The Chappy Ferry Martha's Vineyard

Back and Forth Between Two Worlds, 527 feet apart

Weather Forecast

News & Updates

New Year’s Eve 2013

Traditional late run for New Years Eve.    $10 additional non-refundable fee per person.    Sign-up and pay-up in advance with ferry captain on your way to the party and arrange for your time of return.

ONE FERRY Beginning October 20th

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Beginning Sunday October 20th, continuing for at least ten days and perhaps twenty days, only one ferry will be serving Chappaquiddick Island.

Expect long delays during this period.

You may wait perhaps 3 times longer than usual.

 

The larger of the two ferries, On Time III, must be hauled out of the water for it’s biennial US Coast Guard required hull inspection and preventive maintenance.

Only the On Time II will remain in service. This ferry is the smaller of the two ferries, being ten feet shorter. We cannot always get three vehicles aboard, especially when carrying pick-ups with extended cabs. With only one ferry operating and with that ferry often carrying only two vehicles, the waiting line may get very long at times.

You can help us to operate more efficiently by removing your trailer hitch. Often this will give us the extra foot needed to squeeze on a third vehicle. If you have more than one vehicle and have a choice, please use your shortest vehicle during this period. This will help reduce the waiting time.

You can help yourself and others by avoiding the normally busy times.

To find out when the ferry resumes regular operation:

Check our web cameras at ChappyWISP or at ChappyFerry.com on the Internet. When you can see two ferries, that means that both boats are in service again.

Call our hotline at 508-627-6965 and check our FaceBook page.

Sign up to receive a “Chappy Text Notification”. To sign up, text the word “chappy” to 69302.

Peter Wells

508-627-1577

peter@chappyferry.net

Ferry Departing from Beneath a Ramp

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Here’s a view from beneath the Edgartown ferry ramp of the ON TIME III departing the slip for Chappaquiddick Point. Photographer: Erik Gilley, maintenance manager of the ferry.

Ferry Approach, Beneath a Ramp

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Here’s a perspective on the ferry that no one but an owner of the service, or perhaps a maintenance person, has EVER seen before.

This video, shot from underneath the Edgartown ramp sometime during the effort to reinforce the foundation and repair the ramp itself (mid April 2013), shows the ON TIME III approaching the slip from the middle of the harbor and docking.

We’re pretty certain that the videographer is maintenance manager Erik Gilley, who recently dove beneath the ramp to funnel concrete into a void along the foundation. But we’ll correct ourselves if we are wrong.

You can tell how little space there is under here. Imagine bringing a camera with you and shooting as you see the ferry come toward you! Imagine CONTINUING to shoot as the captain reverses her engines to slow the ferry down, and all that frothing backwash comes at you!

The OFF-SEASON Schedule Is Now in Effect!

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The off-season schedule is in effect from October 14 through May 23.

During the off-season, weather permitting, the ferry runs continuously from:

6:45 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Then again from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.
And finally from 11:00 p.m. to 11:15 p.m.

Maintenance, Launch, and Heading Home, 2012

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After undergoing a ten-day-long maintenance program and biennial inspection by the Coast Guard in October 2012, the forty-three-year-old ON TIME II returns to the water at the Tisbury Marine Railway in Vineyard Haven. She then heads out into Vineyard and Nantucket sounds for the five-mile trip home to Edgartown and Chappaquiddick. This is the longest trip either ferry makes all year.

Wearing AMITY Name Board

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During JAWSFest (August 9-12, 2012), the ON TIME II wears AMITY name boards as she did in the first, second and fourth JAWS films. Thanks to John (Spurs) Trainor for shooting and posting this video of a famous little ferry in one of her more famous roles.