Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts · Vineyard & Nantucket Sound · 41°21.2′N 70°46.0′W · VHF Ch 09
Holding at Menemsha Basin is rated good, over a sand/mud bottom. Set well and check your swing before you trust it.
Menemsha Basin is well sheltered from east, southeast, south, southwest, west winds. Check the wind-protection rose above for every direction.
Menemsha Basin is primarily a mooring or dockage harbor — town moorings / slips — via Dockwa, with little or no room to anchor free.
Hail on VHF Ch 09 (Menemsha Harbor Dept Ch 09).
Reservable — Town Basin moorings & slips via Dockwa or the Harbor Dept on Ch 09. It full daily in season.
Menemsha is the Vineyard's working fishing village — weathered shacks, fishing boats unloading at the dock, and the island's most famous sunset — wrapped around a small jettied basin off the west end of the island.
Book ahead: the town Basin has only a couple of inner moorings (raftable), a handful of outer Bight moorings and a row of transient slips, all via Dockwa or the Harbor Department on Ch 09 — there's no overnight anchoring in the Pond. Time the entrance for slack, because the current runs hard and straight. Once you're in, buy fish off the boat, get a lobster roll, and watch the sun go down over the Sound.
Hazards & cautions. The dredged entrance carries a strong, straight tidal current — 1–2 and up to 4–5 kn as Menemsha Pond fills and drains — so transit near slack, amid heavy fishing and ferry traffic in a tight channel. The channel south of the Basin shoals rapidly after dredging, and overnight anchoring in the Pond is prohibited.
NOAA Coast Pilot notes the current runs hard but straight through the Menemsha entrance — 1–2 up to 4–5 knots as the pond drains and fills — and the channel south of the Basin shoals rapidly after dredging.
No cruiser reports yet. If you've anchored here, be the first — your note helps the next boat in.
Augusto ratings and editorial are our own synthesis of public-domain sources and cruiser reports. Always verify against current charts and local knowledge before you rely on them.