With apologies to Ratty of Wind in the Willows, for many Islanders, autumn is the best season to mess about in boats. September and October, and even November bring excellent sailing weather.

On top of that, the harbors are not congested. In autumn, the busy, noisy harbors of summer turn into quiet fields of floating buoys, drifting seagulls and an occasional fish breaking the surface.

“I love the clarity of the water,” said Woody Bowman of West Tisbury, who with his wife, Susie, sails a 21-foot traditional wooden catboat called Julia Lee out of Vineyard Haven harbor. “I especially like to sail close to shore, where you can see a lot under water,” he said.

Doron Katzman of Vineyard Haven often sails alone out of Lake Tashmoo on an 18-foot catboat he made called Bella. “I like this time of year, I get to have Vineyard Sound to myself,” he said. He sometimes takes along a fishing rod.

“I work so hard in the summer. This is a wonderful time to spend time with Nat,” said Pam Benjamin, who with her husband, Nat, owns Charlotte, a 50-foot wooden schooner designed and built by him. “Sailing is a wonderful way to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather on Martha’s Vineyard,” Mrs. Benjamin said. “We get to take our eclectic friends and relatives out, whom we haven’t seen in a long time. Many of them don’t get to go sailing, they are so busy in the summer. We do this to share the experience with friends and people who don’t usually have the time.”

Mr. Bowman agreed with the sentiment. “I think it is an unpredictable gift,” he said. “So often, when you have the time, you don’t have the weather.”

The Sailing Camp Park on the Lagoon Pond in Oak Bluffs is an off-season haven for at least seven 420s manned by high school varsity sailors. “They have the whole pond to themselves,” said Brock Callen, executive director of Sail Martha’s Vineyard. “This is great weather. The crowds are gone. I think sailing is natural for us. I also think that more people would like to be going out on the water at this time of year.”

— Mark Alan Lovewell