Good news, the Chappy Community Center 2025 calendars are now available. Purchase online at the CCC website or in person at the holiday tea this coming Sunday, Dec. 15 between 2 and 4 p.m.

Kurt Petersen is the weekend afternoon Chappy Ferry captain this winter. He is the owner of the wooden charter catboats, Tigress and Dolphin, with the American flag pattern on their sails which moor near the ferry in the summertime. One of the catboats has a Chappaquiddick history. I asked Kurt for details.

In November 1885, at what is now Pimpneymouse Farm, George Huxford built the skiff that became the first Chappy Ferry. He then built the catboat Dolphin in 1893. She was built as a work boat that was used to carry lumber and supplies between the mainland and Martha’s Vineyard. Dolphin’s cockpit measures 12 feet long by 9 feet wide, making her perfect for sailing charters in the present day. She is 29 feet on deck with a 12-foot beam and 2-foot, 8-inch draft with a retractable centerboard. She is planked with white cedar. Her keel and frames are white oak and she is fastened with bronze screws.

At more than 130 years old, Dolphin is undoubtedly one of the oldest sailing vessels still in service. Kurt has been told that the famed boat builder Manuel Swartz Roberts worked with George Huxford on boat-building projects as a boy. It is possible that Manuel lent a hand in the building of Dolphin. He would have been 12 years old when Dolphin was built. Maybe this is when Manuel’s affection for catboats began. 

Tigress was the first of Kurt’s two catboats to arrive in Edgartown several years ago. Dolphin has replaced Tigress as Kurt’s main charter catboat in Edgartown because she is more spacious and comfortable for his guests and because she is a piece of Martha’s Vineyard and more importantly Chappaquiddick Island history.