The only way that Deer Islanders who don’t own their own boats can travel to mainland New Brunswick and the rest of Canada is by ferry.
Islanders are not at present stranded, but for some time now the provincial ferry service has been, at best, erratic.
“People are getting pretty disgusted,” says Capt. Stan Lord, who in the summertime operates a private ferry service between Deer Island and Campobello as well as between Deer Island and Eastport, Maine. Lord is currently is running his ISLAND HOPPER to replace the provincial DEER ISLAND PRINCESS that’s laid up for repairs.
“We keep hearing rumors that the Princess will be back soon,” says Lord, but we haven’t heard anything official.”
Lord says delays in service to and from the island depend on how many trucks need to cross.
“I can’t see over these trucks on my ferry,” he says, “so trucks have to wait for the RIGBY and that can mean they have to wait for three or four trips before they can get over. You can imagine they’re not too happy.”
Lord adds that even though he’s making “a little money” out of the problems, he’s not too happy himself. “People in businesses here are really disgusted. They got lobsters, probably $3 million worth of produce to run back and forth here and people are getting awfully tired.”
Lord concluded, “Even though the PRINCESS has been laid up for about three weeks, the problems with the service itself have been going on for some years now.”
Calls to Mark Jones, a supervisor with the New Brunswick Department of Transportation, were not returned.