When the Real McCoy II ferry arrived at Ryer Island last January, replacing its 65-year-old predecessor, residents, boaters and fishermen welcomed the vessel as a reliable link to Highway 84 and nearby Rio Vista.

But since the California Department of Transportation placed the $4.3 million ferry in service Feb. 1, the Real McCoy II has spent more time in its slip than plying the Delta waterway.

"It's very frustrating for everybody," said Nicky Suard, owner of Snug Harbor Resorts, which includes a marina, RV park and cottages on Ryer Island. She estimated traffic into the resort was down by 50 percent during the final months of 2011, when the ferry was out of service for all but emergency vehicles.

The Real McCoy II remains out of service and Caltrans spokesman Bob Haus could not say this week when service might resume. When it is running, the state-owned and operated ferry transports an average of 200 vehicles per day, providing the service free of charge, he said.

For motorists, the ferry from State Route 84 across Cache Slough is the shortest route to Rio Vista, where many of Ryer Island's year-round residents shop.

It is also the shortest route for emergency vehicles. When the ferry is out of service, firefighters, paramedics and law enforcement officers must travel an extra 23 miles to reach the island, said Joe Rosewall, chief of the Montezuma Fire Protection District.

Haus said the ferry has been plagued with problems involving its hydraulic propulsion system, which is new to ferries in this area. From Feb. 1 to Sept. 16, it was out of service 30 percent of the time, he said. Since Sept. 16, it has operated only in emergencies – and not always then.

"Of our last three calls (to Ryer Island), for two of the calls the ferry was down," Rosewall said.

Both were medical calls, one involving a man who fell off a sailboat mast, suffering head and internal injuries. Rosewall said it took emergency crews an hour to reach the scene and call an air ambulance to take the man to a hospital. He died a few weeks later.

"I'm not saying that if we could have gotten there a half-hour earlier it would have helped," Rosewall said. "But time counts."

Haus said the manufacturer has employees on site trying to correct the problems. The ferry's captain remains on duty to help with repairs and to operate the vessel in emergencies, but a deckhand has been assigned elsewhere, he said.

The ferry's patrons also take issue with the vessel's hull design, which has a large "V" in the deck. As a result, boats, travel and livestock trailers, and RVs often bottom out boarding the ferry.

"I think this ferry was designed to go somewhere else," Suard said, adding that it does not seem to fit the landing on the Rio Vista side of the slough.

Suard said she sympathizes with the ferry's crew and Caltrans workers, who have taken a lot of public flak over the ferry's failings. But she and Rosewall said pressure needs to be brought to bear on Caltrans officials to see that the problems are corrected and let the public know what is being done.

– Cathy Locke

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