Holiday Island breakdowns

 Figure 1: MV Holiday Island alongside her berth in Caribou, Nova Scotia on August 2, 2014.  She has been back in operation since August 4 (a 9:30 AM sailing out of Caribou) after being down since July 31.

Figure 2: MV Confederation was the only operational ferry between Wood Islands and Caribou from July 31 until August 4 making five trips from each side out of 9 regularly scheduled departures beginning with a 6:30 AM sailing out of Wood Islands.

My summer travels had brought me to Prince Edward Island once again this year and I had a great relaxing day (August 1) on the island filled with sun, beaches and ship spottings.  And, as always, a nice relaxing ferry ride back to the mainland (I took the bridge to get to the island this year).   This year I also had my first experience with a service disruption on the Wood Islands-Caribou route but took it in stride.  The MV Holiday Island had mechanical issues and MV Confederation made 5 sailings per port (More in this link to CBC report).

Those not familiar with these great ferries, here's a bit of info:  The Holiday Island has a long and impressive service history as she was built for the Borden-Cape Tormentine route in 1971.  When the Confederation bridge was opened in May 1997, that route was shut down and Holiday Island sailed to Caribou to begin service.  She has recently been re-engined in the spring.  Her fleetmates for the most part were not so lucky, Holiday Island's sister ship MV Vacationland was sold for a route in New Brunswick and renamed Fundy Paradise, however, that fell through and she was mothballed in  Liverpool, Sydney and now Quebec, where she is once again listed for sale.  MV John Hamilton Gray was sold in 1999 and was transformed into a casino ferry, was renamed Contessa 1 and Texas Treasure before being scrapped in Alang, India in 2004.  MV Abegweit, also sold off in 1999 was renamed Accrued Mariner and was laid up in Galveston, Texas until 2004 when she was also sold for scrap in Alang.

The MV Confederation was built in 1993 at Pictou Industries (now Pictou Shipyard) for the Wood Islands-Caribou route and is the most modern and comfortable ferry (in my mind anyway) to serve Prince Edward Island and the mainland.