SALT RUNS IN THEIR VEINS
Fifteen minutes after the ferry for Monhegan Island leaves New Harbor, Maine, Capt. Chad Hanna tells the Hardy III’s passengers to look to starboard where they can see the lighthouse at the tip of the Pemaquid Peninsula. He tells them Pemaquid Point Light is the most photographed lighthouse in the state and is featured on the back of the Maine quarter, but he doesn’t mention that his most famous ancestor once served as its lightkeeper.
If Hanna were to regale the passengers with his family’s maritime history, the one-hour ride to Monhegan wouldn’t be long enough.
As the Hardy III’s twin 350-hp Caterpillar diesels propel the ferry and its 48 passengers towards Monhegan, Hanna and one of the deckhands, Kaden Pendleton, point out marine wildlife and noteworthy landmarks. Usually, the boat would carry 113-passengers, but because of Covid-19 restrictions she is running at less than half her capacity.
The 63-year-old Hanna says operating the 60-foot ferry in tough conditions can be hard, but that otherwise the job is pretty routine. Today is about as routine as it can get. The 10- mile run to Monhegan is exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, but there is very little swell, sun, blue skies, a 10-knot tailwind, two-foot seas and unlimited visibility.
Hanna says it’s not always like this and recalls his toughest run on the . A few was built for such offshore conditions, but not the passengers, most of whom got sick. “I’ve been in 35-foot seas in hurricane force winds during sea trials for the U.S. Navy,” Hanna says, “but it was a wild ride.”
