CCB MEDIA PHOTO
A whale watch boat departs Provincetown Harbor, where New Hampshire officials are hoping to establish high-speed ferry service
PROVINCETOWN – A group in Portsmouth New Hampshire, Promote Our Port, is pushing to get a high speed ferry service to Provincetown.
The group met with town officials and business leaders last week and are meeting again today with the Pease Development Authority to further discuss the idea.
Promote Our Port chairman Bob Hassold hopes to have the service ready for the 400th anniversaries for Provincetown and Portsmouth in 2020 and 2023, respectively.
“We are trying to put both cities, or both towns, together to be able to extend the celebration of both communities,” Hassold said.
Hassold said the idea is popular in Portsmouth.
“There are many people here that are from Vermont, part of New York State, Quebec [and] Maine that want to use this service to go over to P-town and see what the place is like.”
Hassold says the service would be a few years away because the port is being used as a lay down area for the Sarah Long Bridge construction.
Hassold is optimistic that getting a high-speed ferry between the two communities will happen.
“It all works and it is a win-win situation for everyone,” he said. “This is going to work. I guarantee it.”
Hassold along with officials from Portsmouth traveled to Provincetown in the spring to discuss the idea and tour the historic town.
“We were treated royally by the P-town people, the harbormaster, the chamber and city officials and town manager,” he said. “We had a great time and for the whole day got toured all around Provincetown and we left with a very satisfying feeling that they are very interested in having a ferry service come from Portsmouth.”
Officials from Provincetown will be making a return trip to Portsmouth in the beginning of October.
“They want us to see it and they want to sit down and talk about the possibility of setting things in motion and we are very excited about it,” said Provincetown Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Candice Collins-Boden.
Collins-Boden said the service could be a win-win for the economies of both communities.
“One of the things we discussed was having visitor packages,” she said. “So people could come down here and visit the monument or go on a dune buggy ride or whale watch and stay overnight and go to a restaurant and then have a package similar to that in Portsmouth.”
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