Ferry Woods Hole sidelined by wind and woes

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Gabrielle Mannino

Updated 3 pm

The MV Woods Hole missed its morning runs because of wind, but when it was scheduled to go back into service, it got knocked out by mechanical problems, according to Sean Driscoll, a spokesman for the Steamship Authority.

“It was down for weather because of the weather. They were prepared to sail but it was discovered that the throttle and pitch control mechanism required replacement, which is why the subsequent sailings were canceled for mechanical reasons,” Driscoll wrote. “That replacement work is underway now.”

The Woods Hole has only been back on the Vineyard route for about a month. It replaced the MV Governor on freight runs when the schedule changed with the closing of Oak Bluffs. The ferry, which is the SSA’s newest addition to the fleet, has already missed other trips because of mechanical issues this fall.

“The M/V Woods Hole had a brief and previously scheduled dry dock repair period at Thames Shipyard to repair a leaking grid cooler that services the No. 2 generator and that is located on the underside of the vessel,” Driscoll wrote in a previous email. “While the vessel was at Thames, the grid cooler was replaced and other minor adjustments were made to the other grid coolers on the vessel, of which there are 10 (so 11 in total). The dry dock was scheduled prior to the issue with the fuel injectors that caused one round trip to be cancelled on Oct. 31.”

Driscoll added, “The damage to the grid cooler was the result of galvanic corrosion. We took advantage of the downtime at Thames to clean the fuel tanks, replace the fuel filters and change the fuel injectors on both main engines.”

Meanwhile, the SSA has canceled the MV Nantucket due to weather conditions.

MV NANTUCKET 2:30 pm Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven

MV NANTUCKET 3:45 pm Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole

And these due to mechanical issues:

MV WOODS HOLE 1:35 pm Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven

MV WOODS HOLE 2:50 pm Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole

MV WOODS HOLE 4:05 pm Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven

M/V WOODS HOLE 5:20 pm Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole

For more information, please call 508.548.3788 or 508.693.0367

A previous version of this incorrectly reported that the MV Island Home had canceled runs based on alerts sent out by the SSA. -Ed.