Travel Warning: Ferry schedules have changed

The problem with the MV Gay Head is that the Steamship Authority is forcing it to play music boats before a busy summer weekend.

“Following the discovery of a small amount of water on the rudder of the MV Gay’s head, a survey of the vessel’s hull revealed a 4-inch crack in the top of the vessel,” SSA spokesman Sean Driscoll wrote in an email. Although the leak was above the waterline, repairs required a dock on the Thames in New London, Connecticut, to replace the ship’s structural steel. The vessel is now at the authority’s Fairhaven maintenance facility and will sail up the Thames on Monday morning.

While the gay chief serves Hyannis on the Nantucket crossing, his absence also affects the Vineyard Road.
Here are the adjustments SSA is making to the schedule:

• MV Sankaty’s final scheduled round trip will arrive in Hyannis on Friday afternoon before the ship leaves Woods Hole and completes a round trip to Nantucket.
• MV Sankaty offers Saturday and Sunday MV Gay Head cruises on the Nantucket route. The ship is not scheduled to go on the vineyard route on weekends, so no trips will be missed.
• On Sunday night, MV Sankaty will make the MV Gay Head’s final departure from Nantucket at 6:45pm, but it will head to Woods Hole instead of Hyannis. The ship enters the hole of the woods overnight.
• MV Sankaty will make its first two scheduled round trips on the Vineyard route on Monday morning. A third round trip leaving Woods Hole at 11:30 am and departing Vineyard Haven at 12:45 pm will be canceled.
• After arriving in Woods Hole at 11 am, the MV Sancati will depart the MV Gay’s head at 10:45 am from Hyannis for the scheduled voyage to Nantucket, carrying traffic scheduled for departure at 11:15 am. Schedule a 10:45 am trip, which is scheduled as a hazardous materials trip, and tell them to report to Woods Hole.
• The MV Sancati will make a round trip between Nantucket and Hyannis, then depart Nantucket for Hyannis at 6:45 PM instead of Nantucket at 8 PM and return to Woods Hole.
• The above schedule will continue until at least Wednesday, August 3. Future service decisions will be made as more information becomes available regarding the required maintenance time for the MV Gay Head.

Online bookings are temporarily suspended while our booking team works to contact and rebook affected customers. Customers with urgent travel needs may call the Reservations Office at (508) 477-8600 for assistance.