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How To Get There

© Fred Durand

Imagine yourself arriving at the South Street Dock in Hyannis, Massachusetts on a sunny Saturday afternoon in August. You expect to catch the next ferry which will carry you, your family, and your car to Nantucket; a week long vacation you have been looking forward to for quite some time. After locating the ticket window, you fish out your credit card and ask for a round trip ferry passage for your car, 2 adults and 2 children. The friendly chap on the opposite side of the counter informs you that you need a reservation for your vehicle. A reservation, as it turns out, you should have made back in January. He goes on to tell you he'll be happy to put your name on a standby list and the Steamship Authority, as it's called, should be able to get you over to Nantucket on Monday or Tuesday. The adage "You can't get there from here" wafts through your head.

Sound incredible? It's not and it happens every weekend during the summer months. To avoid this situation requires a little planning, preferably in January or February for a summer vacation. Actually, getting yourself over to the Island is relatively easy; getting your car there is quite a different story. Do you really need to bring your car to Nantucket? That depends and will be the subject of an upcoming article.

Okay so you have 3 children under the age of 10 and wouldn't dream of going anywhere without all their favorite stuffed animals, beach toys, books, tapes, games, and snacks. You need to bring a car and here's the only way to do it. The Steamship Authority (www.islandferry.com) provides ferry service between Hyannis, MA and Nantucket, MA year round. It is the only ferry service that carries vehicles as well as passengers. If you plan to travel to Nantucket on a Saturday or Sunday during the summer months or on certain holidays, you absolutely must have advance reservations for your vehicle.

Here's how it works. You can begin making reservations on a specific date in January or February for the following summer months. This date is set by the Steamship Authority and changes from year to year. You can obtain this date and print out a reservation form from their website or request it by phone (508-477-8600); and believe it or not they don't have a toll free number. You must then mail or fax the form to them no earlier than the date they specify each year. Once you've completed this step, you may not hear from them for a month and when you do may find that not only did you not get a sailing at the time you requested, you didn't even get the day you requested. Sound frustrating? It can be and here's why. Nantucket residents get first crack at the tickets, long before they are offered to the general public. This, by the way, includes hundreds of real estate agents and homeowners who purchase ferry tickets for people who rent their properties.