The sale of the Uncatena comes as no great surprise. She has not been needed for some time, even as an extra boat, and the sight of her at her berth in New Bedford has been a glimpse of the past for those Island travellers who noticed her. Her disappearance from the line to which she gave long and honorable service marks the end of an era. She was the last side-wheeler. Amazingly enough, the entire Island fleet has been recreated since 1922 and the four new craft which serve the Islands in summer are a great advance over the boats they have superseded. The Uncatena - so fresh in the memory of many Vineyarders as a new boat herself - has been so far outmoded that she seems small, queer and old-fashioned.

 

No longer will small children be raised in their mother’s arms to see the walking-beam of the approaching steamer. The last side-wheeler is passing into another stage of the journey from which there is no return, following in the wake of the Monohansett and the other famous Island boats of the past.

 

No other steamer of the line, save the Monohansett, is likely to occupy so large a place in the memory of Vineyarders. The Uncatena has been a popular boat and the term of her service, though shorter than that of the Monohansett, has yet been long enough to engender associations and regard which will endure for many a day.

 

May all Island steamers serve as well and make as many friends as the Uncatena!