For the first time since 1960 a Hy-Line ferry docked in Edgartown on Tuesday morning. The high-speed vessel Grey Lady III began its journey in Oak Bluffs and ferried 16 passengers to Edgartown in about 18 minutes.
It was a test run, orchestrated to see if the vessel would be able to dock at the Memorial Wharf. If it succeeded in docking, the plan was to run the ferry between Hyannis and Edgartown during the 36th annual Christmas in Edgartown festival.
Captain Eric Scholter maneuvered the 300-seat Grey Lady past the wharf and motored backward to pull in port-side. It was a completely smooth landing met with cheers from those aboard. Crew members John Flynn, Ethan Lowe and Kevin Burgess tied the vessel to the dock, where she stuck out a few feet. The Grey Lady was longer than the wharf.
“That was a success,” Mr. Scholter said. “We didn’t bump anything and we didn’t break anything.”
The Grey Lady can travel at 30 knots and make the trip from Hyannis to Edgartown in about 50 minutes, Mr. Scholter said. It regularly runs between Hyannis and Nantucket, with trips into Oak Bluffs in the summer.
The passengers aboard the test run included members of the Edgartown Board of Trade, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Winnetu and Harbor View Hotels. Sydney Mullen, the president of the board of trade, said the test run gave her team even more information than they hoped for. Beyond knowing the ship would be able to dock, the trip gave them a new perspective for their holiday decorating efforts. As the boat traveled around the lighthouse toward the Chappaquiddick beach club cabanas, Ms. Mullen envisioned the moment through the eyes of a Christmas in Edgartown visitor.
“We already decided we have to decorate the far side of the light house,” she said. She imagined carolers greeting passengers as they left the dock, and coordinating different events such as the parade to start after the day trippers arrive.
The idea to run a ferry from Hyannis to Edgartown for Christmas in Edgartown came from Mark Snider, one of the owners of the Winnetu Oceanside Resort. He’d noticed that the Hy-Line runs boats for Nanucket’s annual Christmas stroll and thought why not work out the same service for the Vineyard.
Through a group effort by the board of trade, the chamber and the Winnetu, with the blessing of the Steamship Authority and the cooperation of the Hy-Line, the plan was hatched. And with Tuesday morning’s successful docking, it can move forward.
The details have yet to be ironed out, but Ms. Mullen expects a couple trips per day from Hyannis to Edgartown during the holiday celebration. Cape visitors could come for the day or spend the whole weekend in Edgartown, she said.
Mr. Snider, who in addition to suggesting the idea is a fan of ferry history, said being aboard the first docking of a Hy-Line in Edgartown was a historical moment. He said the last time a boat the size of the Grey Lady docked in Edgartown was when the Steamship used Memorial Wharf in 1934. Now only the M/V Pied Piper docks at Memorial Wharf.
On the way back to Oak Bluffs, Mr. Snider couldn’t hide his excitement.
“It’s like being a kid again,” he said.
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