Staying north of town Is Great as long as you dont mind spending the extra money on a Golf cart, yes the ferry does close around 10pm but let the guys know youll be a little late and they'll have no problem burning the mid night oil waiting for your return ( realy waiting for the extra dinner you bought for them, or a few dollars and a hand shake) , as long as they know your going back north they'll work with you.
there were a hand full of nights we didnt cross till nearly 3am

I'm really kinda curious as to what you possibly could have given them to wait 5 hours past closing.

well we had an understanding after the 1st night , but it broke down to about 20 USD and left over for the kid he had kept around to pull us across, we would just order a extra meal ( pasta or chicken and rice ) and they were more then happy to wait around
does it add up , yeh but its nice to know i can get back to my bed after a night of food aND DRINK

yeah right...