New High-Speed Ferry Docks In Larkspur

Johnny B. Good could play a guitar just like ringing a bell. John Beard is smiling every time he rings the bell aboard his new boat. Well, it's not his boat, but he takes a lot of pride in it, even smiling as he turns on the windshield wipers.

Even a steady downpour couldn't dampen the pride Beard and his crew felt during the maiden voyage of the newly refurbished Golden Gate ferry. There wasn't a stain on the deck or a crumb on a table Monday as the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District unveiled its new high-speed catamaran.

"This boat is really smooth. Down below you can hardly tell you're moving," said Captain Beard, who celebrated 32 years with the district on Sunday.

The ferry joins three other high-speed craft at Larkspur Landing that make regular 30-minute run between Marin and San Francisco. There are also three larger, but slower, Spaulding class vessels that run between Sausalito and San Francisco and are also used for service to Giants games from Larkspur to AT&T Park.

The Golden Gate, actually the Golden Gate II since the original was retired in 2004, is one of two refurbished vessels purchased from Washington State Ferry in January 2009. When the ferry finally docked in Larkspur, Beard took the brass bell from the original Golden Gate out of storage and hung it on the deck of the new vessel.

The Napa, the other ferry, had been in service since May 2009 but is now in Washington for its scheduled renovations. The two boats cost $2 million each and have a refurbishment budget of $10 million each — a $24 million project.

"The beauty of that is the cost of one new ferry would cost about $20-22 million, just one brand-new ferry," said Mary Currie, public affairs director for the GGBHT district. "So the wisdom was that we'd buy two vessels. They were made by the same company that made one of our high-speed catamarans."

The Golden Gate has been in Larkspur for the past month undergoing shakedown runs and approval from the U.S. Coast Guard. Passengers will definitely notice some of the changes, the smooth, quiet ride especially, but there's a lot they won't see.

During the refurbishing process, workers stripped the old ferry down to its bare hull, then equipped it with new seats and tables and new radar, steering and computer systems.

"It's just amazing. It's got everything, the whole brains of the vessel," Beard said of the new Cullosum computer system that monitors the entire ship. "This ship handles very easily."