Photo: Waz8, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
For most people, getting to Block Island means a ride from the State Pier in Galilee. Interstate Navigation runs the year-round car and passenger ferry to Old Harbor, a trip of about an hour, plus a faster passenger-only boat in season that cuts the time roughly in half.
A regulated lifeline
Because the island depends on the boats for groceries, fuel, building supplies and mail, the traditional ferry is regulated by the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers. Fares and schedules for the year-round service have to be approved, much like a utility rate.
Summer is the money season. Day trippers, cyclists and vacationers fill the boats from late June through Labor Day, and car reservations for July and August can sell out months ahead.
Effect on Galilee
The ferry brings thousands of people through Galilee on summer weekends. Parking lots around the port charge daily rates, and restaurants and shops near the dock count on ferry traffic.
Other operators run seasonal service to the island from New London and from Quonset, but the Point Judith route remains the main one, and the only one most islanders use in the off season.
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