You may be greeted by grey and harbor seals sunning themselves on the harbor’s long breakwaters as you approach Nantucket. From the cobblestone streets of town to beaches that rank among the world’s finest, this “elbow of sand” has a charm all its own.
Navigation Use Maptech Chartkit Region 2 and NOAA charts 13242( 1:10,000), 13241 (1:40,000) and 13237 (1:80,000). Use the tide tables for Nantucket Harbor. The mean tidal range is 3.1 feet. Nantucket is located 25.8 nautical miles east of Edgartown Light on Martha’s Vineyard, and 24.4 nautical miles south of the Stage Harbor entrance to Chatham, MA.
If you’re making your approach from the north, it’s essentially a straight run to the Nantucket Harbor channel. From the west, use the Nantucket Main Channel (also known as the Cross Rip Channel), which lies between Cross Rip and Horseshoe Shoals. From either the north or west, stay east of Fl G 4s BELL G “1” on the eastern end of Tuckernuck Shoal before making your approach into Nantucket Sound.The entrance to Nantucket Harbor is located on the north side of the island. Depending on the direction of your approach, good landmarks are Great Point Light (Fl 5s 71ft 12M) at the island’s northeastern tip, and Sankaty Head Light (Fl 7.5s 158ft 24 M) on the eastern shore. The entrance to Nantucket Harbor is marked by R W Mo(A) BELL “NB” and the entrance has jetties on each side that extend nearly a mile into Nantucket Sound.
The channel runs for 1.5 nautical miles southeast to Brant Point, which is identified by Brant Point Lighthouse (Occ R 4s 26ft 10 M) east of the Coast Guard station and two range towers. To approach, line up the two range towers on Brant Point – the outer one flashes at night, while the inner one is constant. The channel is wide, but don’t stray outside or you risk running aground. Traffic can be heavy, including several passenger ferries that serve the island. To enter the harbor from the channel, swing east, then west around Brant Point.
An easterly wind and a westerly current can make for some uncomfortable running in Nantucket Sound. In those conditions, the big ocean swells that aren’t broken up by Monomoy Shoals to the east can create steep 6- to 8-foot waves outside Nantucket Harbor. Likewise, a fresh summer southwesterly will also kick up chop.
Anchorages Nantucket Harbor is large and there’s plenty of room for anchoring, although the anchorage areas are farther from town than the mooring field. The main anchorage area begins as you round Brant Point, and it’s marked to the east of the mooring field. There’s a large shoal area in the middle of the harbor, so monitor your depthfinder. The holding ground here is a mix of sand, mud and eelgrass.
The harbor runs northeast for a considerable distance toward Head of the Harbor, inside a sand spit known as Coatue. Anchorage is available here, but with a controlling depth of three feet at mean low water this area is for shallow draft vessels only. Follow the channel that runs parallel to Coatue, keeping the uncharted numbered spits well to port as you make your way up. Because of the harbor’s considerable fetch, waves can build, particularly in an easterly.
Moorings & Slips Nantucket Moorings maintains 125 transient moorings in the harbor, and can accommodate boats up to 100 feet LOA. Off-season, you’ll probably be able to rent a mooring on a first comefirst- served basis, but reservations are highly recommended from June through Labor Day. Visit nantucketmoorings.com to reserve a mooring online. There’s a two night minimum stay (three-night minimum during peak periods), and prepayment in full is required. After Labor Day, you can pay for two nights and they’ll let you stay a third night for free. Call them when you arrive in the harbor at 508-228-4472 or on VHF channel 68 (before 5 pm) and they’ll escort you to your mooring.
Launch service is available, although it’s not included in the mooring fee. Call Harbor Launch at 508-325-1350 or VHF channel 68. Nantucket Boat Basin (also at 508-325-1350 or toll free at 800-NAN-BOAT) has 240 transient slips with 14 feet of depth at mean low water and can accommodate very large vessels, but these berths fill up quickly and reservations are recommended. The Boat Basin is a full service marina – with a very helpful concierge – and their fuel dock has diesel, water and ice. They monitor VHF channels 9 and 73.
Nantucket has been a Federal No Discharge Zone for quite a while, and you’re encouraged to pump out your holding tank before arriving. If you require a pumpout while in a slip, call the Nantucket Boat Basin. If you’re on a mooring, contact the Harbormaster on VHF 9 or phone 508-228-7261. Two free dinghy docks are located at the Town Dock, where you’ll also find showers. Fresh water, ice, garbage disposal facilities (you’re expected to pre-sort your trash and recyclables), restrooms and the free pumpout station are located on the Nantucket Town Pier (508- 228-7260), where diesel and gasoline are available. The Old North Wharf (508-228-6071) has three transient slips with 11 feet at mean low water. For boat repairs, call Island Marine Service at 508-228-9095. They’re able to haul boats up to 20 tons.
Going Ashore Nantucket offers very convenient provisioning. You’ll find a Grand Union supermarket (508-228-9756) downtown at 9 Salem Street, and a Stop & Shop (508-228-2178) is located a short distance inland at 31 Sparks Street (take a cab if you’re stocking up). Congdon’s Pharmacy, located on Main Street, can fill prescriptions and they have an old-fashioned soda fountain. For natural foods, visit Annye’s Whole Foods at 14 Amelia Drive (508-228-4554) or Bartlett’s Farm at 33 Bartlett’s Farm Road (508-228-9403). For choice meats, go to Cowboy’s MeatMarket & Delicatessen at 7 Bayberry Court (508-228-8766).
There’s much to see and do within a short walk of the harbor. Nantucket has more than 800 houses built between 1740 and 1840 gracing its downtown area (almost all preserved in their original settings), and it’s the only community in the United States where the entire island is recognized as a National Historic District. Pause for a moment on the bench on Easy Street. This spot (perhaps the most photographed location in Nantucket), provides a view of the catboat-filled harbor.
No visit to Nantucket is complete without a stop at the Whaling Museum (508-228-1894). Housed in a beautifully restored “tryworks” on Broad Street where whale oil was once refined, the museum’s collection includes a whaleboat, scrimshaw and Lightship baskets, the 1849 Fresnel lens used in the Sankaty Head Lighthouse and the 46-foot skeleton of a sperm whale that washed ashore in 1998. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $8 for youth ages 6 -17 and the museum is open yearround.
The Nantucket Historical Association offer tour packages including the Whaling Museum, the Hadwen House (a Greek Revival mansion built in 1845 on Main Street), the Old Mill (built in 1746, it is America’s oldest working windmill), the Oldest House (built in 1686 as a wedding gift for Jethro Coffin and Mary Gardner, it’s the sole surviving structure from the island’s 17th Century English settlement) and the Quaker Meetinghouse (Quakerism was the dominant religion on Nantucket during the whaling days; the building was erected in 1838). Visit the Nantucket Historical Association online at nha.org.
The Maria Mitchell Science Museum (508-228-9198) has exhibits of Nantucket’s flora and fauna (including an aquarium) and they offer ecology walks and astronomy programs. Born on Nantucket in 1818, Maria Mitchell (pronounced Mariah, like the wind) was the first acknowledged woman astronomer in the United States. After discovering a comet, she was the first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The Nantucket Life-Saving Museum (508-228-1885), located at 158 Polpis Road adjacent to Folger’s Marsh, is “dedicated to the human drama of man’s efforts against the relentless sea and is testimony to those early Nantucketers who saved hundreds of lives in and near the island’s treacherous shores and shoals.” The museum is open from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm from June 15 through Columbus Day weekend.
Your stay on Nantucket probably won’t be long enough to try all of the island’s restaurants, but here are a few popular choices. Cap’n Tobey’s Chowder House (508-228-0836), located on Straight Wharf, serves a variety of seafood including award-winning chowder, and they have live music most nights in season. The Brotherhood of Thieves (508-228-2551) is a local favorite serving cheese plates, sandwiches and burgers in a rustic building at 23 Broad Street, and they have live folk, blues and acoustic music.
The Even Keel Café (508-228-1979), at 40 Main Street, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and has takeout service. The Atlantic Café (508-228-0570), located at 15 Water Street, serves sandwiches, salads, steaks, seafood and barbecue. Nantucket Lobster Trap (508- 228-4200) at 23 Washington Street offers a variety of shellfish and takeout service is available. Black-Eyed Susan’s (508-325- 0308) is a small, very popular place at 10 India Street. Their varied menu has an ethnic twist, with everything from Mexican to Eurasian.
As Nantucket’s only Irish pub & restaurant, the fare at Kitty Murtagh’s (508-325-0781), located at 4 West Creek Road, includes filet mignon, prime rib and beef stew, and they have Cisco Whales Tail, Harp and Guinness on tap. If you prefer to cook in your own galley, stop by the Straight Wharf Fish Store (508-228- 10950 for the catch of the day.
Fine dining options (and this island has many!) include the Brant Point Grill (508-228-2500). Located at the White Elephant resort at 50 Easton Street, this restaurant serves steak and seafood and boasts an award-winning wine cellar and great harbor views. TOPPER’S (508-228-8768), at 120 Wauwinet Road at The Wauwinet resort, has imaginative cuisine featuring fresh local ingredients, a deep wine cellar and gorgeous views. The Chanticleer (508-257-4499), an ivy-covered cottage overlooking beautiful gardens at 9 New Street in Siasconset, serves modern French cuisine with an emphasis on New England and artisan ingredients.
The island has a few live music venues. The Muse, at 44 Surfside Road, is a large barnlike place with bands or a DJ on weekends. The Chicken Box (508-228-9717), located at 16 Dave Street, has live bands every night from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Rose & Crown Pub (508-228-2595) at 23 South Water Street serves pub grub and has a 30-year tradition of bringing great live music to the island.
You must leave Nantucket’s streets to experience its essence, and with nearly 40 percent of the island being protected conservation land, doing so is easy. The Nantucket Conservation Foundation (508-228-2884) is the island’s largest landholder. These grasslands, heathlands, wetlands, shrub thickets and forest areas “are protected for scientific, educational and conservation purposes.” The Foundation’s land is open to the public for hiking, picnicking, fishing and birdwatching. Some of these properties are periodically closed to motor vehicles to protect birds that nest in the sand.
Nantucket’s beaches are, in a word, incredible, and whether your pleasure is walking, fishing, kayaking, surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, family recreation, sunbathing, romance or solitude, there’s one for you. Very little of the island’s coastline is actually public property, so act respectfully. Obey No Trespassing signs, use only designated entry points and dispose of litter properly.
North Shore Beaches Starting close to town, you’ll find Brant Point, the site of the Brant Point Lighthouse. This is a good place for watching boats entering and leaving the harbor. The current is strong here and there’s no lifeguard – experienced swimmers only. Children’s Beach, on the harbor’s west side, is perfect for small kids, with a park, playground, showers, restrooms and lifeguards. Free concerts are held at the bandstand from 6 to 7:30 pm on Thursdays and Sundays, and you’ll find t-shirt tie-dying at noon on Fridays from mid-July to August.
Francis Street Beach, on the south side of the harbor, has calm waters for swimming, kayak rentals, restrooms and a turtle climb for kids (but no lifeguards). Jetties Beach, just northwest of town, has changing rooms, showers, a playground, volleyball nets and public tennis courts, as well as swimming, windsurfing, sailing and kayaking lessons and rentals; it’s ideal for families. You’ll have to descend several steep steps to reach Steps Beach, which has beautiful dunes and views of Great Point (no facilities). Dionis Beach is located three miles west of town - look for the boulder marked “Dionis.” Sheltered by dunes and with calm waters for swimming, this beach has a lifeguard, restrooms and showers.
South Shore Beaches Madaket Beach, on the island’s west end, is a 5.5-mile bike ride from town, on a scenic paved bike path. The surf can be heavy on the island’s best sunset-watching beach. Cisco Beach, four miles from town on the southwestern side of the island, is an ocean beach and the waves can be big (no facilities). To the east is Miacomet Beach, where the surf can also be heavy. Surfside Beach, located 2.2 miles south of town via a paved bike path, is another good family beach, with a lifeguard, restrooms and showers. Surfcasting is permitted here after 5 pm. Tom Nevers Beach is remote, rugged and beautiful (no facilities). Access to Nobadeer Beach isn’t easy, but the reward is a wide strand with good fishing and (sometimes) surfing.
East Shore Beaches You’ll find Siasconset Beach six miles from town on the southeast side of the island. Food and restrooms are available in the nearby village of ‘Sconset. You’ll need a vehicle beach permit (available from the Trustees of Reservations – visit TheTrustees.org) and 4- wheel drive (or sturdy legs) to reach Great Point on the island’s northeast tip, but the views of Great Point Lighthouse (and the fishing) are worth the trip. There are restrooms next to the lighthouse. The Coskata/Coatue Wildlife Refuge is home to New England’s largest red cedar savanna and woodland. A vehicle beach permit is required to drive here, and there are no facilities. Pocomo Beach, just west of the Head of the Harbor, is a good place for kayaking or learning to windsurf (no facilities).
Gettin’ Around The Nantucket Regional Transit Authority (508-228-7025) offers shuttle service to the island’s popular destinations and taxis are plentiful, but bikes are the island transport of choice. Young’s Bicycle Shop (508-228-1151), located at 6 Broad Street at Steamship Wharf, has been in business since 1931. Young’s rents Cannondale and Trek bikes and (if you must) cars and Jeeps. Easy Riders Bicycle Rentals (508-325-2722) offers all-terrain bikes, cruisers, tandems, kids’ bikes, trailers, trail-a-bikes and joggers. Island Bike Company (508-228-4070), at 25 Old South Road, rents bikes for adults and kids. Nantucket Bike Shop (508- 228-1999) has three locations: two on Broad Street near the Steamship Authority and one on Steamship Wharf. They rent Specialized all-terrain bikes and Yamaha motor scooters (age 18 and up with a valid driver’s license).
For a truly unforgettable experience, go on a Whale Watch with Shearwater Excursions, Inc. (508-228-7037) Captain Blair Perkins (who guarantees whale sightings on the 6 hour trip) also offers a 2.5 hour Seal Cruise and a 1.5 hour Harbor Tour/Ice Cream Cruise aboard the 47-foot power catamaran Shearwater. Visit explorenantucket.com.
Next month’s destination: Nowhere (having fun in your home harbor)