The little ferry with a big place in the community 

The Mudeford Ferry is far more than a way of crossing Christchurch Harbour, it is a lifeline for the local community, connecting Mudeford Quay with Mudeford Sandbank and carrying generations of residents, beach hut owners, holidaymakers and day trippers safely across the water throughout the British Summer Time season.

The Mudeford Ferry

Along the way, it has welcomed everyone from families and four-legged companions to the occasional parrot, as well as several familiar faces including Martin Kemp, Howard Donald of Take That, Danny Dyer, Dame Kelly Holmes and broadcaster Chris Evans. For Captain Paul Derham, however, every passenger is equally important.

A master mariner, Paul grew up in Mudeford, where the Derham name has been intertwined with the area's maritime history for generations. His family established the local maritime rescue service and later the Mudeford Ferry, creating a service that has become firmly anchored in the life of the community.

A life on the ocean waves

As a young boy, Paul remembers helping his grandfather row passengers across Christchurch Harbour. He dreamed of becoming a local fisherman and continuing to serve the community from the water, although his father encouraged him to pursue a career at sea.

That decision took Paul around the world. Beginning his career with P&O as a navigation cadet, he served on a wide variety of ships before qualifying as third officer aboard the legendary SS Canberra. Over the next 24 years, he rose to the rank of staff captain, serving on Canberra, the original Oriana, Island Princess, Royal Princess, Pacific Princess, Sky Princess, Victoria, Arcadia, Aurora and the new Oriana.

Then, in 2003, an unexpected opportunity arose to purchase the Mudeford Ferry. It was not an easy decision. Paul was on the verge of taking command of his own cruise ship, but after a career that had taken him from Melbourne to Mumbai, the pull of home, to Mudeford, proved too strong.

Serving the community

Today, the operation runs a fleet of four vessels, with the primary passenger ferries, Josephine and Josephine II, operating on alternate days, with both operating during peak season. Measuring 11 metres overall with a beam of 5.5 metres and a shallow 0.5-metre draft, they are ideally suited to the harbour, allowing them to operate safely at all states of the tide. Powered by twin Perkins® M92B engines with jet drives rather than traditional shaft and propeller, the vessels offer excellent manoeuvrability, with service speeds of 8 knots and 12 knots respectively.

Perkins-powered

After more than 12,000 engine hours, her old M92B engines have gone into retirement, and Josephine II has recently been repowered again with M92B to ensure the reliability that passengers have come to expect. For a ferry that provides an essential daily service to both the local community and the area's thriving visitor economy, dependable operation is paramount.

Mudeford Ferries maintain the Perkins engines in-house and is supported by UK distributor, DiPerk Power Solutions, for ease of access to genuine parts and service network support.

“It’s a community thing; we like to provide a service for all eventualities,” said captain Paul Derham, third generation of the Mudeford Ferry family.