Chappaquiddickers refer to the SSA ferry service as the Big Ferry to differentiate it from the Chappy Ferry. When my daughters were little they called the Chappy Ferry the Little Ferry. I recall one of their friends, upon hearing this reference, asking if that meant the freight boat Auriga, which was probably the smallest vessel the SSA ever owned. At the time, the Auriga’s sisters included an actual steamship which towered above the little open decked former oil rig supply vessel.

As much as we like to complain about the operation of the SSA, some of the past inconveniences have actually been somewhat remedied. Remember how we used to get a reservation years ago? In an effort to better serve the traveling public and reduce congestion at the Island terminals, the SSA opened a ticket office up at the airport. In those days, you had to call up the office over on the Cape, wait a fair amount of time for your turn and hope that your agent was still feeling cheerful after giving many folks the bad news that they had to pick another day altogether. If you knew way ahead of time when you wanted to go off-Island they would mail the ticket to you. Or you could go in person to one of the waterfront terminals or to the airport ticket office. Of course, the phone-in option and the airport office were only open during regular business hours.

Now, you can make a reservation at in the middle of the night. You can juggle the trip times, get on an automatic wait list and even move the ticket to another month. Basically, all of the stuff that another person over on the Cape had to do for you. The system has its foibles as we all have experienced, like getting on a boat that’s only half full when the heartless computer swore that the boat was full.

The SSA has always been an easy topic of discussion. I recall one day during my surveying career, sitting around the office trading SSA horror stories. The subject of reservations came up. The boss said that he had never used the standby line, and tat he always got a ticket well ahead of time. That way he was assured of getting on the boat at the time that fit into the rest of his itinerary. Our more free-spirited field crew foreman said they he had never gotten a reservation and that he only used the standby line. That way he could change his mind at the last minute without having to waste time on the phone with the SSA. He also didn’t like the pressure of having to arrive “30 minutes prior to departure”. He could just head on down when he felt ready to go.

Someday, even today will seem like the good ole’ days.