Steamer Islander, built by the Bath, (Me.) Iron Works, Ltd., for the New Bedford, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamboat Co., was launched Wednesday afternoon of last
Steamer history is Vineyard history, even now, for the arrival of the air age has not diminished the necessity of boat service.
It is likely that regular boat service between Martha’s Vineyard and the mainland was being operated by the year 1800. This does not mean daily service, however, for in the old times the packets and even the steamboats that followed them, would run on certain days of the week. Sailings were arranged according to the time of year and the needs of traffic.
The new ferryboat Nantucket, hailing (God save the mark!) from New Bedford, stopped briefly at Vineyard Haven on Tuesday – about an hour and a half – to give the people who are paying half the bill an opportunity to see the new boat. Some of them did, but the view was hardly satisfactory, the time being limited and the boat swarming with children taking advantage of the spring vacation from school.
The new Vineyard ferry Islander arrived at Vineyard Haven yesterday afternoon, greeted with whistles from the Martha’s Vineyard, which lay at the dock, the whistles of the fleet of Taylor’s lighters, and blasts from assembled cars. All down-Island towns had displayed their flags throughout the day, and the visiting hours, together with music by the Vineyard Haven Band, followed during the early evening when more than 3,400 people inspected the boat.
It happened yesterday. One minute before 11 a.m., the Island boat line was administered by the officers and directors of the Massachusetts Steamship Lines Inc., as constituted for some time past; one minute after 11, the management was in the hands of new officers and directors, the responsibility of the New Bedford, Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamboat Authority.
The ferry Islander of the Massachusetts Steamship Lines will make her shake-down cruise on Sunday and begin regular operation Monday, April 15, with four round trips daily between Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven, according to the schedule released today and announced by the line’s president, Paul E. Thurlow.
The ferry is the former Hackensack, used on the run across the Hudson between New York city and New Jersey. She can carry fifty automobiles and seat 500 passengers in service between Woods Hole and Vineyard Haven. Her scheduled time is one hour form slip to slip.
