An update from John Wood
Hello again everyone,
Firstly, a few thank you words from me and the Scilly Ferries team.
Thank you for your patience in waiting for further details about our fast ferry service and a big thank you to the children of Year 7 at the Five Islands Academy for naming our vessel Atlantic Wolff – we’re planning something special for you when she is officially named!
We continue to be greatly encouraged by all the support we’ve received over these past few months.
I have some good news to share with you today. We can reveal that Standard single ticket prices will start at £49 (age 16+), which – along with all other tickets – we will be offering on a ‘buy now, pay later’ launch offer. Plus, within the next few days residents of Scilly will be able to apply to join our Residents’ Club.
Over the last few months, we have come to really understand the difficulty local people have in getting on and off the islands. In structuring the benefits of the club, we believe we have listened and have done as much as we can within our gift to respond to that.
Every permanent resident of Scilly, adult or child, is eligible to join – for free – including full-time students and members of the Armed Forces and Emergency Services temporarily living away from the islands. There will be a link on our website to complete a simple registration process and we’ll let you know when that is live via our social media.
Once we’ve checked a few details, your individual membership account will be credited with travel vouchers equivalent to three return trips per year. On top of that, you’ll get an additional 20% discount on a further two trips, be those a single or return trips. You will also be able to share your residents’ discount with friends and family but not the vouchers.
The delay in offering tickets for sale has been caused partly by the need to optimise the schedule. But again, I have positive news to announce.
We plan to introduce some morning departure slots from St Mary’s, meaning that for the first time you will be able enjoy a full day on the mainland for that all important medical appointment, shopping trip or onward journey. It also means holidaymakers departing the islands will be able to check-out of their accommodation and begin their journey home earlier in the day.
I had hoped that today we would be in a position to put tickets on sale. We’ve been working with a specialist ferry ticket vendor building the complex infrastructure to enable this next milestone. We’re in final testing and, all being well, you will be able to book your first trip in the next couple of weeks.
As for the Atlantic Wolff, she is almost ready to depart Tahiti for her long crossing to Belfast, where she will be prepared and re-branded ahead of her entering service this summer. She is booked into our dry dock in March, however given the unpredictable sea conditions at this time of year, we have made allowance for weather delays.
Thank you again for your continued support; my team and I look forward to our next visit in a few weeks’ time.
John