Bad weather and bad luck may indeed be the major factors in a spate of recent mishaps that have canceled and delayed ferries and tapped a torrent of nostalgia for the supposed good old days.

But people who live seven miles offshore can be forgiven for worrying about the way the Steamship Authority is handling its many challenges just as traffic to the Vineyard prepares to ramp up for the season. Islanders are a hearty bunch, but they expect and deserve basic, dependable transportation to get to jobs, make medical appointments and visit loved ones.

Beginning with a computer glitch in January when the SSA website was opened to summer reservations and followed by a series of mechanical issues that sidelined first the Woods Hole, then the newly refurbished Martha’s Vineyard, the pileup of smallish problems has let doubts creep in about where management priorities lie.

To be sure the leadership of the boatline has its hands full with the just-completed move of its headquarters to Palmer Avenue and the Woods Hole terminal reconstruction under way. And Mother Nature has served up four gales in quick succession, bringing high winds and choppy seas that threatened safe navigation. But the sound functioning of the fleet must be Job One for the Steamship Authority. Islanders need reassurance that the boatline is keeping its eye on the ball.

During the last difficult week, most passengers credit the staff and crew for dealing with ferry disruptions with skill and good humor. Some say better communications would help, and the board this week approved a new position of communications director to advance that goal.

Apologies are nice, explanations are better, but concrete measures to assure that the ferries run reliably are what matter most.