Last Friday was a perfect day for a boat trip and at 4:45 p.m. the Seastreak started up the East River on her five-hour trip from Manhattan to Martha’s Vineyard. Skies were blue. Fluffy, cumulus clouds — “cloud islands,” one poetic passenger called them — wafted above New York city’s skyscrapers. Helicopters buzzed over the pier at East 35th street as 207 Seastreak travelers boarded the 141-foot-long, high-speed ferry that last summer and this has sailed between New York and the Vineyard on weekends.

As Seastreak sped under the Queensboro Bridge less than five minutes after casting off, backpackers in blue jeans were settling down on the vessel’s three decks, corporate executives were loosening their ties and doffing their jackets for the journey ahead. The weary were searching out quiet corners for snoozing in the boat’s air-conditioned interior; television viewers had selected their seats with a good view of a TV screen; workaholics were already at their laptops and iPadders were out on deck conjuring up the route map for the journey ahead.

The sights to be seen by the sharp-eyed before the sun went down were LaGuardia Airport in Queens to starboard, then a bit of the Bronx, then white mansions on the North Fork of Long Island. Soon there were sailboats tacking in Long Island Sound and a lighthouse in the waterway. Connecticut lay to port and the tall buildings of Stamford rose in the distance. Later, the more romantic were satisfied simply watching the bubbling wake, the sky, the sun setting, and the moon path gleaming on Block Island Sound and, finally, on Vineyard Sound .

Forty-five minutes out of New York, relaxed passengers were buying beer, $3 hot dogs or pizzas or plates of baked ziti. (On the return trip from the Vineyard, Giordano’s pizza and ziti are served.) And passengers were talking about why they had chosen Seastreak to get to the Vineyard.

Bill Brown, who was heading to Oak Bluffs for a week, said he estimated, if he flew to the Island, that it would take him 45 minutes to get to LaGuardia Airport for a flight on a Friday afternoon, and he would have to be there an hour before the flight to check in. Then, assuming that there were no delays, the flight itself would be 45 minutes. Such a trip, as he figured it, would be a minimum of three hours.

“The boat takes an hour and a half or two hours longer, but it’s worth it not to be so stressed,” he said.

Nikki Aaronson, an attorney for New York city, was on a first-time Island visit. Flying would have required her leaving work earlier in the day than she wanted to. Catherine Bonham had chosen Seastreak because, “I can’t stand the bus,” she said.

Zubaid Ahmad, an investment banker from Larchmont with a house at Sengekontacket, finds there is no place so peaceful as the Vineyard, and he liked the idea of getting a jump-start on that tranquility by having what he hoped would be a calm and restful sail to the Island.

Adam and Crystal Bennett and their five-year-old son, Adam, who travels free until he is six, expressed their delight that they weren’t driving to Woods Hole and facing the prospect of missing the last ferry if the traffic were heavy.

Retired Navy Commander Thomas Gorman of Red Bank, N.J., was on his first trip to the Vineyard and, being a Navy man, could think of no better way of reaching the Island than by boat.

Vasso Kampiti, who comes from Greece and is accustomed to Greek islands, feels that getting to an island by boat is an integral part of any island experience.

Jainen Thayer of Brooklyn, who manages the New York University Endowment Fund but grew up on the Vineyard and sailed its waters in regattas, liked seeing those waters again, almost the way he used to when he was a boy racing.

For some, an advantage of the boat was the fresh air one could breathe at sea and that got fresher and fresher the farther away from the city that Seastreak was. “On the Interstate, there’s no fresh air like this,” one passenger said as Seastreak entered Block Island Sound and the lights of the Newport Bridge could be seen to port in the distance.

Time was, of course, according to old boat line aficionado Mark Snider of Edgartown, when the only sensible way to reach the Island was by boat. From 1847 to 1937 such boat lines as the Fall River Line and the New Bedford Line sailed from New York to New Bedford, Fall River or Boston. Vineyard-bound passengers could sail overnight on one of their boats to New Bedford and then transfer in the morning to a vessel of the New Bedford. Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Co. for the trip to Oak Bluffs. Overnight passage “in unparalleled luxury” (or so it was described) on the old Fall River Line cost $2.50 more or less, depending on the cabin selected or a deck chair could be had for 25 cents.

Last Friday, with a full moon brightening the journey — and occasional meteors flashing in the sky — passengers who chose to stay on deck as Seastreak approached the Vineyard caught their first glimpse of the Island at Gay Head, where the light could be seen flashing to starboard. On the port side of the boat, the Elizabeth Islands were dark shadows. Every now and then a fishing boat would come into view on the Middle Ground or a lobster pot buoy might seem to swirl by.

Paul’s Point was passed; then the West Chop light flashed; next the East Chop Light. And, finally, the necklace of shore lights marking Oak Bluffs came into view as Seastreak headed into the Woods Hole, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority dock where she is mooring on her Friday to Sunday night summer visits.

The boat returns to Manhattan at 5 p.m., Sundays, arriving at 10:15 p.m. in New York City, Regular weekend service this summer ends Monday, Sept. 5, but there will be an additional Columbus Day Weekend excursion.

New Jersey residents bound for the Vineyard or returning to the Garden State can start or end their journeys at Highland Corners, N.J.

Potential passengers should bear in mind, however, that if the wind is strong, crossing the open water of Block Island Sound can be rough. On the return trip, if bad weather is forecast, chartered luxury buses will transport passengers who have taken the boat as far as New Bedford from the New Bedford bus terminal to Grand Central Station in New York or to the Conner’s Highlands Ferry Terminal in New Jersey. Two weeks ago, there was a bit of a hitch in that operation, and school buses had to be employed instead of the luxury buses for the trip to New York. Company president James Barker issues assurances, however, that that was an unfortunate, one-time occurrence that will not happen again.

Seastreak fares on a regular weekend are $145 one-way; $220 round-trip. Children 6 to 12 are $75 one-way, $115 roundtrip. On holiday weekends, fares are slightly higher. Complete information on Seastreak is available from seastreak.com or by calling 1-800-262-8743.