Figure eights in rough seas: Bluebridge engine woes sees ferry turn around twice

MATT BROWN

Bluebridge ferry Connemara limped into the Marlborough Sounds with only one engine firing on a marathon seven-hour trip on Friday night, a passenger says.

Blenheim woman Abby Edwards embarked from Wellington on the ferry at 2pm. But after hours delay and the ferry turning around in the Strait, twice, she’s just happy she got to Picton.

The ferry was meant to sail Friday morning at 7.45am, but it was delayed until 2pm, says Abby. She booked a motel in Wellington to make the sailing.

After two hours of sailing, she says it feels like they were only just out of Wellington. Then there was an announcement.

The ferry was turning around – going back to Wellington.

Abby says the other passengers weren’t happy with that.

“It was very frustrating when they first announced it,” she says.

“People around me cancelled their motel bookings in the South Island then rebooked in Wellington, then had to cancel them again.”

Forty minutes later, there was a second announcement