Balboa Island Ferry
Traveling about 800 feet at 4 miles an hour, the Admiral, the Commodore, and the Captain have shuttled over two million cars and pedestrians across the Newport Harbor between Balboa Island and the Balboa Peninsula. In 1919 Joseph Allan Beek obtained the rights from the city of Newport Beach to provide a ferry service across the harbor. He started transporting customers on The Ark, a giant rowboat with a small engine. Then came the Fat Ferry that held 20 passengers. Beek later built a small one car barge which the Fat Ferry pushed across in front of it. In the 1950s Beek built three double-ended wooden boats that remain in service today. Beek’s three sons run the business that has run continuously for over 50 years except for a two week period in 2008 when the auto ramps were rebuilt.
Newport Beach, Orange County
Images by Andrew Schmidt