A stormy start to the weekend has led Northumberland Ferries to cancel all of its Saturday ferry crossings between Wood Islands, P.E.I., and Caribou, N.S.
The Confederation Bridge weather station showed wind speeds on the Northumberland Strait of 38 km/h with gusts up to 53 just after 10 a.m.
Saturday’s cancellations are the latest in a turbulent couple of weeks for the ferry service. Crossings have been cancelled dozens of times due to high winds or mechanical issues with one of the ferries, the MV Confederation.
Northumberland Ferries is leasing its other vessel, the MV Saaremaa, from Quebec as a replacement for the MV Holiday Island. The Saaremaa was built in Norway and is less suited for the often choppy waters of the Northumberland Strait.
An area of low pressure containing tropical moisture is bringing significant rainfall to the Maritimes, according to Environment Canada.
P.E.I. is under a special weather statement with rainfall of 20-30 millimetres expected. The agency warns the system could lead to hazardous driving conditions, cancellations and power outages.
Maritime Electric’s online outage map showed no widespread outages as of 10:30 a.m.
Red Shores in Charlottetown has announced that harness racing scheduled for Saturday has been moved to Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.