We got a couple emails this weekend from concerned citizens who had spotted Mounties on the shore at Charleston Navy Yard. Yep, it's true. The U.S. Navy, National Park Service, and colonial-dressed docents alike allowed the Canadians to dock and take shore. We hoped for a South Park-style battle to be brewing, unfortunately it was merely a PR campaign for Canadian-based Bay Ferries new CAT high-speed ferry service from Portland, ME. Formerly only making trips from Bar Harbor to Novia Scotia the company recently expanded their service to depart from Portland as well. We hear it's been well received by their focus groups. A maze of metal barriers was woven together to board the ferry, though when we made it down to take a look there was merely a trickle of folks checking out the "open house" ferry. We expected a lot of tourists to be present, but found that a majority of the people we encountered were not from distant lands stopping over after checking out the Constitution but were travel agents and other tourism workers who had just come up from Braintree, or out from Worchester to gander at Canada's big boat. We didn't take a close enough look to know if they were supposed to promote Maine or Canada – but foam lobsters were the prize for anyone who made it onto the CAT.

Photo of the CAT parked at Navy Yard shows a Mountie on the right and a bagpiper talking to a NPS colonial costumed woman outside the ferry. Incidentally - the staircase shown is the exit.