Jan 31 2008
The CAT Ferry to Yarmouth Celebrates Its 10th Anniversary
I remember the day on our vacation in Acadia in June/July 1998 when we first spotted the CAT steaming across Frenchman’s Bay. It was thrilling to see this jet black ship speeding across the bay. I remember the girls and I spotting it from one of the lookouts high above the bay along the Park Loop Road and going, “Wow! What’s that?”
We were well used to the familiar site of the aging Bluenose Ferry and had thought about taking it sometime to visit Nova Scotia while we were there. But, since the Bluenose took a good 6 hours one way to get there, it necessitated an overnight stay in Nova Scotia, if you were going to have time to do anything once you got there. We could never conceive of giving up that much time in our magical Acadia, but it was still something that intrigued us.
So, when we spotted the CAT, we had to find out about it. Turns out, it could make the same trip in less than half the time! The CAT travels at 55 MPH and is what’s known as a catamaran ferry, meaning it kind of skims the surface of the water, which I think is what makes it so fast.
We’ve still never taken the ferry… what can I say? We love Acadia! But I was amazed to read a story in the Ellsworth American this morning that the CAT is celebrating its 10th anniversary of doing the Bar Harbor to Yarmouth route. I couldn’t believe it had been that long since we first saw it. Time flies.
Anyway, the article is pretty interesting… I also didn’t realize the CAT had such a rich history. Check it out…
Written by Kathi
