When Lindsay Elliott took the Sackville ferry across the Hawkesbury River on Sunday morning, November 30, it ended 15 years as ferrymaster.
He said piloting the vessel between the Sackville and Sackville Ferry roads’ wharves was not as easy as it looked.
‘‘The hardest part is making sure you’ve got the right speed and the ferry’s at the right angle,’’ Mr Elliott said.
He never had a mishap, up to and including his last crossing.
‘‘It was a funny feeling knowing it was the last time I would be leaving work for home,’’ Mr Elliott said.
‘‘It’s sad to leave, even though my wife and I are looking forward to retirement.’’
Mr Elliott lives in South Maroota and retired just short of his 65th birthday.
He said he usually enjoyed his days and nights at work.
‘‘I got to know the locals and they got to know me,’’ Mr Elliott said.
‘‘Every trip is different, particularly at night when I got shift workers like me catching the ferry.
‘‘Weekends were the most difficult time because a lot of boats get busy on the river.
‘‘A boat going too fast can hit the ferry cables; that’s happened to me three or four times.’’
In 2010 he was the first, and so far only, ferry driver to be awarded the Rotary Club of Windsor’s Pride of Workmanship.
Mr Elliott became a ferry driver late in life, after working for 33 years in Coles and K-Mart.
‘‘I took a year off work, then thought about what other job I could do,’’ he said.
‘‘I thought about driving the airport shuttle bus in Sydney, but driving in heavy traffic all day was not for me.’’
Mr Elliott said he had always been interested in boats and water travel, so when he heard about a ferry driver’s job being offered not far from where he lived, he decided to apply for it.
He said his most memorable experience was watching a police car chase which ended at the Sackville Road wharf.
‘‘It was one o’clock in the morning; I saw this car speed down to the wharf, stop, the doors opened and these young guys flew out and disappeared into the bush,’’ he said.
‘‘A police car came in close behind them and the cops asked me which way they’d gone.
‘‘I’ve no idea if they caught them.’’
Mr Elliott said it was time to begin a new phase of his life.
‘‘I’ve worked for more than 40 years,’’ he said.
‘‘My wife and I want to relax and do some travelling.’’
He also expects cost-averse governments will ensure the Hawkesbury’s ferries will run for many years to come.
‘‘Rather than spend $200 million on a new bridge, why not just a million to keep this going?’’ Mr Elliott said.
