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There’s an experience many people from PEI share simply because they live in Canada’s smallest province, cradled between the Gulf of St Lawrence and Northumberland Strait.
At some time in their lives, most Islanders have taken the ferry to travel to the mainland.
Whether by way of the ferry, or some other less convenient mode of transport, crossing the Strait has played an important role in the lives of Islanders and northern Nova Scotians.
The legacy of that journey will be commemorated next year as part of PEI’s 2014 celebrations with the release of a book entitled ‘Crossing the Strait.’ The story will be told through a series of vintage photographs, archival sources, personal views and anecdotes from people on both sides of the Strait.
“It’s a history of the ferry, but not the corporate history,” Marian Bruce, the book’s author, said.
Ms Bruce was commissioned by the Wood Islands Area Development Corporation, which received the 2014 grant funding for the publication.
“I really want to set it in context with what was here before the ferry,” she said, “the kind of traffic that went back and forth forever, right from the time of the Mi’kmaq and the early settlers who used the ice boats.”
Through her research, Ms Bruce learned the ice boats first began in Wood Islands in 1775 and continued there, carrying the mail, for about 50 years before moving to Borden.
“It was pretty rough going on those ice boats,” she said. “People lost hands, feet, their lives on those boats.”
The book will include a chronology of tales from past to present - stories of perilous crossings, unusual characters, as well as sad, strange and humorous incidents.
Ms Bruce, who lives in High Bank, has been leafing through old history books and files in the Northumberland Ferries’ archives, learning important facts and details. However, she’s also calling upon her own experiences and resources in the area where she grew up, such as the local residents whom she knows have ties to the Strait.
“Whenever I do a book, I concentrate on the people,” she said, adding that she has been interviewing as many people as she can, including previous ferry captains.
“David White from Montague was a captain for years, as well as his father and his brother,” she said.
But she’s not limiting herself to just those in command.
“I also want to talk to deckhands, stewards, and even people who have travelled who have stories to tell.”
She’s hoping to get the story from the other side, too, by interviewing some people from Nova Scotia.
“I want to talk to people on the other side, because that’s really important. It’s their story, too.”
Ms Bruce said her focus won’t only be on the economic impact of the ferry, it will also focus on the social significance it has.
She hopes to touch on the sentimental aspect of people’s ferry travels and the impression it's left on the many passengers over the years.
“When you come across in that ferry from Nova Scotia and you see the red cliffs looming up, boy, it just grabs your heart strings,” Ms Bruce said, putting a hand to her chest. “I never fail to get emotional when I think about that or see those red shores.”
Ms Bruce said travelling across the Strait to PEI is what connects old to new, past to present. And it’s why she thinks this book is important.
“It’s part of our history that’s never been told,” she said, adding that she sometimes worries about the future of the vessel that’s bridged the distance between PEI and Nova Scotia for more than 70 years.
“It’s important for employment in the area, it’s important to truckers, and it’s important for tourism.”
Ms Bruce said she thinks travellers who take the ferry to PEI do so, mainly, for the experience.
“It’s a lovely way to travel, you get to relax,” she said. “In this fast-paced, crazy life we lead, you get to just sit there for an hour and fifteen minutes and just daydream. And it’s a lot more romantic than crossing on a bridge, if you ask me.”
Ms Bruce said she’s hoping the book will be published by next summer, but, she said, she still has to get in touch with more people who have a history with the ferry or with crossing the Northumberland Strait.
“I know there’s probably people out there with loads of old photos or stories, and I’d just love to get my hands on them.”
Anyone with an interesting or historical tale to tell, a photo to donate or experience to share is encouraged to contact Ms Bruce by E-mail at olddanbook@gmail.com or at 846-0153.
Photo: The ferry at Wood Islands has been crossing Northumberland Strait for more than 70 years. Next year, a book entitled ‘Crossing the Strait’ will be published as part of PEI’s 2014 celebrations. It will include historical photos as well as tales of travellers - past and present - who crossed the expanse of water between PEI and Nova Scotia. Graphic file photo
First appeared in The Eastern Graphic August 7, 2013
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