The decision to sail or not to sail is made by the captains of the province’s ferry service and the captains alone.

That’s according to Transportation Minister Fred Hutton, who met virtually yesterday with members of the Fogo Island / Change Islands Ferry Users’ Committee.

Residents and visitors alike were upset last Friday when they learned that the Fogo Island run was cancelled due to high winds in the forecast, even though conditions for the morning run appeared to be fine.

That proved a huge disappointment for players, fans and organizers of the annual Thomas and Anna Penton Memorial Hockey Tournament.

Hutton understands the cancellation affected a lot of people but says the decision is the captain’s alone, and given the turnaround time, the decision was made to cancel crossings on Friday.

Hutton says while those decisions are out of government’s hands, he has committed to greater communication with users when the schedule is affected.

He’s committed to working more closely with the ferry users’ committee, who now have a direct line of communication with the department’s marine division for emergency services that may be required after hours. “They have that contact within our department,” says Hutton.