Islanders hope promised arrival of Abnaki II not just a ferry tale

The long-awaited new ferry for Deer Island, the Abnaki II, is expected to arrive "in the coming weeks," says Rick Doucet, MLA for Fundy-The Isles-Saint John West. Because the ferry has been promised for six years, though, islanders, who have had to wait up to three hours in line for a ferry this summer, are both frustrated and skeptical. They say they will believe it when they see the new ferry coming in all her glory across Letete Passage.
About the latest promise for the coming weeks, Joyce Stuart, chair of the West Isles Local Service District, comments wryly, "I think it will make a good Christmas present. We've been waiting so long. People are getting discouraged about it. But it will be good when it comes. It's just been promised too long."
The provincial government had first decided to replace the 18-car John E. Rigby in 2007, promising a new 24-car vessel by 2010. That did not happen, and then in 2013 the government planned to downsize the ferry to an 18-car vessel. Islanders were upset, as they had not been consulted about the change, and they strongly expressed their views at a meeting organized by Doucet. The MLA carried 500 letters of support for the larger ferry to Fredericton, and the government ended up reversing course back to 24 cars. Then last August the government indicated the ferry would begin its run by the end of October, but it didn't show up. The latest promise was for the end of June C the beginning of summer, which is now over. Meanwhile, the 40-year-old Rigby has kept on running, although it did suffer a breakdown in early August.
"We could have had better word on this," Stuart says of the delays. "There should have been more communication with the island people."
Rumors about the reasons for the delays include that the Canadian Coast Guard had found numerous deficiencies when it inspected the new vessel, which was built by CFM of Saint John, a member of the J.D. Irving Limited group of companies. Doucet, though, says that sea trials are now being conducted and "they're taking care of any deficiencies first, before full service."
"Working with a local company has been beneficial," Doucet maintains. "If there are any deficiencies they can do it right there and get everything taken care of. We've not had that opportunity before." He notes that there are three ferry services in his riding, and he says the government noticed that a number of the new ferries had problems that had to be repaired, with the ferries taken out of service for periods of time. "Things were slipping through the cracks," he says. CFM has been "a great company to work with. They've been very obliging to make sure all is working before full service."
The price for the ferry at one point was estimated to be approximately $5B$6 million, while the current contract is for $8.6 million. The company is within that budgeted amount, according to Doucet's office. The contract had not been put out to tender by the provincial government, with Doucet explaining that the previous government had given the contract to CFM through an exemption under the Public Purchasing Act.
Islanders note that CFM did not use the blueprints for the Deer Island Princess II, which had a few issues in the beginning but has since served the islanders well, unlike the first Princess, which was not a ferry tale with a happy ending. She had issues since being launched in 1992 and was dethroned in 2001 by the second Princess because she had rudder problems -- an anchor sometimes had to be dropped to keep her from going ashore -- and her center propulsion system resulted in her not being easy to maneuver in the tight channels and strong currents between Deer Island and Letete. The second Princess has Z-drive propulsion motors.
But Doucet says that CFM used new plans for the Abnaki II, with a different propulsion system and different electronics. "They didn't use a cookie-cutter approach," he says, adding, "They're a good company. They have a good working knowledge of ferries."
Stuart does not blame Doucet for the delays, noting that he "worked really hard for us to get a ferry." However, islanders point out that the delays have been frustrating. "We certainly could have used it this summer," says Stuart of the new ferry, which will be able to handle six more vehicles than the Rigby can take each trip. She has seen as many as 60 cars in the lineup for the ferry during the past couple of months. When the line is "as far back as the fish plant" in Letete "you get pretty discouraged." A carpenter from the mainland who does quite a bit of work on the island has said he won't be coming over until "things settle down" later in September, since he doesn't want to be sitting that long at the ferry landing. "People have waited up to two and a half or three hours in the lineup," Stuart says.
Noting that quite a few islanders work on the mainland, and people from the mainland come to work on the island, she says they "like to get home" at the end of the day.
Quite a bit of the traffic during the summer is coming from or going to Campobello, while the seasonal Deer Island/Campobello ferry is running. Up to 15 cars may come off when that ferry lands at Deer Island, and they drive across Deer Island to catch the ferry to Letete, usually without stopping. "As far as I'm concerned we're a drive-through island, and I think we have been for a long time," says Stuart. Of the economic impact on the island by those visitors, she notes, "Driving through doesn't do much good."
As for the plight of the Campobello residents, Stuart says, "I pity the mess they're in, though," since the other option for Campobello travelers is to drive to St. Stephen and go through two border crossings to get there.
Stuart feels that Deer Island residents should be given a sticker that gives them preference for getting on the ferry, since others are coming to the island as a matter of choice. She doubts that will happen, though, and notes that "New Brunswickers are all taxpayers, and I agree with that."
A christening ceremony for the ferry has not yet been scheduled, as Doucet expects the vessel will first be placed into service. It's being named Abnaki II, as the ferry the Rigby replaced was the Abnaki. Over 60 names had been suggested by islanders, with the local service district committee selecting three and government agencies formally approving the new name.
Of the current promise for a new ferry, Stuart says, "I really and truly do hope it is coming."