Our new boat was initially scheduled for completion in March and then April. I think she might have made April if we had a ship available to bring her to the East Coast, but at the last minute, the April 28 ship was canceled (see Waiting For Amazing Grace for more.)
I have always wondered what it would be like to stay at the Cottages at Nantucket Boat Basin, and we literally booked one within an hour of discovering we’d be boatless on Father’s Day weekend.
The beauty of visiting Nantucket for Father’s Day Weekend by boat is that we can tweak the arrival and departure days based on the weather. And although weather seldom affects the High-Speed Ferry, we were going to meet up with the flotilla, and they would undoubtedly change their plans if the seas turned foul.
We recommend The NBB Cottages (with a few caveats) but be advised that your options to change or cancel pretty much evaporate 30 days out (this is generally true for all New England waterfront properties.)
In April, we had seven boats in the flotilla, but then they started dropping like flies! First, of course, we with no boat. Then Vigilant went up for sale, and both Poppy Bay and Precious Time discovered conflicts.
Thirty-one days out, we cut our visit from five to three days and announced a cocktail party for Thursday night. Much to our delight, Vigilant didn’t sell, and she was back in!
Our plans were set, but the forecast for Thursday morning wasn’t perfect. Typically, we wake to calm seas, and if it’s going to get windy, it usually holds off until 11:00 AM, but I woke up around 3:00 AM, and I could hear it howling outside my bedroom window.
I woke up at 5:00 AM and checked the wind speed at the Buzzards Bay NOAA Buoy – it was showing 24.6 knots. Not good.
But by 7:00 AM, it had dropped to 15 knots. Strange day indeed!
The High Speed Ferry
I’ve taken a few ferry rides from New Bedford to the Vineyard. That Catamaran is smaller than the one that runs to Nantucket. As in all boats, the bigger the better!
As we were boarding, we spotted Becky’s daughter Jesse with her beautiful three boys.
Becky and Ben were on Just Us Two – their Cruisers 42 for the week. Jesse and the kids were joining them for their final night.
The ferry was pretty empty and quite comfortable. There is a well-stocked bar with snacks available for purchase.
Not being at the helm made me restless, so I decided to shoot some video along the way and commentate the trip with a 90-second video.
We smoothly accelerated to cruising speed right after we cleared the hurricane barrier. I popped open a couple of apps and measured our cruise speed at 37 MPH.
It seemed quiet on board, but I was showing 83 decibels, about the same as the salon in Relentless doing 33 MPH.
Beware Of “The Essex”
Before I discuss our first cottage, let me be clear, we loved staying at the Cottages, and the staff was outstanding.
That said, our first cottage was disappointing. When I went to book our cottage, only three were available; a studio at $795/night, a two-bedroom at $1800/night, and a loft 2-bedroom – The Essex, for $1300/night. We didn’t need a two-bedroom, and we certainly didn’t need to spend $1800/night, so I booked The Essex.
The Essex isn’t located within the main cottage area. It’s located immediately adjacent to the ferry dock and above the Hyline Ferry ticket office.
We could have lived with that, but the problem was that it had absolutely no views of the ocean or the boat basin.
One more shout-out for the crew at The Cottages. After lunch, I grabbed my iPhone and checked to see if they had any other cottages available, and they did – the one-bedroom, two-bath Dockside John Jay.
It was perfect, and we immediately relocated.
So be advised, there’s a reason why The Essex costs a lot less than the other two-bedroom cottages!
B-ACK Yard BBQ
If you’re a regular visitor to this site, you probably know I never visit Nantucket without at least one stop at B-ACK Yard BBQ. The food is always great, as is the conversation at the bar.
While we were eating, we noticed a guy next to us playing a dice game with the bartender.
Mrs. Horne: What is that?
Bartender: Roll a day.
Mrs. Horne: Here’s a twenty.
Bartender: It’s only one dollar.
Mrs. Horne: I’ll take twenty tries.
Bartender: It’s called Roll A Day; you can only play once a day!
You get three tries to get six of a kind. You can set aside any matching dice you get on each roll.
It seemed unlikely, but the bartender said someone wins every few days.
Waterfront Social
As I mentioned earlier, we hosted a cocktail party at the John Jay Cottage Thursday. But the beauty of the Nantucket Boat Basin is that everyone socializes pretty much all the time on the docks.
We’re all connected through this crazy hobby. We are on boats surrounded by one of the most beautiful ports on earth. Of course, everyone is happy. We’ve met dozens of new friends simply walking the docks and saying “Hi!”
Vigilant Black Out
FAIR WARNING: If you don’t own and operate a substantial cruising boat, you may want to skip to the section about our bike ride!
The plan for Friday morning was to rent bikes with Tom and Terry at Wheels of Delight, ride for a few hours, and end up at Cisco for lunch. Around 8:30, I texted Tom to see if he wanted to walk over to the bike shop, and he replied:
“I have big problems over here; all the batteries are stone dead.”
I told Tom that something like that happened to us in 2018 when we owned Vigilant, and I immediately took off to help Tom.
When I arrived, Tom was on FaceTime with Jacey at the Mattapoisett Boatyard. Tom signed off, and I started where my 2018 problem had begun – the black shore power box.
Tom reported it had a green light, but the shore power switch near the helm wasn’t showing a green light.
I suggested Tom call the Boat Basin office and ask if they knew anyone who could help. They suggested Tim Richardson. Tom called Tim and got voicemail.
Next, I called my friend Dave Hogan. Dave has a Sabre 48 and has been on the water most of his life. Maybe Dave has an idea.
Dave immediately diagnosed one problem. The power pedestal was only sending 30 amps to Vigilant’s 50 amp shore power breaker. Tom had checked, saw a green light, and decided that wasn’t the problem. But on the BC 41, there are two lights, and only one was green.
The next problem was that the batteries were so dead that the inverter couldn’t charge them
The 24 Volt Challenge
For some strange reason, the Back Cove 41 has a 24-volt DC system. I remember hearing that this was “some sort of plus” when I bought Vigilant, but I don’t recall why.
But it does mean you need a 24 Volt Jump Pack to jump-start the engine or the generator. When I accidentally left the battery parallel rocker switch on in 2018, and a guest accidentally turned the cockpit lights on as they boarded the launch, we drained the batteries. Ned (Mattapoisett Boatyard Owner) bought a 24 Volt Jump Pack.
Around 10:00 AM, Ned was on the phone with Cape Air, trying to airlift his 24 Volt Jump Pack to Nantucket.
We called the auto parts store near the ACK airport to see if they had a 24 Volt Jump Pack. They didn’t, but they told us there was a guy on the island named Vinnie who maintained old military jeeps with 24 Volt Systems. Tom called Vinnie but got Voicemail.
I texted my friend Harris who’s lived on Nantucket for year’s to see if he knew anyone that could help. Harris also referred us to Tim Richardson.
Meanwhile, Ned had struck out on Cape Air – the flight was sold out. We discussed the ferry or Dave running his Sabre 48 over to Mattapoisett to pick up Ned’s 24 Volt Jump Pack.
Ned texted me that he had a friend on the island who ran a launch service who might help. Meanwhile, Ned and Terry were calling people who owned airplanes!
Around 11:30, Tim Richardson showed up with two 12 Volt Power Packs. It turned out that Ned’s friend was the same Tim Richardson that NBB and my friend Harris had recommended!
Tim “Daisy Chained” the two 12 Volt Power Packs Voila – he created a 24 Volt Jump Pack! Tim quickly jump started the generator and then the engine. The batteries immediately started charging!
POSTSCRIPT: Beware Of This Switch
Tom fully admitted to causing the problem the day before when he was troubleshooting an unrelated problem. It’s possible that was the sole source, but the marina power pedestal was also faulty.
Every boat that has more than be battery has a switch – The Parallel Battery Switch, that allows all power to be connected (parallel). The purpose of this switch is to be able to use every ounce of energy to start the engine.
Most Yachts have these switches in the engine room and use solenoids powered by cockpit rocker switches to turn the breaker switches.
As I discovered in 2018, it’s very easy to accidentally leave the parallel rocket switch “On,” and that’s what Tom had done. Combined with less than 50 amps coming from the pedestal, it drained the batteries overnight.
Despite all the drama in paradise, Tom and Terry we’re happy to know that there was nothing wrong with Vigilant 😊
Nantucket Biking
As you may know, I think Nantucket offers some of the best biking in New England. With Vigilant’s battery issues in the rearview mirror, Mrs. Horne and I headed into town to rent some e-bikes from Wheels of Delight.
Sadly, Wheels of Delight is no more. But right around the corner, The Nantucket Bike Shop is now renting e-bikes.
Mrs. Horne immediately declared, “This is the best eBike I’ve ever ridden!” It’s an extremely simple eBike and could easily pass as a regular bike.
It’s built by a company called Specialized. They offer a wide variety of high-end bikes – both regular and electric.
We headed up the trail to Siasconsett and stopped at Claudettes for lunch.
Siasconsett is such a quaint little village. It’s about a ten-mile bike ride, and Claudettes is the regular spot to pick up our picnic lunch before heading out to Great Point.
New Restaurant – The Brotherhood Of Thieves
We wrapped up our boatless vacation on Nantucket by trying out a new restaurant with Tom and Terry.
Last week I published a report on the restaurant you can find here.
Suffice it to say, we really love the place, and we plan to spend more time here on future visits.
Don’t Drop The Dice!
After dinner, we returned to B-ACK Yard BBQ for a cleansing ale and one more shot at Roll-A-Day. The bartender said, “If the dice hit the floor, you lose.”
Right on queue, Tom slapped down the cup, and one of the dice slid off the bar and onto the floor.
“On we’ll, I lost,” said Tom.
“Wait, there’s more,” said the bartender as she poured Tom a double shot. “It’s warm gin. If you drop the dice, you have to take a shot.”
Tom stared at the shot for at least two minutes before manning up and swigging it down in one gulp.
“That’s disgusting!”
Meanwhile, Terry struck up a conversation with the last man on earth who still drinks Miller High Life (The Champagne of Bottled Beer.)
It’s not clear that we can believe anything he said, but he claimed to be the Head Pro at the eclectic Royal and Ancient Chappaquiddick Links.
He also claimed to own a Maple Syrup company in Vermont and even named his daughter Minnie Maple.
Lemon Press Breakfast
We woke up Saturday morning happy that we had cut our stay short. It was one of those rainy Nantucket mornings that made one look for an indoor breakfast venue.
After some minor arm twisting, Mrs. Horne agreed to join me for breakfast at the Lemon Press. It was a popular idea, with customers lining up on the sidewalks.
We grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered. I started with a $12 fresh squeezed orange Juice.
Hard to imagine, but I think it was worth the price. It didn’t taste like juice; it tasted like I was eating a perfectly ripe orange.
Mrs. Horne isn’t a big fan of breakfast, so she was delighted to learn that the lunch menu was available all day! She ordered the Tuna Poke Bowl.
POKE BOWL – TUNA, FALAFEL, OR CHICKEN – BASMATI RICE, ROASTED PEPPERS, AVOCADO, GREEN CHICKPEA, PICKLED VEG, FRESH HERBS, CUCUMBER, RADISH, SWEET HEAT KAFFIR LIME SAUCE, NORI CRUNCH, LOCAL GREENS (VO/GFO) $24
I toyed with a breakfast sandwich or bacon & eggs but decided to be adventurous. I ordered the Persian Breakfast with Sunny-side Up Eggs.
PERSIAN BREAKFAST – TWO EGGS YOUR WAY, DUCK CONFIT HASH, DATE CHUTNEY, FETA, PICKLED ONIONS, MICRO GREEN SALAD, GRILLED PITA BREAD (GFO) $19
I would certainly order it again, but I’d swap out the pita bread for buttered wheat toast.
We grabbed our bags, boarded the ferry, and flew back to New Bedford. It was a lovely stay, but we’ll enjoy returning for a week in 2024 on Amazing Grace.
Love reading about your adventures!