A Cape Cod-based charter boat company will offer rides between the Vineyard and Nantucket for athletes, parents and fans headed to shoulder season high school sporting events.
The Helen H company, which normally runs fishing trips out of Hyannis harbor, was approved by the Steamship Authority board last week to run inter-Island service on April 4 and May 3.
The Steamship Authority has jurisdiction on ferry travel to the Islands, and considers if any new service will impede on any of the existing ferry routes. Because Hy-Line, which normally operates the inter-Island service, is not sailing on those dates, the board was in favor of the proposal.
“To be able to get the kids back and forth to the Islands is big and to think they’d have to come to the mainland and then over to the vineyard and back it just takes a hell of a toll out of you,” said Barnstable Steamship board member Robert Jones at the March 27 meeting.
The Helen H transported about 80 Vineyarders to Nantucket in October for sporting events, and had requested to continue the service this spring and fall.
Some board members were hesitant about approving the fall trips before the spring ones ran. Falmouth member Peter Jeffrey and Nantucket member Robert Rainey suggested waiting until later in the year to sign off autumn dates and the board plans to revisit the proposal.
The trips will come in and out of Oak Bluffs harbor and the Nantucket boat basin.
Hy-Line had no objections to the trips and Helen H had the support of the Islands’ athletic directors.
The April 4 schedule includes girls tennis, girls lacrosse and girls softball playing on Nantucket, while boys tennis, boys lacrosse and boys baseball will take on the Whalers at home.
On May 3, girls lacrosse and tennis will play against Nantucket at home, and boys tennis plays on the sister island.
The crossing takes about 95 minutes. Tickets are available on the Helen H website.
This article appears in April 3, 2026.