Someone referred to her as the Islander on steroids. Others called her the cruise ship. One Steamship Authority worker, gazing up at the huge bulk of the ferry Island Home tied up at Woods Hole, simply called her a monster.
Whatever the metaphor, you get the picture. This is a big boat.
The ferry Island Home is set to make the long trip home.
Steamship Authority general manager Wayne Lamson said this week that the double-ended, $32 million car and passenger ferry is due to leave the VT Halter shipyard at Moss Point, Miss., this weekend to make the 2,000-mile trip to the Steamship Authority maintenance facility in Fairhaven.
The Island Home was originally due for delivery in June of 2006, but construction was set back some seven months by Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, just after work had begun on the ferry.
Not one taker stepped forward Wednesday to put in a bid on the
Steamship Authority's high-speed ferry, the Flying Cloud.
The lack of interest in the vessel, for which the boat line hoped to
obtain at least $5 million, is the latest chapter in the Flying
Cloud's mostly troubled six-year history at the boat line. The SSA
paid $8 million for the ferry in 2000.
MOSS POINT, MISS. - Marking history for the Steamship Authority and its fleet of ferries that ply the routes between the Cape and Islands, the Island Home - a 255-foot, double-ended ferry that will replace the venerable MV Islander - was launched Friday morning at the Gulf Coast shipyard where she was built.
More than 300 onlookers cheered and applauded, with air horns wailing, as the still unfinished vessel - freshly painted black and white - slid sideways on five greased tracks and landed in the calm Escatawpa River with a giant splash.
Time has finally run out for the Nobska, the last coastal steamer in
America and the car and passenger vessel that served the Vineyard
between 1925 and 1973. Preliminary work to dismantle the historic vessel
began in the Charlestown Navy Yard early this week, and on Wednesday the
wrecking ball came down on her upper deck.
NANTUCKET - The Steamship Authority is considering loosening
restrictions on the transfer of regular tickets, as well as on the
10-ticket discount books that are a staple of ferry travel for Vineyard
residents.
At present, the boat line restricts the use of regular tickets and
of the 10-ticket books to their buyers.
