Sailing with Marine Atlantic on the M.V. Highlanders

by Keith and Heather Nicol  
    We ended our epic 4 province wine tasting trip by taking the M. V. Highlanders on Thursday, June 20 from North Sydney to Port aux Basques. All we need to do now is visit some Newfoundland wineries to complete our tour. The day was sunny and warm in North Sydney and the forecast was for light winds so we were looking forward to spending a day on the water. We pulled out right on schedule at 11:45 am and many people were on deck taking videos and pictures of our departure. We had never sailed on the M.V. Highlanders since it has been a fairly recent addition to the Marine Atlantic fleet.  This ferry is big- close to 200 meters long and it can hold upwards of 1000 passengers. The ferry has several seating areas with large television screens as well as 2 locations for eating on our trip.  The Barista is perfect for a quick snack like coffee and a sandwich and the MET offered a sit down meal with a variety of selections on the menu. On our trip you could get full dinners of braised beef, cod and even Thai curried vegetables. They also have a gift store, children’s play area and an area with computers with an internet connection so you can check your email or tomorrow’s weather forecast. Many locations in the ship have wireless internet access so you can also use your computer from your seat.  The ferry also has 96 cabins which are heavily used on the night crossings. 

The M.V. Highlanders is bright and well appointed

       Since the weather was good we spent quite abit of time on the deck 10 which has lots of bench style seating and a safe comfortable cushioned foam for walking on. We read our books and enjoyed the sun and fresh air for several hours on deck. Be sure to bring lots of sun screen if you plan to be outside since the white paint surrounding the back deck reflects lots of sunshine! We arrived in Port aux Basques around 5:45 pm and it was quite something to see the captain swing the rear of large ship around to dock it for offloading. We really enjoyed our smooth crossing of the Cabot Strait on the M. V. Highlanders and recommend heading for deck 10 if you have good weather. For more information on Marine Atlantic see: http://www.marine-atlantic.ca/index.asp.

The top deck was a popular place for pictures as we arrived in Port aux Basques

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