Ferry boat Captain loves being on the water | People

FORT FISHER, NC (WECT) – Of the nearly 60 Captains in the North Carolina Ferry System, just three are women, including
the Captain of one of the Fort Fisher-Southport ferries.

Marybeth Ray works in the pilot house of the "MV Southport," one of the two ferry vessels that make the daily run between Southport and Fort Fisher.

As a military brat, Ray's family moved a
lot, including spending a lot of time in the Bahamas.

"My dad moved the family to the Bahamas
when I was twelve years old, and that kind of set the tone for my life," said Ray.

That where she ran a marina, became a
civilian employee and even, while in high school, earned the rank of Boat
Captain.

She moved to our area and got a job with the
Ferry Division, and spent seven years as a deckhand and promoted to assistant
Captain.  In 2003, she became the Fort Fisher-Southport ferry route's
first female Captain.

"They rarely hire Captains off the
street, usually our work force starts as a mate, or a deckhand, and works their
way up", said Ray.

With the winter schedule in effect, the ferry
employees report for work 12.5 hour days, seven days on, and then
seven days off.  Although that schedule works for her, Ray says it may be
one of the reasons why there are not more women working on the boats.

"Women being down here, or,
you know, parents with young children working down here, because we basically
disappear from life for seven days at a time," explained Ray.

And because she is the female captain of the
"MV Southport," some passengers bring that up.

"Quite often, from women, they will
look up and I will see a big two thumbs up from them," said Ray. 
"But I think people are still surprised to see a woman on the
bridge."

And
Ray is even on the water during her time away from the ferry.  She
operates a standup paddleboard business in the Southport harbor on her days
off.

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