New to the NB- PEI run in 1971 were two identical vessels, the MV Holiday Island and the MV Vacationland. Designed with summer tourist traffic in mind, they were 325 feet long with a capacity of 155 cars. These Ro-Ro ferries could unload and load 300 cars in just 12 minutes. I was on one of these ships when they were brand new and crossed several times since, including 1994 and 1995 with my children. Over the years I know I sailed on both of them, but because they were so identical I don�t specifically recall which trips were on which boat. They served the Island for 26 years and were finally replaced by the Confederation Bridge. Actually, the Holiday Island now operates on the Wood Islands- Caribou route, so it still serves the Island. The Vacationland is now berthed at a Liverpool NS shipyard for some conversion work to prepare her for a new life as a Grand Manan ferry. It's new name is Fundy Paradise. I see it one or more times a week and work seems to be progressing awfully slow. It seems so strange to see it her after all the years on the Strait. 

                                        Northumberland Ferries celebrated PEI�s Centennial with the arrival of the Prince Edward in 1973. Looking very much like her sister ship, the Prince Nova, she also had a capacity of 60 cars. This meant that there were now three ships sailing between Caribou and Wood Islands. With the Confederation borrowed from the Island�s other service in the late seventies, there would be four for a time. I think the Prince Edward was replaced by the Holiday Island in 1997. Today it serves Fogo Island, Newfoundland under the new handle Capt. Earl W. Winsor.

���������������������������������������� It took ten years until another new ferry was added, when Marine Atlantic replaced the old Abby with the new Abegweit in 1982. I took this picture while disembarking from the Holiday Island at Cape Tormentine in August 1983. The new ferry used some fixtures from the original Abby in one of her five lounges (actually called the Abegweit Lounge). Built in Saint John NB, with dimensions based on the John Hamilton Gray, which had a good reputation on the Strait. She was 401.5 feet in length, 70.5 feet wide and at 18000 horsepower, the most powerful ship on the run. New loading ramps were required at each terminal, costing over $6 million dollars. The John Hamilton Gray had its upper deck modified for stern loading so it could use the new ramps as well. Things went a little rough for the new Abegweit at first, but eventually she became the flagship of the Island service. With the opening of the fixed link in 1997 she was taken out of service, and remained idle in Sydney NS, awaiting a new assignment. It�s too bad Northumberland Ferries couldn�t have used her at Caribou and Wood islands. I guess the Holiday Island was a better fit physically and probably economically anyway. Plus the seasonal service had no need for the Abegweit�s ice-breaking capabilities. Latest rumors have this ship sold to a Great Lakes Shipping company .