With the assistance of a gigantic crane (by Chappy standards, anyway) the ferry ramp on the Edgartown side was been successfully installed and after some adjustments is functioning well. The old ramp is headed for recycling. The new ramp has an all-wooden deck, which will make boarding more inviting for dogs and less challenging for ladies in high heels.

The Chappy ferry will begin operating on the summer schedule Thursday, May 21. This means that, weather permitting, the ferry operates continuously from 6:30 a.m. to midnight. You can schedule an earlier trip for either 5 or 6 a.m. sharp by speaking to the ferry captain in person the day before your early trip. The non-refundable additional fee is $50 for the 5 a.m. trip and $20 for the 6 a.m.

Here are a couple of reminders which might speed up your departure from Chappy. If you are in line behind a heavy or long truck or a vehicle pulling a trailer, stay back far enough so that you can see the ferry crew. They might have room for you and wave you around the vehicle ahead of you and onto the ferry if that vehicle in front of you won’t fit. The On Time 2 is shorter than the On Time 3 by half a car length. Most of the time only two vehicles will fit aboard the On Time 2, but often there is room for a third if it’s a small car. You can tell the two boats apart by the number of antennas atop the pilot houses. On Time 2 has two and On Time 3 has three.

As summer approaches, we are trying to guess what the near future will bring. We have made plans to address the issue of the spreading of the coronavirus. Every idea that we come up with to deal with the uncertainty seems to create at least two more unknowns. I do take heart from past experience that the passage of time requires no effort on our part and that in the blink of an eye it will be September.