Harbor Towns Cruises, the nonprofit that operates the region’s new fast ferry passenger service, held its fifth and final ribbon-cutting ceremony in Edenton on Friday, April 26.
The service, which will ferry passengers between Edenton, Plymouth, Columbia, Hertford, Elizabeth City and Manteo as well as provide tours of area waterways, will begin operations May 17.
Nick Didow, Harbor Towns board chairman, said the idea for Harbor Towns has been 30 years in development.
“This wonderful idea of recognizing the beauty of the water and leveraging it, putting transportation back on the (Albemarle) Sound to increase the enjoyment of residents and bring more tourists, vacationers, and visitors to the Albemarle Sound community — this has been a regional effort, without question, and from Edenton in particular,” Didow said.
State Rep. Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan, who was instrumental in guiding the legislation that fund the Harbor Towns project, also spoke at the Edenton ribbon cutting. He said the region is in for a treat, citing the ability of the new catamaran-hulled boats to take tourists to places few people have had access to visit comfortably.
“It’s going to be something you’ve never seen, even if you were born and raised here,” Goodwin said. “You’ve never seen the places where these boats will take you.”
The boats can travel at 30 mph, have a tight turning radius, and ride over choppy, shallow water with greater stability and comfort than other boats designed to navigate the shallow waters of the Albemarle Sound.
Edenton Town Manager Corey Gooden spoke in the place of Mayor Hackney High, who could not attend the ribbon cutting.
“After years of tireless work and coordination between multiple partners across the state of North Carolina, The Penelope is here, and the dream is a reality,” Gooden said.
He was referring to the name of one of Harbor Towns’ two fast ferry vessels; the other is the Moses Grandy.
“It is no coincidence that Penelope Barker’s namesake home is just behind us,” Gooden said. “In this 250th year since the Edenton Tea Party, I am reminded of the present preservation and persistence of those 51 women, let by Penelope Barker herself.”
Barker organized the Edenton Tea Party, which is widely considered the first recorded women’s political demonstration in America. On Oct. 25, 1774, 51 Edenton women, led by Barker, resolved to boycott British tea and pledged their support to North Carolina’s Provincial Congress.
Harbor Towns also held ribbon cuttings to celebrate the ferry service’s launch last month in Plymouth, Elizabeth City, Hertford and Columbia. Regular passenger service is scheduled to begin May 17.
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