just about 8%, so there was no opposition that I'm aware of.

Lammadonna did a survey, see higher up in this topic, but the results are secret and not available to anybody, despite repeated requests, not available to the media and not even Tsui Wah Ferry. No point filling in a survey in your mailbox next time if the results are secret and will not be disclosed...

The survey results were obviously not as expected, no major opposition to the modest fare increase, so kept secret. Otherwise we'd surely have heard that the residents object!

The satisfaction of the daily customers seems to be very high, especially with the crew and the very high punctuality/reliability of the service, so no passengers I talked to seemed to mind a modest fare increase. Quite the opposite of all the complaints about HKKF, their crew and their regular, major fare increases...

Time table (fares not updated yet):
http://www.traway.com.hk/02/index.html

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

A nicer, new landing/departure pontoon for the Lamma and Cheung Chau ferries (leaving from the same Aberdeen pontoon) was put in place yesterday.

A few passenger were confused by the posted notices and had to search for the temporary location of the landing pontoon yesterday. Frequent passenger Lamma-Por came home from Aberdeen upset after searching for it yesterday. All fine now.

Photo from Monita at Tsui Wah (Lamma) / Maris (Aberdeen-Cheung Chau) Ferry.

She writes: "The new pontoon is now in position. The Aberdeen Landing pontoon remains unchanged.
Please be aware that the new pontoon is higher and bigger than the last one, so please mind your step."

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.

On the Pak Kok Ferry pier the other day, Yu Lai Fan has been handing out questionnaires to urge the Govt. to improve the ferry pier. Facebook discussion.
This pier has been renovated several times in recent year, after ferries crashing into it when docking head on, a very difficult and dangerous manoeuvre, even for Tsui Wah's experienced ferry pilots, as there's a current flowing past the pier.

Getting on and off needs good balance and experience. An elderly Chin. lady living in Pak Kok fell off last year and drowned. Other accidents have happened when passengers are (dis)embarking. Various improvement ideas have been suggested over the years, but no Govt. action has been taken, beyond basic repairs.

_________________
Click here for Lamma-zine stories and recent Lamma Spotlights of the Week:
Photo, Video, Person, Wildlife, Bird, Artwork.