The private night-time ferry from Hamilton to Dockyard is being organised by the Blue Oyster and Frog & Onion restaurants and the Neptune Theatre. Club 21, which was listed as a participant in an article on Tuesday, has decided not to participate.

Frustrated Dockyard night-spot owners plan to launch their own after-hours ferry service to Hamilton.

The Blue Oyster and the Frog and Onion restaurants, the Neptune Theatre and the soon-to-open Club 21 jazz club have banded together to launch their own evening ferry service.

It starts this weekend and will operate on Friday and Saturday evenings only for the first two weeks. But then it will start running six evenings a week, from Tuesday to Sunday. The service takes over when Government ferries stop for the night.

The ferry service will use the 50-passenger Tenacious , which by day serves as the passenger tender for the tourist submarine Enterprise . It will use a Marine & Ports pilot and deckhand.

"We get a lot of calls from people who want to come out on the ferry because it is too far to drive,'' said Blue Oyster owner Mrs. Wendy Meade. "But the last bus leaves Dockyard at 6:30 at night and the last ferry at 7:15.'' The owners plan to run three trips a night, leaving Hamilton at 6:30 p.m., 8:15 p.m. and 10 p.m., and heads back to town at 7:30 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m..

The cost will be $5 each way -- compared to the regular Government ferry fare of $3 -- with half-price for children. Mrs. Meade said the operation will cost about $400 a night, so will need at least 40 round-trip passengers to survive.

Mrs. Meade said the idea is to help the business but added: "You can just come over for a ride if you want.'' It might also be popular with Meridian cruise ship crews, she said, because the last tender into Hamilton leaves at 9:30 p.m.

"We'll try it for a month,'' Mrs. Meade said. "Government's not doing anything. When we first opened the Blue Oyster four years ago, they kept saying it will be the following year. Now they say they don't have any money.''