Yes, the "pull the cable from shore" thing doesn't work well for simple reasons. This is what the cable looks like with the ferry pulling itself across:

Yes, the "pull the cable from shore" thing doesn't work well for simple reasons. This is what the cable looks like with the ferry pulling itself across: _-OOOO-_ ____________/ \__________ This is what it looks like if it is being pulled from shore: ---------------OOOO-_ \__________ The cable has quite a lot of friction with the bottom and can pull the ferry without lifting up and blocking half the river. Boats still need to be very careful around ferries like this, but they can still coexist. These ferries traditionally used to be "chain ferries" which had even more friction between chain and river bottom.