Wood Island(s) Winter Mail Service 1775 – 1829. In the early years of settlement a fortnightly mail run was in place between Wood Islands and Pictou, Nova Scotia, as the Island's only winter link with the mainland. In 1775, Governor Walter Patterson initiated the iceboat service across the 22.5 km (14 miles) to Caribou, Nova Scotia. Island mail carriers trekked to Wood Islands and then undertook the most dangerous part of the journey, across the ice to Pictou, NS and then the short jump to Caribou. The first trial of a new route was made in 1827, and by 1829 all mail was carried from Cape Traverse, PEI to Cape Tormentine, NB.