For decades on end Islanders have enjoyed a ferry system that was so reliable and well run that — apart from the customary grumbling and griping — they took it for granted.

In the past four months that easy confidence in the operation of the Steamship Authority has been shaken. Cancellations due to mechanical issues have soared. Unreliable ferry service is the new normal. The state-chartered boat line that serves as the Island’s lifeline has foundered so badly that it’s hard to know where to begin to list all the problems. Ferry breakdowns, boats that run chronically late, a clunky, outmoded communications system, a sluggish board of governors that no longer acts as a check on management or aggressively protects the year-round interests of the two Islands — these are all cause for deep worry.

With summer knocking on the door, the Steamship Authority needs to be pulled from these rocky shoals and quickly.

An independent outside audit is the obvious place to start. With due respect to the position taken by the board of governors at its meeting on the Vineyard last month, it has become clear that management is incapable of handling such a review on its own.

A proposal for an in-house evaluation that was circulated to the board this week in advance of next Tuesday’s meeting paints an unintended but eye-opening picture of a cumbersome institution that has not kept up with the times.

The report details a startling number of ferry cancellations in the first four months of the year — more than triple the number from the entire four years prior — and then goes on to outline a plan of remediation that’s so densely complicated it’s hard to see how it can possibly put the organization back on track. As a single example, the lengthy description of what the as-yet-unhired director of communications would be expected to accomplish is so unrealistic it seems laughable. The boat line would need a super-human to actually fulfill that many tasks.

The staff report also outlines a vague plan to partner with the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce — a poor choice since the two organizations have distinctly different missions. The chamber exists to promote tourism and bring more visitors to the Vineyard, while the Steamship Authority’s mission is to provide dependable year-round service for the residents of the two Islands.

On the other hand, a proposal to use the global consulting giant McKinsey and Company to conduct the review has come in with a half-million-dollar price tag, which certainly sounds exorbitant. Surely the boat line can get that cost down or find another capable consultant.

Vineyarders owe it to themselves to make sure the Steamship Authority is being managed effectively.

Chartered in 1960 following long years of corruption, dirty politics and deficits when it was a state-run ferry line, the boat line occupies a unique quasi-governmental role that imparts both power and responsibility on the two Islands it serves.

In what ought to be a huge source of Island pride, it remains today the only ferry company in the country that operates without state and federal subsidy. Its operating budget is paid entirely out of fares charged for the million-plus people who travel on the ferries every year.

The boat line’s governing board is intentionally structured to be controlled by Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, whose representatives carry a weighted vote on the five-member board of governors. The main port towns are also responsible for any deficit incurred by the boat line, something that has not occurred for decades, but gives all the more reason for Islanders to insist on effective oversight.

It has been a long practice for the two Islands to stand together on matters of importance to one or both of them, which is why the failure of Nantucket governor Robert Ranney to back Vineyard governor Marc Hanover’s call for an independent review last month was so disappointing. It is hoped that he will reconsider his position, especially in light of continuing problems with ferry reliability. Early results from a survey of year-round and seasonal Islanders conducted by the Gazette’s Community Survey Project shows strong support for an audit.

The Steamship Authority has much on its plate, with the construction of a new Woods Hole terminal, reconfiguration of ferry slips, what appear to be persistent ongoing issues with refurbished boats and an inadequate system for communicating with passengers.

Are the companies doing maintenance on the ferries at fault or have the boats been brought back too soon? Have the ferries become too complicated or are the crews inadequately trained? Can a new director resolve poor communications or does the whole system need to be overhauled? These are just a few of the questions that need to be answered as the summer season looms.

The review can’t start soon enough.