Nantucket

41°17.45’N, 070°05.37’W

Here are some photos of Nantucket. After Block Island, which I sailed to with Dad a few years ago, which we both thought was pretty tacky, Nantucket is great: tasteful, sophisticated and styly. This partly a function of very strict town planning (all houses must be clad in shingle, you can paint them one of only 8 colours). But it’s beautiful, and sufficiently far from the mainland to have a genuine island feel and culture (my fav bumper sticker: “welcome to Nantucket. Now go back to the Hamptons. Go, go now, really.”). I was disappointed to miss the whaling museum, it was closed the two days we were there, as Nantucket whalers accounted for, at one point, half the US whaling fleet, and they were common visitors to the South Pacific including New Zealand. The whalers captains’ houses show the wealth that was created, yet, like the internet more recently I suppose, the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania changed the dynamic completely, effectively ending the market for sperm whale oil for heat and lighting and the industry folded very quickly. Nantucket does still give you a glimpse into what it was like – even if you don’t get to the museum. BTW, I have a wonderful Nantucket navigation story to pass on when I have a moment to get it down…it will make you chuckle, and will give you a good feel for the robustness of your (historic, perhaps) Nantucker.

Very interesting place, and great to visit ahead of the tourist hordes. Later in the season it’s packed: it’s hard to get a mooring after June 21 and expensive as hell. We managed to get a slip for two days at $50/night….the usual rate when the season gets going is $214. We both had a good wander around the island as we waited for a SW blow to work its way through….and for once I brought my camera.

We’re now in Hyannis on Cape Cod, anchored not far from the Kennedy’s compound at Hyannisport, after a good romp over in a 20 knt Noreasterly, reaching with the boat surfing along at 7-8 knots. We short tacked up the harbor when the wind backed on us and left nice, even, satisfying lines on the chart plotter. It’s a beautiful spot, but we could do with an extra 30F in our back pocket; the breeze is still gusting into the 20s, now for the fourth consecutive day. We’ve been effectively alone on this trip – the only yacht out bar one this whole week – and we get VHF calls from the ferry boat captains as they fly past – but there’s something remote and stark and beautiful to it all, and very challenging sailing with strong winds and tricky currents; the summer is characterized by lighter wind and this is the most active waterway in the United States in season. Will be quite a contrast in a month or two! I guess it was winter when JFK commented “I always come back to the Cape and walk on the beach when I have a tough decision to make. I can think and be alone”.

Greg goes home tomorrow, and I’m going to hang out here. If there’s a calm, sunny day I’ll single-hand the boat to Edgartown, on Martha’s Vineyard (the only US place name I can think of with a possessive apostrophe) just for fun and a sail. It’s where Jaws was filmed, but it’s really a pretty spot where many of the Nantucket whaling captains retired. Around the corner, just 4 nm away, is Vineyard Haven, on Martha’s Vineyard, where we stopped on the way out a few days ago. We had dinner in the famous Black Dog Tavern (they sell an annual T-shirt that is very sought after among the cognoscenti – I noticed the 2006 ‘special edition’ was being disposed of for $10 so you know what’s coming your way this Christmas – but if you’re a young, East Coast groovester, and you see somebody wearing their The Black Dog T-Shirt, you can relax in the knowledge that “they’re one of us!”). I plan to get one (the 06, unless there’s a better deal on the 05). Greg, with whom I am sailing, is disgusted by the whole thing.

What’s even funnier, is that the Tavern, at Vineyard Haven, on Martha’s Vineyard doesn’t serve beer, the whole town is dry. We didn’t stay.

Here are the photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/FishesEddy/Nantucket?authkey=y00f8KCSSsA