Boat drifts in between ferry and dolphin

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A small boat got lodged between a dolphin and a ferry in Oak Bluffs Sunday. - Photo courtesy of Ed Starzec

Updated 1 pm 

A small boat, thought to be a Boston Whaler, drifted into a gap between the MV Martha’s Vineyard and a dolphin, which is another word for a piling, on the perimeter of the slip while the ferry was docked in Oak Bluffs Sunday, according to Oak Bluffs Fire Chief John Rose.

Rose said he was aboard Red, White, and Blue, the fire and police boat for Oak Bluffs, for training when the report came in.

Rose said the unoccupied boat had been anchored by the jetty, but the anchor “broke free” and the boat drifted in the current and managed to slide into an opening beside the Martha’s Vineyard. He described the ferry as docked.

“She couldn’t leave” due to the boat, he said.

A boat from the Oak Bluffs harbormaster’s department pulled the boat away from the ferry, Rose said. Harbormaster Todd Alexander could not be reached for comment.

An Oak Bluffs harbor supervisor declined to verify the department’s response Sunday because she said she was not authorized by the harbormaster to do so.

“[A] small boat drifted to the Martha’s Vineyard while it was docked at Oak Bluffs on Sunday following its 10:15 am arrival,” Steamship Authority spokesman Sean Driscoll wrote in an email. “The boat came to rest between the ferry and a dolphin at about 10:30 am, and was removed by the harbormaster at about 10:45 am, shortly before the vessel made its scheduled departure.”

Updated with a comment from SSA. -Ed.