Called to the sea
Colin Carter of Stephenville followed his father’s footsteps to become Marine Atlantic captain
Day 1 in a three-day series marking 120 years of ferry connection between Cape Breton and N.L.
Colin Carter knew from a young age he wanted to make a living on the sea.
In fact, he spent many hours on the water as a child because his father was a captain for Marine Atlantic, before moving on to opportunities with larger companies.
“My uncles were captains as well,” Carter said. “There was a lot of seagoing people in my family and that really inspired me in my career.”
As the years went on, it was clear Carter would work on a boat. His dream of being a captain became a reality with Marine Atlantic in 2010.
“In this industry, you can really go all over the world and there’s lots of work,” Carter said. “I liked the idea of working with Marine Atlantic because it was closer to home, and the relief system was really good.”
Carter, who lives in Stephenville, said there were many reasons why he wanted to stay closer to home and not travel long distances for work.
“I was starting a young family and I really wanted to be closer to them,” Carter said. “You can’t get much closer to home than Marine Atlantic – it can sometimes be difficult to juggle home and work life because you’re still away, but it’s not too bad.”
Carter, 43, isn’t the only active captain in his family. His brother, Chris, also works as a captain with Marine Atlantic, however the two have never captained together.
“We have an opportunity to see things that people don’t always get to see, like sunrises and sunsets,” Carter said. “They’re amazing to some people and
they enjoy seeing them, but we take it for granted now because we’ve seen them so much.”
Over the past eight years, Carter has had many memorable moments as a captain.
In March 2011, he helmed the final crossing of the MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood from Port aux Basques to North Sydney.
The Smallwood and Caribou were replaced that year by the MV Highlanders and MV Blue Puttees, two of Marine Atlantic’s current four vessels.
“For a lot of the crew members,
they were disappointed to see those vessels go because they really enjoyed working on them,” Carter said.
“It was sort of disappointing for me, as well, because I was used to those vessels, and the new ones, I think all the captains didn’t know what to expect at the time…”
He says the biggest adjustment to the new vessels was getting used to handling them.
“We were the first ones going on these ships and we didn’t really have anyone to train us, so we had to get a feel for it,” Carter explained.
Another challenging part of being a captain is making the decision whether or not to sail in inclement weather.
“We mainly look at the forecast, and if it looks like the winds could get up too high where we don’t think we would
be able to get into dock, we make the decision to cancel the sailing,” Carter said.
“The captains will talk to each other and discuss the weather and decide from there if a sailing can happen. If you have two experienced skippers, they might decide to have a crossing if it’s borderline.”
Carter has a wife and two sons.
“(My sons) have been on the boat before – it was nice letting them see what I do,” Carter said.
His 14-year-old son has already said he wants to be a captain like his father one day.
“He’s going to try to keep it in the family and that’s important to me,” Carter said. “It would be interesting to be able to work side by side with him.”