171: FULL REVIEW & RATING OF NANTUCKET from a Cruiser's Perspective

We've made it to our farthest point east. Wow, I can't believe it. When we were in St. Lucia this is like flying to Pluto. We are here for nine, ten days and then we are turning around and heading back. So, hey there everyone. We're glad to see you again and it is our final video of review and rate according to the report card and we are now in Nantucket. Oh, and did we save the best for last? Maybe, you'll have to watch and see. You guys need to listen. We're going to talk about Nantucket in the same way we've talked about all of these other places based on cruiser friendliness, things to do, hang time, and then an overall rating. But first we want to say thank you to our patrons. We love you guys. Thank you so much for your support, financial, and our subscribers and encouragement. Thank you very much. If you like videos like this make sure to hit that subscribe button, hit that like button, share, comment. We want to hear from you. You need to go to Nantucket and I used to live there during the summers in 1985 and 1986 while I was in university and used to work there. And it was the first time I had ever been on Nantucket. So that was really exciting. Hey sweetie, it's been 36 years since I was in Nantucket and here we come. This is so cool. It's almost time to start the second engine. Yeah, you're gonna watch and make sure we don't get run over, right? Oh yeah. That's good. We're gonna be a little bit more deliberate this video in comparison to Martha's. We weren't very good about talking about these three categories and then the overall rating. So we're gonna be much more organized and we're gonna start with cruiser friendliness. Wow here we come Nantucket. The inlet to get into the harbor was very easily found. It was well marked. It was wide but boy we had a lot of traffic when we went in there. There were three or four ships and ferries going in and out. Someone was fishing in the middle of the channel while we were going in. It was a little harrowing. It was and I hear never go in there when you've got current opposing wind. We found that Nantucket overall for cruiser friendliness was great. They had a huge dinghy dock. Now it was packed with dinghies. It was really hard to find a spot for dinghies. You had to plow through all of them but thankfully everyone used long painters so you were able to make your way up to the dock if you needed to which was great. You could get fuel. You could stay at a marina. There were mooring balls throughout the harbor but there was a decent amount of space for anchoring. We were in an area that had a lot of current so we were swinging with the current but it was okay and we were really thankful that we didn't have to pay for a mooring ball. And y'all we didn't know anything from a boater's perspective of Nantucket. We had the cruising guides and everything but most of those are for the supriyats and people that are getting mooring balls. Is there free anchor in space in Nantucket Harbor because man all the other mooring balls were booked up. They were expensive so we went in there just feeling our way around. There's plenty of room but there were a lot of boats that were anchored too and with the current there were some issues. Some boats had to move. Some boats were dragging so you did have to pay attention to where you were. Yeah if you're close to the channel you're affected by the current. Yes there was a chandlery as well at the end of the dinghy dock which was very handy. Yeah it was really nice. You could dump trash right at the end of the dinghy dock so that was very helpful. And there was a grocery store, a stop and shop, a really large one. The prices were reasonable and that was just maybe a 10 minute walk from where the dinghy dock was. So everything for cruisers was very easy. And there's some diesel repair places and you really need some help and you can't find it from another cruiser. It's good to know that it's there. So in terms of cruiser friendliness rating, what would we rate it? I think an 11 out of 10. And we haven't talked about this. Here's the only thing. Water, some places offered it and some places didn't. We were all full and didn't need any in Nantucket. That's an important thing. So we'll do some research and see if there is and I will put it in the bottom of the screen. So the Admiral's giving it 11 out of 10 and based on this missing information I'm gonna give it a nine and a half out of 10. Oh we're using decibels. Wow. All right. Well let's go ahead and move on to things to do because there are a lot of things to do in Nantucket. And it really is a one city town unlike Martha's Vineyard where you had five different anchorages, five different towns to explore plus Chappaquiddick. There was so much to explore there. In Nantucket there really was Tuckett town and then in one harbor and then you had to kind of cycle or rent a car to get out of it. We're very excited. We're headed into Nantucket today. First time on the island for me and it's been 35 years since Brown's been on so it is a beautiful day here and we are looking forward to checking out the island. We ended up biking all the way to Sconset which is a famous place on the cliffs of these adorable homes that during the right season grow roses on on the outside of their homes. It doesn't get any cuter than that. Sconset's amazing. Those are fishing fishermen's cottages. Yeah well they were bigger than cottages in some cases but Sconset also offers a footpath so we were able to leave our bikes and walk the cliff and on the cliff this also offered us views of these homes from the ocean side. It was a beautiful combination of houses and views. I know it's kind of like that hike that we took the cliffside walk in Newport. Yeah exactly. But on a smaller scale. Yeah yeah. Some kids had painted rocks with riddles on them and shells with riddles on them that you can turn over and get the answer. It was really cute and definitely worth a visit out to Sconset for sure. And then you remember when we went south of that. Do you remember the Coast Guard station where we got the drink? Oh yes. And we put the money in. Check out the drink shack. This is awesome. Cold drinks. Exactly what we needed. Two bucks a drink. Honor system. They were cold. Everything. In the middle of nowhere. It was fantastic and it was a reasonable price. So yeah good on those kids for earning some money and also providing a service. We loved having some Gatorade in the middle of our hot ride. Absolutely. On our way back to Tuckertown we stopped at Sankity Lighthouse. These are all Indian names. And right on the golf course it was beautiful. The lighthouse is really unique. Beautiful place to stop. And by the way if you don't have your own bikes there are two bike shops. But you can rent bikes there and go for the day. You know what was one of my favorite bike rides? What? Yeah we pretty much covered the entire island on our bikes was going out to Matticket. Well it's been two days of rain. Finally we get a little sunshine. So we are riding to Matticket via Cliff Road and getting a little exercise today. Wow it's amazing how much quieter it is in town when it's not the weekend. This is really amazing. That's way way off. It's got its own culture. Used to be a fishing village. We went on the beach road and ended up having to walk our bikes for most of it because it was too soft to ride in. And I used to live there back in the summer of 1985 and I lived in a house called De Mer and it was right next to Mr. Roger's house. The Crooked House. And it is so rural out there. You remember going out there near the cottages? That was beautiful. It was just spectacular day. We never did find the Crooked House or De Mer. But we would have had to stay out there and keep looking. Remember that beautiful little harbor? Matticket Harbor. Definitely need to go out there. You're gonna get a lot of exercise when you go to Nantucket. For sure. There are also some great restaurants in Nantucket. It's known for its great restaurants but sometimes hard to get in on those. One of I think the most unique things that we got to do was to see people that we hadn't seen in a while and or friends that we love and haven't seen in the past year. Eric and I went to high school together and we just happened to be in Nantucket at the same time and Christy is wife. I haven't seen Eric in 40? No, 30. No, we're not that old. 32 years, thank God. 32 years? I'll go with that number, yeah. There's two bakeries on the island. Nantucket Bake Shop was the original. I was not able to get that for you guys today but that is the second best. That is Something Natural. Something Natural is a bakery and a sandwich shop on Nantucket. It's quite famous. They're known for their pricing. Forget the name of the flower. It's like a bumper sticker with a specific flower and if you know that you know it's Something Natural. You guys have to go. Amazing, thank you. My father used to come out as kids and my father would get 52 loaves for each week and freeze them all year. Carry back 52 loaves. When you freeze it, it does it. And I have Nantucket Vineyard. Oh wow. Oh, Rosé. Did they grow the grapes here? Oh, this is fantastic. Unfortunately, that night the fog rolled in. Driving them back in the dinghy to the harbor at dusk with the lights going and the fog increasing was a little daunting but it all worked out. The other thing about the harbor that was great was there was activity all the time. There were boats coming in and out. There were old boats. Remember the boat with the old style? Very historic. You remember the cannon that they would blow twice a day? An authentic cannon. I mean that would really wake you up. The other thing that used to get our attention was there's these sounds coming from under the boat and I couldn't figure out what they were coming from but it's like this snapping and I came here and stuck my head under and look what I see. All these fish are eating the barnacles off of our boat. How amazing is that? Oh, I forgot all about that. Crunch the barnacles? Yeah. Porgies I think. Yeah, that was fun. Anyway, after Eric and his wife we also got to see one of my best friends from a long time ago, Leslie, and her sons, Tim and Tariku. They came out for a day on the Hyannis Ferry which was perfect. That was so much fun. And we played games on the beach. We took them out on dinghy exploration. We walked around the town and got ice cream. We played Mexican train dominoes. We fished. We went swimming. We played on the beach. Tariku did the stand-up paddleboard. He did a great job. Absolutely. Timmy drove the dinghy. I don't think Tariku wanted to do it. Tariku did. Until he kind of bailed because it got a little scary with me as the guide. Camp is open. We've got fishing going on after breakfast. We have wakeboarding going on. Have your parents paid for their health insurance? Tim, what do you think? Time to fish. How many times have you fished before? I normally fish with my my summer camp. Normally we're catching brook trout so this is a lot bigger. Oh, brook trout are incredible. What a beautiful fish. Yeah. Whatever you do, don't look at those two huge stinging jellyfish over there, okay? It was so good to have them on the boat. We loved it and getting the time with Leslie, of course, for me was just extra special. You're catching up on some stories. Are you saying incredible things about the wonderful man in your life? That's probably all you can talk about, right? And then the ice cream that we ate. The truest ice cream in the ice cream parlor. Oh man, the ice cream in town is amazing. Yeah, it's a foodie paradise in Antarctica. Yeah, and then right before we left, the shybulls rolled into town. We are very excited. Our friends the shybulls are in Antarctica and coming to the boat for lunch. Can't wait to see them. The last time we saw them was in St. Lucia when we went sailing with them. So off we go. Good to see you. Hey Will, you tying us up? You get your hug when you get on the boat. Here we go. Ellie, how do you feel about having your brother have your life in your hands? We're able to visit their home and to play with them. I think one of the funnest times was taking the scooters to dinner. Ellie, give us a lesson. Oh, I would have never. Thank you. You're so smart. I had no idea that was a screen. Brown, watch Will. Ah, very cool. William, I love this. Can you adopt me? Smile for subs. Oh dude, you're awesome. Do you want the best photographer in the whole wide world? Upcoming sailing star, William Chabot. William, turn it around. Show everybody who you are. You're the man. Sweet. All right, now we got to cross this road without killing ourselves. You ready? Yeah. Oh yeah, it's the first time I've ever been on one of those electric scooters. Those electric scooters are the best. They take a little getting used to, but then they're an absolute blast. So things to do are truly, it's endless. Obviously, we had friends there which tipped the scales and made it a really exciting time for us, but you can also not have friends there and love the time just being on the beach and enjoying nature. One of the strengths of the island that keeps the prices way up is that they want to keep it looking like it was 200 hundred years ago. So every house has the same shingles and everything has a certain sameness to it as a timelessness. And you don't have these big, huge buildings billboards and that type of thing. The town is really cute. It's cobblestone streets and quaint shops, obviously all high-end shops, but there's a lot of history involved there. A lot of whaling history. It was the Saudi Arabia of the world back in the late 1700s, early 1800s. And we even went to the museum, to the whaling museum, which we spent a couple of hours. That was amazing. They really did a great job on that. So for things to do, what would you rate it? I'd rank it. It's got to be an 11 out of 10. I would say 11 out of 10 as well. 10 out of 10, 11 out of 10. Who's counting once you get up in that Frogger territory? So that moves us on to hang time. And we really loved our time there. It was too short. I think it was only eight or nine days. And we actually had to leave because Hurricane Henri was starting to come up the coast and we did not want to get stuck anywhere on the water. So we actually beelined it straight to Cape May, which will be the next video. But we took off a little bit earlier than we had anticipated because of that. And they were clearing out the entire harbor. I mean, so you had to leave anyway. In terms of hang time, I would give it a 10 out of 10. 10 out of 10. And then an overall rating, I would say 10 out of 10. You know what? I think it's too low. It's got to be 11 out of 10. All right. This place is on a whole nother level. Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket are really special places. You got to go. You have to go and really hope that this video has helped you out. If you have any questions or whatever specific, don't hesitate to leave the comments. We'd love to hear from you. Yeah. So thank you so much for watching. We appreciate you all. And we look forward to seeing you next week. Take care. Take care.