Travel alert: Ferry schedules altered – Martha’s Vineyard Times

July 29, 2022 Kim Martel

The MV Sankaty will be helping to fill a gap caused by an emergency repair to the MV Gay Head. -Rich Saltzberg

A problem with the MV Gay Head is forcing the Steamship Authority to play musical ferries just ahead of a busy summer weekend.

“Following the discovery of a small amount of water in the steering gear void of the MV Gay Head, a survey of the vessel’s hull discovered a 4-inch crack in the hull on the vessel’s aft,” Sean Driscoll, a spokesman for the SSA, wrote in an email. “Although the crack is above the waterline, the repair will require the vessel to be dry docked at Thames Shipyard in New London, Connecticut, for replacement of the structural steel. The vessel is now at the Authority’s Fairhaven repair facility and will sail to Thames on Monday morning.”

While the Gay Head services the Hyannis to Nantucket crossing, its absence will have an impact on the Vineyard route, as well.
Here are the adjustments that the SSA is making to its schedule:

Following the last scheduled round trip of the MV Sankaty Friday afternoon, the vessel will leave Woods Hole and arrive in Hyannis before completing one round trip to Nantucket.
The MV Sankaty will service the MV Gay Head’s trips on the Nantucket route on Saturday and Sunday. The vessel is not scheduled to run on the weekends on the Vineyard route, so no trips will be missed.
Sunday evening, the MV Sankaty will make the MV Gay Head’s last scheduled departure from Nantucket at 6:45 p.m. but will sail to Woods Hole instead of Hyannis. The vessel will berth in Woods Hole overnight.
The MV Sankaty will run its first two scheduled round trips on the Vineyard route on Monday morning. The third round trip, leaving Woods Hole at 11:30 a.m. and leaving Vineyard Haven at 12:45 p.m., will be canceled.
Following its scheduled arrival in Woods Hole at 11 a.m., the MV Sankaty will load the traffic scheduled to take the MV Gay Head’s 10:45 a.m. trip from Hyannis and depart to Nantucket, leaving at 11:15 a.m. The Reservation Office will contact those customers scheduled on the 10:45 a.m. trip, which is scheduled as a hazardous materials trip, and tell them to report to Woods Hole.
The MV Sankaty will then run one round-trip between Nantucket and Hyannis, then the scheduled 6:45 p.m. departure from Nantucket to Hyannis will instead depart Nantucket at 8 p.m. and return to Woods Hole.
The above schedule will continue until at least Wednesday, Aug. 3. Decisions on future service will be made when more information is obtained about the timing of the necessary repairs to the MV Gay Head.

Online reservations are temporarily halted while our Reservation Office works to contact the affected customers and rebook them. Customers with urgent travel needs can call the Reservation Office at (508) 477-8600 for assistance.