Chappaquiddickers have a love/hate relationship with the Chappy Ferry. Actually, a more descriptive term would be an appreciation/frustration relationship. A person’s attitude will most likely be at either end of that spectrum. Some folks would be somewhere in between those two somewhat opposing viewpoints and that balance will change depending on the circumstances of the day.
If you happen to be in the ferry line when it suddenly extends up onto Simpsons Lane at the end of the day for the first time in the spring, you would understandably be at the far end of the frustration side of the spectrum. The next morning you might be out for a walk on the paved road and appreciate not only the sparsity of ticks on that venue but also the sparsity of vehicular traffic.
Chappaquiddick is in its own time zone that lags behind the rest of the world by a decade. The single most effective factor in tempering the rate of development on Chappy is the darn ferry. No zoning regulations, districts of critical planning concern or special over lay restrictions have been as successful at slowing the speed at which Chappy succumbs to the pressures of the outside world.
Chappaquiddickers are a fickle lot when it comes to predicting traffic flow. One day in March, everyone will head into town at the same time. The flow of traffic that day will justify the expense of operating the second ferry. A crew is arranged for the On Time 2 to start running the next day. Turns out every one got their shopping done the day before and we have two ferry captains riding back and forth on the On Time 3 carrying two cars at a time.
Just before noon and 6 p.m. the ferry crew shift change occurs. The out-going captain and in-coming captain spend several minutes opening the hatches to check for problems that can’t be detected during continuous operation. We don’t like surprises. The captains update each other on tide and weather conditions. This is how we stay ahead of breakdowns.
Close observation of the ferry operation for half a century has revealed no method for successfully predicting traffic flow during the off-season. Chappaquiddickers in general don’t seem to be adept at predicting the length of the ferry line either. All it takes is six cars added to a ferry line of nine cars to get the line out onto the Chappy road or up on to North Water street. That would take just two trips of the second ferry to resolve. In the time that it takes me to get to the ferry, that line would be gone.
Of all of the places in New England to be stuck in commuter traffic, the Chappy Ferry line must be in the top ten most pleasant and scenic.
This article appears in March 27, 2026.