Spring is finally arriving on Friday morning at exactly 10:46 a.m. Lots of spring plants have already poked their heads above the winter debris. I saw some daffodils with buds on them. It seems unbelievable that just three weeks ago a foot of snow fell on top of the previous foot of snow and knocked out power to most of the islands. Some Chappaquiddickers were without power for a week. There are still remnants of snow drifts in the shade and lots of snow plow piles at the edges of parking lots.
School spring vacation is April 20 to 24. Perfect timing to get your kids to clean up the yard.
The next household hazardous waste collection is on Saturday, May 16 at the MV Refuse district by the airport.
Summer schedule on the Chappy Ferry starts on the Thursday before Memorial Day weekend. Not much of a change these days since the intermittent evening schedule has gradually evolved into steady operation. The ferry used to stop in the off-season at 6 p.m. Then it ran at 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. for 15 minutes each. And the fares doubled after 6 p.m. That tradition started way back when the ferry shut down altogether at 6 p.m. and you had to call Tony or Foster at home if you needed evening service. Until maybe 1976, the fares doubled at 6 p.m. even in the summertime. The deckhand would walk up the line to inform the first car arriving after 6 p.m. that it would be paying double. The passengers would leap out of the vehicle and run to the ferry to avoid the extra fee.
One summer, Jerry had us staying open until 1 a.m. just to see if it would be worth the while. The fares were still doubling at 6 p.m., so at midnight they doubled again. We learned very quickly that collecting the fares on shore was much more successful than after the cars were onboard. It was amazing how much easier it was for folks to find enough cash or tickets to pay the extra fare when everyone was standing around waiting for them to stop holding up progress. The majority of the after-midnight crowd had used the extra hour to imbibe more, so chaos was the normal atmosphere. Those were the days when drinking and driving was still a considered a divine right by some folks.
We only did the after midnight service for that one summer. Jack Carbon, the most even tempered of the ferry captains at the time, said that he would have to quit if that was part of the job. Nowadays, during the summer months, the harbor launch service runs until 1 a.m. and will take you over to Chappy on foot. The float and gangway next to the extra slip was actually installed so that impaired late nighters wouldn’t have to scramble over the On Time 2 to get ashore.
This article appears in March 20, 2026.