Most of the ferry wharves in Sydney seem to consist of piles with the decking set back behind the piles. This means there is a substantial gap between decking and your boat if you come alongside using a fender board to protect the topsides. The ferries carry gangplanks to bridge the gap.

What do our members do to solve this problem when picking up passengers?

Dinghy.

I have a walk-through transom so generally back up to the pontoon with the stern between the piles. People step aboard and through into the cockpit.

On the river (Parramatta) the time between ferries can be pretty brief anyway so really need to just pick-up your people and move on.

Works for me but presumably won't for some.

Gerald

Good post.

I have seen someone with a bit of 4x2 hanging from his staunchons. Long enough to bridge the gap between the pylons. Bit of a pain carrying it around though.

When its windy I avoid at all costs. I think the pylons have a metal strip vertically which is worse.

When not windy you can hang a few fenders on their side, not the best but helps.

Or back up as Serenite mentions.

Ed

One's not supposed to use ferry wharfs for private use, I've heard.

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sirgallivant said..
One's not supposed to use ferry wharfs for private use, I've heard.

Sir G, are you related to John Wayne?

Someone has to keep us in line, otherwise we would be all off doin risky sh@t !