Hundreds of mourners filled the Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cruz Bay Saturday to remember the life of Capt. Clifton Ashley Boynes. Boynes — a former vocational teacher and military veteran — joined his family doing business in the marine transportation industry and later started his own ferry services.
Boynes was 83 years old at the time of his death at the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital on Dec. 15, 2025. Funeral services took place steps away from the Cruz Bay ferry terminal, named after Loredon Lorence Boynes, his father.
The Boynes family, alongside the family of the late St. John business owner Rodney Varlack, pioneered ferry service between St. Thomas and St. John starting in the 1960s. Dozens of boat captains donned their formal dress uniforms to honor the man many viewed as a relative and a mentor.
His duties as operations manager once led to controversy, as Boynes became the subject of a federal trial in the mid 1990s, accused of polluting Cruz Bay Harbor. The case ended in an acquittal.
On the evening after the last rites, daughter Laurie Boynes spoke about a stern but loving father who shared his love of the sea with those who meant the most to him. “He taught many captains — Camile Parris, the former administrator; Clifton Boynes, Jr — his son, Calvin Thomas. My dad’s legacy and history is deeply rooted on St. John,” she said.
And although she was too young to study for her captain’s license, two-year-old granddaughter Chardonnay was also welcomed aboard, Laurie said. The daughter told the story of a toddler who insisted she could go along for the ride.
“Can she go to the bathroom by herself?” the grandfather asked. When told that she could, Boynes told his daughter, “Well, then put on her shoes — let’s go.”
The pair became regular partners at sea, Laurie said, and the child would be upset on the days when she could not go.
Ashley worked for Transportation Services — the family business — from the 1970s until 2004, and founded Inter Island Ferry Service in 1981. When failing health set in, family members stepped in to run the business.
And in his final days, the captain grew less talkative, Laurie said, but when he did speak, he told stories of his days at sea, “and he talked about his involvement in the marine industry.”
