Fisher Island Ferry District Unit President Jesse Marshall
FISHERS ISLAND — Just like with every community in New York, CSEA members play a key role in keeping one of our state’s most unique communities running smoothly.
Located between Long Island’s North Fork and Connecticut, Fishers Island is only accessible via ferries, which run daily between Fishers Island and New London, Conn. Our members are the captains, deckhands and mechanics who keep the ferry — and the community — going.
While less frequent in winter months, there can be as many as 11 daily ferry trips during the summer. Customers are accommodated by the two ferries that our members manage.
Still, the summer does present occasional difficulties.
“There are a lot of boats out there during the summer,” said Fisher Island Ferry District Unit President Jesse Marshall, also a ferry captain. “We have to drive more defensively at that time.”
Certain weather conditions can also have an effect on ferry activity.
“Typically, it’s wind and high tide that affects us, not snow or rain,” said Marshall. “We do pretty well with it. Wind has to blow pretty hard from the west for it to cause us issues.”
Our members often get on-the-job training. Many members start off as a deckhand and work their way up to captain, which is more of a supervisory position. A few members have a marine background, having worked on fishing boats.
On each boat, there must be a captain and minimum of three deckhands, who typically steer the boat. On busier days, there are four deckhands.
CSEA members who work landside are responsible for staging cars, ticketing and freight duties.
Because the ferries get used so frequently, they must go through regular maintenance, which is another task assigned to our members.
“The engineers always have a mechanical project that they’re working on, in between trips,” said Marshall. “Boats are in constant need of maintenance. When one is in the shipyard, the other is usually being worked on.”
CSEA members are also responsible for maintaining the aesthetics of the ship. “No one in our unit is immune, everyone has a chance to get dirty,” said Marshall.
In short, CSEA members keep the community of Fishers Island running smoothly.
“We are the life’s blood of Fishers Island,” said Marshall. “Everything comes and goes on the ferry. There would be no way to transport people or goods without it.”
Maintaining good working relationships helps the tight-knit group be at their professional best.
“It’s very important to have a friendly working relationship with your shipmate,” said Marshall. “We are a small unit and we depend on each other to get our jobs done. I would call most of the people here my friend, some my very good friend.”
— Wendi Bowie
