New foot passenger ferry between New Brunswick and Maine arrives this weekend

A new foot passenger ferry service between Campobello Island, N.B., and Eastport, Maine, marks the revival of a transportation link across the Passamaquoddy Bay’s international boundary.

The Eastport Windjammers boating company and the Friar’s Bay Development Association will begin a scheduled summer water taxi this Saturday, following a brief trial run last summer.

The service, which requires reservations, will run three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday).

The 15-minute boat ride connects downtown Eastport to Welshpool Landing on Campobello Island and can carry up to 12 reservations. Comparatively, the drive time between downtown Eastport and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Bridge to Campobello Island is the better part of an hour.

Passengers arriving by ferry on Campobello will be driven to the island’s Canada Border Services Agency location to present passports, before being able to explore. The Eastport Port Authority has a U.S. Customs and Border Protection office close to the ferry’s landing site for documents to be presented.

Eastport, Maine, as seen from Campobello Island, N.B. on June 10, 2024. (Nick Moore/CTV Atlantic)

Peter Harwerth, the harbour master at Welshpool Landing, says the new ferry service is the result of many years of work in both countries.

“The whole operation was dependent on the approval of Canada Customs and U.S. Customs in the last few steps,” says Harwerth.

Tourism operators say the new ferry will present opportunities to promote international day trip packages.

“Having the ferry come and go and bringing other potential customers to our downtown, it’s a win-win,” says Eastport gallery owner Michael Morris.

On a fog free day, Downtown Eastport is within clear view from Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

“(The ferry) will have a huge impact because Eastport is the host to many cruise ships, large and small,” says Bruce Thomson, the visitor services manager at Roosevelt Campobello International Park.

The passenger ferry's return is a throwback to when downtown Eastport had a passenger ferry link to Deer Island, N.B., before it stopped operating 10 years ago.

“I think it was such a big mistake when the Deer Island ferry was taken away,” says Amy Ray, a downtown Eastport business owner who grew up in the area. “As a child here we would take our bikes over to Deer Island and ride around, and it was just a lovely thing to be so connected.”

Harwerth says the new ferry service could be a first step in revitalizing more movement in the bay between New Brunswick and Maine.

“This is picking up on some really old traditions here,” he says.

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