The Steamship Authority ferry Woods Hole went out of service Saturday due to a leak associated with a keel cooler. The Governor, the oldest ferry in the fleet, was brought into service to replace the Woods Hole. No alert was sent out about the Woods Hole because no service interruptions occurred, SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll told The Times.
“We are investigating leaking jacket water on a cooler,” Driscoll messaged The Times. That work, he wrote, is being done at the SSA Fairhaven facility.
The Governor wasn’t slated to go into service until May 17, but Driscoll wrote that it was nonetheless available to substitute for the Woods Hole.
A Times editor leaving the Vineyard Saturday night was surprised to see the Governor at the Vineyard Haven terminal for the 9:30 pm crossing. When a crew member was asked why the vessel was in use, that person responded, “That’s what happens when a boat breaks down.”
Earlier this year leaking jacket water traced to a crack sent the SSA ferry Katama into an emergency drydock. SSA director of marine operations Mark Amundsen attributed the crack, and another crack in the Katama last year, to the age of the vessel — some 40 years.
In contrast, the Woods Hole is the SSA’s newest ferry. It went into service in 2016.
It’s unclear how long the Governor will be in place of the Woods Hole, but that boat was replacing the Island Home, which is out for scheduled maintenance. Having the Governor take the place of the Woods Hole made for crowded Monday morning crossings, with some people riding on the freight deck despite temperatures below 45°.
As far as I’m concerned, the Governor is the most reliable boat in the SSA fleet. How often do you hear that it broke down? I don’t mind no frills , as long as I can get off and home.