Remember the Holiday Pop-up at the Slip Away Farm stand on Saturday, Nov. 25, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. with Lily K. Morris’s photo cards and prints, Margaret Knight’s Wooligans, Kate Greer’s bound books and pottery, and other friends’ offerings. Stop by to say hello to your Chappy neighbors.

Keep in mind that the Chappy Ferry captain and crew appreciation pot luck dinner will be on Wednesday, Dec. 6 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The Trustees of Reservations has planned an illumination of Mytoi garden on Saturday, Dec. 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. This event is part of Christmas In Edgartown. Enjoy a magical stroll through the Japanese inspired garden and witness it come to life at night. A complimentary shuttle from the Chappy side of the ferry will run every 20 minutes from 4 to 5:20 p.m. Warm drinks and festive treats will be provided.

The On Time III has been out of the water now for five weeks. Repair and maintenance work is moving along nicely. The ferry fix-it guys do beautiful work. It’s a shame to put the boat back in the water and drive cars on it, but that’s the whole purpose anyway. The weather has been pretty cooperative considering the time of year that we get to do this work. The location of the marine railway on the shore of Vineyard Haven harbor is very exposed to the wind. Add a chill to the wind and it’s not a pleasant work environment. The guys have been putting in long days, week after week.

The ferries take turns getting hauled out every two years so whatever we think will go wrong during the next two years has to get fixed now. I know that the lines get long these days with just the On Time II carrying all of the traffic, but the long lines usually only happen during the two-hour rush hour going to Chappy in the morning and leaving Chappy in the afternoon. You can look at the ferry lines on our webcams. Generally speaking, it’s very busy going to Chappy between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. and leaving Chappy between 4 and 6 p.m.

If you are driving a heavy truck or hauling a trailer you have to pay attention to the tides. It’s easy to find the Edgartown high and low tides online. Don’t come at low tide with heavy trucks or trailers. Because of the slope of the ramp at low tide, some bumpers, plow frames, trailer hitches, trailer tongues, rear ends of trailers, etc. will dig into the deck of the ferry or the deck of the ramp. Make sure to come within three hours before or after high tide. The companies bringing over excavators or big trucks know to call ahead a couple of days in advance to make sure that they don’t waste time in line when the tide is too low.

All low tides are not alike. It’s best to use a graphic tide chart to see if the tide will be extremely low on a particular day. All high tides are not the same either. Some days the tide doesn’t rise above the half way level. During some storms the water comes up onto the street. We are at the mercy of the wind and tide.

Send Chappy news to peterchappyferry@gmail.com.