Alrighty folks!
Well, I guess we had a winter… crazy warm and very windy but, from our perspective, at least no ice! No lack of rain but way better than much of the country, we have it pretty good in comparison.
After a Summer of dealing with a shoaled and narrow channel, The Army Corps finally came out in January and dredged! This was after some brutal, Southeast storms in December that decimated the dune barrier on Barges Beach and really shoaled the channel to a barely passable condition. Also slammed by weather was Churches Beach, the road to the Neck would still be impassable if not for Wayne and Donny building a new stone barrier.
There is now a full 10ft at Dead Low Tide and a straight, wide channel, a big relief for us as well the barges and vessels using it during the Winter and Spring. This boaters will (mostly) have no problem visiting Cuttyhunk!
Personally, I don’t know what these southerly gales, Sou’easters, portend as they are becoming more common and destructive than the Nor’easters that we are used to normally seeing. The shoreline waterfronts up and down the coast all have seen new challenges as the oceans rise. Something we keep an eye on.
Chuck and his wife with new dog Wilber did their annual trailer cruise to the south. It’s great they can get a break to recharge their batteries! They have a lot of relatives and friends they get to visit not to mention the cool sites all over South.
Jonathan’s Winter project was to completely take apart and reassemble his entire Jeep; drive train, electrics, engine, body, interior, really everything, so he could replace the rusted frame. He did all the work solo, and it is now perfect! Nice to be young! He is amazing at many things; Sue, Chuck and I defer to him for most ferry related activities.
Jonathan (I call him J like the letter, not Jay like the name) and I made the Winter runs and did some interesting winter charters that we were fortunate to have. We did not have a haulout this year so there were no big projects, just the usual maintenance items that keep us safely running!
Our crew of friendly and competent people remains largely the same and we are thrilled to have come back this Summer: John Pollock, Laureen, Jack, and Luke (still at Northeast Maritime) plus new hires Matt Kirchner and Jude Dixon. We will have another young Northeast Maritime student joining us. Still looking for another office, galley, ticket person so if you know anyone…
Captains Jonathan, Chuck, and I will continue the usual safe, efficient, masterful, and friendly piloting that you have come to expect!
This is the second year we have dined out with the same crew! I don’t get out much, so I really enjoy hanging out with these folks. It’s nice to be able to interact with each other outside of a work environment.
Our new hires this year, great guys!
who worked last year
Some of you might have seen the latest Request for Proposals for the use of State Pier. While over the last two decades we have seen many proposals that fizzled out, this one is for real. Mass Development has decided they want out of the management of State Pier, so they opened it up to private companies to bid for portions or on the whole shebang (same RFQ attempt in 2022 but last summer the accepted bid was rejected).
As we are just a small company, competing against big companies with tall dollars, (restaurants, wind farms, cruise ships, etc.) it was daunting to say the least. After hearing of my concerns, the Town of Gosnold and Buzzards Bay Coalition, reached out to partner with us so collectively we could propose a strong, viable proposal.
The bid is in, we’re waiting for a public meeting in New Bedford, sometime in May and the final bid(s) acceptance letters shortly thereafter. Sue and I have faced many challenges over the years, although this one has caused many sleepless nights and hours of phone calls and letter writing! In a wonderful show of support, we got awesome letters from a group of businesses on Cuttyhunk, so I carpet bombed local politicians and newspapers with these wonderful communications! They generated much interest.
WEATHER HAS BECOME MORE CHALLENGING TO PREDICT!
More than ever storms seem to be stalling or continuing longer than predicted. While we try to give advanced warning, we are not able to guarantee our predictions. If you need to get off island, and a storm is predicted- Leave the day before the storm!
We are continuing to require that all tickets, luggage etc. get purchased through our reservation system. It really helps the cash flow as well as the tracking of, per trip, passenger numbers (USCG requirement). The use of the system also helps us to keep the wait times in the office to a minimum. In addition, having the reservation input helps us plan staffing vs passenger numbers and allows weather related schedule changes to be communicated quickly with passengers via texts. Sue works hard with the software people to make the system as user-friendly as possible so as not to be an inconvenience to you. Thank you for using it, it is a great help. Note: You will notice a slight change to the Friday night Fall trips, the late Fall boat will leave NB at 5:00pm.
We remain ever vigilant to be a safe, happy, and efficient ferry service for the wonderful people of Cuttyhunk. We so appreciate all your support and business throughout the year, all of us love seeing you folks year after year.
This ferry thing is what we do, we love doing it and therefore we continue to invest in Cuttyhunk Ferry for the long term, upgrading whenever time and money allow, we are here and fully committed. We remain your humble Ferry Company.
All the best,
Sue, Jono, Jonathan, Chuck, et al.