P.T. Barnum

P.T. Barnum ferry departing Port Jefferson, August 2009

When you reach the narrowest part of a channel, you will encouter the largest ship.

That is how it seems sometimes. On a cloudy August day motoring in to Port Jefferson, we met up with the P.T. Barnum ferry making her way out of the harbor. I moved as far to starboard as I could, mindful of a jetty that borders this narrow passage. We passed each other uneventfully; passengers waved, and we waved back while trying to keep an eye on the channel ahead.
The ferries run quite frequently between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson. No sooner does one boat leave, before another arrives to repeat the process. I have been told that a large percentage of the summer traffic consists of daytrippers who are just looking to take a boat ride, and maybe have lunch in Port Jefferson.
P.T. Barnum, by the way, was a resident of Bridgeport, and was instrumental in the creation of the first regularly scheduled ferry service that crossed the Sound here.

Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Steamboat Company