Capt. David Jordan: A Lifelong Friend to the Elizabeth River Ferry

The words Elizabeth River Ferry and Captain David Jordan are almost synonymous. You can’t talk about one without talking about the other. That’s why it’s fitting as we mark the 40th Anniversary of the ferry service in Hampton Roads that we take a moment to talk about the man who made it all happen. And to say David Jordan was single handedly responsible for bringing the Elizabeth River Ferry to Portsmouth and Norfolk is no understatement.

Jordan, a Portsmouth native, spent his summers on the Elizabeth River. At age 13, he got his first job on a passenger boat earning $1.00 an hour. It happened quite by chance. He and his brother were out in their rowboat when they saw the Carrie B. A member of the crew hollered over and asked if they wanted a job. David’s brother, Steve, went to work immediately, and David started two days later. Their friend, Mark Johnson, also got a job and the three boys spent the entire summer working on the Carrie B.

The Jordan brothers ended up buying the Carrie B. back in 1977 and it’s still operating in the waters of Hampton Roads today.

By the time they took over the helm of the Carrie B., passenger ferry service on the Elizabeth River had been shut down for some years, following the opening of the Downtown Tunnel in 1952. As they ferried tourists around the harbor in the early 1980’s, they also started carrying a few passengers looking for an easier way to get across the water.

Around this same time, the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk were talking about bringing ferry service back. Portsmouth had big plans for High Street and in Norfolk, Waterside was being built. There was clearly an appetite for it. After a little negotiating, Portsmouth agreed to purchase a ferry and Norfolk would allow them to dock at Waterside.

Portsmouth hired a builder for the ferry, but the project fell way behind. The ferry never came. Jordan flew down to Florida where it was being built to have a look. He said he realized right away it was never going to pass U.S. Coast Guard inspection. He called then city manager George Hanbury and told him, “It’ll never carry a single passenger.”

In the meantime, Jordan began operating ferry service under contract with Tidewater Regional Transit (TRT) using a rented boat. It carried about 50 passengers back and forth across the Elizabeth River starting in July 1983. When he found out they weren’t getting the ferry from Florida, he started looking for plan B.

He finally found it: a 77-foot paddlewheel style ferry that could carry 150 passengers. Jordan bought it for $356,000 using his own money. He and his crew brought the Florida Belle to Hampton Roads in the spring of 1985. On the way up they painted over the words, “Florida Belle” with white paint, then found a sign painter in North Carolina who quickly painted “Elizabeth River Ferry” on the side. ERF I was born and started carrying passengers in March 1985.

Forty years and five ferry boats later, David Jordan and the Elizabeth River Ferry service are still going strong. For 40 years, Jordan has lived less than a mile from the ferry dock and he’s the one to call in a pinch.

Jordan says the community embraced the ferry service on both sides of the water. The service has not only stimulated commerce, but it brings people together. “As soon as you leave the dock, it’s such an escape. It’s relaxing and relieves stress,” says Jordan. Passengers often tell him, “I could drive, but I’d rather be here, than fighting traffic on the Berkley Bridge.” ?