2019 Life Logs, Day 161: Beautiful Day on Cuttyhunk Island
Date: Monday, June 10, 2019
Weather: Beautiful Sunny Day; High 72, Low 62 degrees
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
58 Boys at Play
18 Jonah and Sam on Foredeck as We Approach Cuttyhunk
Our Newcomers Teacher Group traveled to Cuttyhunk Island today. It was a beautiful day weather-wise and a fabulous island experience. We traveled by car to New Bedford which is about a 45-minute drive across the bridge and to the west. There we boarded the Cuttyhunk Ferry for another 45-minute ride back to the southeast across Buzzards Bay to the island. You can actually take a water taxi from Falmouth to Cuttyhunk, but it is a much more expensive ride and just as long. So, the ferry from New Bedford is the way to go. When we arrived in New Bedford at the ferry dock, we were joined by about forty 4th and 5th graders from Wellfleet on Cape Cod and off we went. There were wispy clouds in a very blue sky and the temperature was warmer than forecast. Perfect weather for a trip to an out island. I have many memories of sailing to Cuttyhunk, first in 1991 when we sailed Skybreaker north from the Chesapeake Bay and made Cuttyhunk our first landfall in New England. I have no photos of that landing in Cuttyhunk as it was so foggy you literally couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. But it was an experience that Mark, Heather, Justin, and I will never forget. Then fast forward to 2013 after Mark and I had returned from our sail around the world. We sailed to Cuttyhunk with Heather and family and the visions of Mark building sandcastles on the beach in Cuttyhunk with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie, of Heather jogging through town with a four year-old Jonah, of Granddad walking down the dock hand-in-hand with a one year-old Ollie will always remain with me. And then in 2015, Mark and I sailed with the three grandsons to Cuttyhunk and memories of Jonah and Sam on Windbird’s foredeck as we sailed into Cuttyhunk are indelible memories. I am now making new memories of visiting this very special island. In 2017 I went to Cuttyhunk with this same Newcomers Group and today returned to experience this very special island. Today we had a couple of classes on the beach with the students from Wellfleet, walked into town and had lunch at the Townhall, hiked up the hill to Lookout Point, and stood atop a World War II bunker where the views were spectacular. Only twelve people live on Cuttyhunk year round, but in the summer, the population swells with summer residents and daily tourists who take the ferry to experience this special, special place on this earth.
