Cape Breton Post reporter makes journey to Port Aux Basques
Have you ever seen a Marine Atlantic ferry leaving the terminal in North Sydney and wondered what it would be like to be on the vessel?
Earlier this month, I had an opportunity to take a crossing between North Sydney and Port aux Basques, N.L., to get a first-hand experience of the adventure.
Much to my surprise, I learned there’s more to a ferry crossing than what meets the eye, with plenty of behind the scenes stuff taking place.
As I enter the Marine Atlantic property from Blowers Street in North Sydney around 10 a.m., I’m shown to the employee parking lot, where I am asked to leave my vehicle, as I would be a walk-on passenger for the Aug. 7 trip.
After parking the vehicle, I walk a short distance to the Northside terminal, where I am greeted outside by Marine Atlantic spokesperson Darrell Mercer, who will be joining me on the journey across the Cabot Strait.
Entering the terminal building, two security guards are present, collecting tickets and allowing entry into the seating area of the recently-renovated facility.
We then proceed to the counter where we are given our tickets without any issues by the friendly Marine Atlantic employees at the desk.
As we prepare to enter the seating area, one of the security guards approaches us and says we have been randomly selected for a screening test — security being unaware of Mercer’s position with the company or my own job as a reporter.
“This was not set up,” laughs Mercer. “I don’t know these gentlemen and they don’t know me.”
When we tell the guard who we are, he is surprised, but it certainly doesn’t change his opinion — which is the the way it should be — and he proceeds to check our carry-on bags and later clears us for entry into the seating area.
A few minutes later, we leave the modern-day facility and board a small passenger bus that takes walk-on passengers from the terminal onto the ferry.
As we enter the MV Highlanders, a vessel that joined the company’s fleet in 2011, passenger vehicles and commercial trucks are separated and loaded closely together for the six-hour crossing between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.
After exiting the shuttle bus, we walk up several flights of stairs, eventually making our way to the seating area that features hardwood floors and six large televisions on both the seventh and eighth floors.
Shortly after, I’m given a tour of the 200-metre vessel. The boat contains comfortable seating, not to mention 96 spacious cabins, as well as two cafés and a restaurant, which prepares full-course meals.
The vessel, which has 2,840 lane metres on the vehicle deck,
also has a gift shop and children’s activity areas.
For this afternoon crossing, 347 passengers are on board.
Walking through the vessel, I’m approached by staff members — again, not knowing I’m a Cape Breton Post reporter — asking if I had any questions about the vessel or if I need assistance.
As the vessel prepares to leave the terminal, you barely know you are on such a large boat. There’s no rocking — a very smooth transition from parked to reverse — to the point where I even have to ask Darrell if we are moving.
With the adventure well underway under sunny skies, we pass the MV Leif Ericson, carrying only commercial vehicles, heading to North Sydney. Both vessels exchange blasts from their horns — a gesture that can be heard through the harbour — as they acknowledge well-wishes towards each other.
A little bit later, I have the
opportunity to speak and meet fellow passengers, all of whom rave of the passenger experience as well as the quality of the restaurant.
After doing some work — completing interviews with passengers and staff members — I decide to try the food offered on the vessel, ordering a two-piece fish and chips meal with homemade fries – and find it as good as advertised.
Once lunch is over, I continue to meet and interview some wonderful Marine Atlantic staff, who share interesting stories about how they began with company and why they chose a career on the water.
Before I know it, we are only an hour away from Port aux Basques, but I can’t help but notice the change in the weather. Leaving North Sydney, it was 27C, but as we approach the Newfoundland coast, the stereotypical fog rolls in and winds pick up, with the temperature dropping to 15C — cold compared to the blistering-hot summer we’ve had in Cape Breton.
As the vessel approaches the Newfoundland terminal, the boat slowly turns, catching this reporter off guard. I ask Mercer what the boat is doing and he tells me that the boat will be backing into the docking area.
In earlier years, I had been on the MV Caribou but never the MV Highlanders, so I wasn’t aware of what to expect once arriving in Port aux Basques.
The crossing finishes at around 6:30 p.m. local time, by boarding another shuttle bus that takes us to the terminal. It was there where a gentleman from the Ashby area of Sydney recognizes my face and blows my cover, making it known to some 20 passengers that I am a reporter with the Cape Breton Post.
After spending three hours exploring the community of Port aux Basques, with traditional Newfoundland music blaring through the downtown core by way of a band on stage near the wharf, I board the vessel around 10:30 p.m. for an 11:45 p.m. crossing back home and proceed to my cabin for the night.
Much to my surprise, 520 passengers on board for the night crossing – 173 more people than the afternoon sailing.
Throughout the night, I barely know I am on a boat. There is no rocking, despite a thunderstorm in the distance. I have no problem sleeping.
As we approach North Sydney, I wake up to an announcement that lets everyone know we are an hour away from Cape Breton. We eventually arrive back in North Sydney at 7:20 a.m. to sunny skies.
Of course, I can’t fit every detail into the story, as hard as I triy. The only way to know the true ferry experience would be to take the voyage across the Cabot Strait yourself.