Nantucket - Day 5

​7/25/19 *Updated with blog post* 

Monday 7/22/19 -“Daddy, how much longer?” Nora asked in a sing-song, yet distressed type of voice.
 
“Another few hours, sweetheart. Look, the sun is shining” I replied.
 
We are on the move once again, sailing back down Nantucket sound returning to Martha’s Vineyard after a two-day visit to the iconic island.  Currently, it’s Wednesday around 11am.  We’re motoring out of Nantucket under grey skies, locally referred to as the “Grey Lady”, in 15-20 knots of wind out of the Northeast.  We’re about to pull up to the dock to top off our water, but things are getting dicey. We nearly hit the boat next to us as we dropped the mooring lines. We are on the liveliest sail of the trip, making seven knots, now in a fifteen-knot breeze.  Perfect time to bring the world up to speed on our adventures in Nantucket.

We left Martha’s Vineyard under power on Monday morning.  Our excitement to jump out of bed to begin sailing left us when we pulled out of Newport.  We’ve settled into 3/4 time, according to Jimmy Buffet, and are perfectly content sleeping until 8 or 9 before participating in the variety of morning activities. The usual routine consists of brewing coffee in the percolator, brushing the girls hair, jumping in the water, even if it was just me, and then pulling the hook and heading to sea.  “Sailing” to Nantucket consisted of motoring for four hours, all while searching for the next navigational buoy to avoid running into one of the shoals that pepper the Nantucket Sound.  As we made the final turn down the Channel, with 1/2 mile to go, we encountered our first squall (downpour) of the trip.  As with leaving the island today, we were engulfed by Nantucket’s Grey Lady.
 
Entering the harbor, you are greeted by a miniature lighthouse, painted with the American Flag. The weird part is that it’s only about two stories high; nowhere near as big as your average lighthouse. There is no questioning the American pride that this island displays, as nearly every house flies the Stars and Stripes.  
 
If July 4th and Groundhog’s Day had a child… you get where I’m going with this.
 
Once inside the harbor, we sought out a dock to park the boat. We had to refill the water and ask for guidance.  I noticed that no boats were at anchor.  Rather, every vessel was tied off to a mooring ball. With that being said, it looks like we’re renting our space for the next couple days.
 
At the dock, we learned what channel to hail the moorings renter, and that the dock opposite had a hose to top off our water.  I called the moorings, received a reservation at “Golf 3” mooring ball, and told them I’d call back in 10 after filling our tanks.  The direction of the wind nearly dented Perfect Summer, as Avery and Tara gallantly straddled the life lines, pushing us off the pier with each gust of wind as I quickly filled our water.  A couple marks on the hull later, and full of H2O, we pushed off, hailed the moorings people, and then followed them to our location out in the harbor.  After tying down, paying $150 for a two-night’s stay (affirming our suspicion that Nantucket was a more expensive island) and getting the lay of the land, we were in our dinghy en-route to the town.
 
Within five minutes, it was clear that this place was much different than the Vineyard.  All of the streets running along and springing out from the harbor had been paved 200 years ago and undulated with the land shifts over decades.  Nearly every car was a Jeep, if not a Range Rover or classic rendition of a 4-wheeled vehicle.  Every house was shingled in a slate grey color, which we learned later was originally red cedar, weathered over time.  The people were noticeably different - there were foreign languages being spoken, and more fancy dogs than you would encounter this side of Rodeo Drive.  The mega yachts that surrounded the docks should have alerted us to the amount of wealth this little island attracts.  I was completely amused by the people, dogs, and cars.  Each store front offered something for the affluent visitor - custom jewelry, home decor, boutique apparel, diamond encrusted dog collars.
 
We had been given a recommendation to call for a table at Slip 14, a family-friendly seafood restaurant on, you guessed it, slip 14, a pier that jutted into the harbor.  After an hour or so of exploring the multitude of shops and various cobbled streets, we settled in at a very clean, nautical-inspired restaurant.  I ordered my first and second Dark N Stormy of the trip, while taking in my surroundings.  The weather had cooled to the mid 60’s, so the slight breeze coming through the open restaurant, as we looked out over the dock of pristine ships and fishing vessels, was a perfect welcome to our new home.  I was beginning to love this place, though could feel that we were visitors to someone else’s world.  As well as we do financially, this was another league, one I wasn’t sure I would want to fit into, even if we had the wealth to do so.  
 
After my 5th or maybe 6th bowl of clam chowder of the week, and a trip to our newly found ice cream shack, Charlie and Jack’s, we boarded our dinghy and made way for the boat.  The night ended with a couple more beers in the cockpit. The girls slept and Tara/Avery watched Hannah Brown agonize over which of her four boyfriends she would dump on the most dramatic episode of the bachelorette in history, according to Chris Harrison.  
 
That show is about as real as Nantucket is.  Goodnight, day one.