Like the 401 being taken from Toronto

GRAND MANAN ISLAND, N.B. — Every once in a while, folks get schooled on how important big trucks are to their lives.

And residents of this pastoral New Brunswick Island have just had such a refresher course.

On May 18, the main ferry serving the island, The Grand Manan V, ran aground. The official cause: Mechanical failure. She had to be taken to Quebec for repairs.

Meantime, the island was served by the much smaller MV Grand Manan, which was yanked out of pasture to do the job.

The Grand Manan V handles 65 cars and big trucks.

Her little sister can haul 25 cars and only two trucks. What’s more, because of the famous tides in the Bay of Fundy, it’s not always possible to load two trucks on to the boat.

So for a month, truck traffic to the Island came to a virtual standstill.

That’s why, when the bigger ship returned last week, locals were thrilled. (According to one news source, the return of the ferry was "more talked about than the 40 youth graduating that day from Grand Manan Community School, the largest grad class in two decades.")

While the ship was in for repairs, construction projects on the Island couldn’t get supplies, so several builders were idle. Also, the seaweed that Manan is famous for couldn’t be shipped to the mainland for processing.

Theresa MacFarland owns Ferry Wharf Takeout, which is the first Grand Manan business visitors lay eyes on. (It’s affiliated with Petttescove Arts) another tourist magnet.

MacFarland says that for the month the ferry was being repaired, she lost about 80 percent of her business.

"It was," she told todaystrucking.com, "like the 401 being taken away from Toronto. That’s how much the ferry means to us."

MacFarland also says a contingency plan for a downed ferry will almost surely be an election issue in the next local mayoral elections.