You could be forgiven for thinking they serve sandwiches on Glansteffan, the amphibious ferry that continues the thousand-year-old tradition of plying passengers across the Tywi Estuary between the eponymous Ferryside and Llansteffan.
The “Ferry Sandwich” is how Carmarthen Bay Ferries (CBF) describes its new operating procedure. It includes sunrise and sunset trips, bookable on-line at www.carmarthenbayferries.com .
“Imagine two slices of bread with a filling in between” said a spokesperson. “In our case, the bottom slice is a 45 minute rapid ferry service reaching ‘the other side’ in less than 5 minutes. “When ferry passengers are safely redistributed to opposite shores, we stop ferrying and switch to the “sandwich filling” – up to three 45-minute estuary trips with commentaries. Finally, in the last 45-minutes of daily operations we add the top bread slice by ferrying again, returning passengers to the shore they came from. It gives passengers a few hours on “the other side.” Ferry-Trips-Ferry; the Ferry Sandwich”
Of course, all this is dependent on tides. The service operates two hours either side of high tide; daily during school holidays; weekends outside these times.
“It’s proving very popular!” commented Director Andrew Kirkpatrick, “particularly the sunset trips. On-line sales with options for cash and card payments on board make payment easy. The ferry service is not bookable, so we advise passengers to arrive early to avoid disappointment. Passengers for trips need to check which “side” they depart from. There is no beach at Ferryside on high tides, so we cannot always offer trips from there. We need to balance the service from both sides. Dogs and bikes are free on the ferry but are not allowed on trips.”
Except for hourly paid skippers, the ferry relies on increasing numbers of supportive volunteers known as Friends of Glansteffan.
“It is open to anyone over the age of 16 who can spare a few hours on the beach talking and ticketing “, said Kirkpatrick. Just email carmarthenbayferries@gmail.com.
The Tywi estuary has the least man-made intervention of any in the UK. It is famous for one thing – mud! Glansteffan’s crew will tell you that there is a much energy in a 10cm square of Tywi mud as in a Mars bar. That’s what attracts the birds, making this a favourite site for twitchers. There is no better way to photograph birds in flight than from the boat.
Shifting mud and soft sand present challenges to the three retractable wheels of the amphibious Glansteffan.
“Of course we get stuck!” says chair Kenton Morgan, “but only on a small percentage of occasions. It’s a small price to pay for such a wonderful experience. If it interferes with people’s trips, we offer a replacement or refund.”
“An amazing boat on an amazing estuary” is how Alex Baum, a native of Llansteffan, and one of two commercially certified skippers of Glansteffan, describes the experience. On some of our sunset trips, one of the guides gives a rendition of the Sunset Prayer from Under Milk Wood.
“Sung at the mouth of the River Taf with the sun setting over Laugharne, it feels like it belongs there” says Baum.
