Nantucket, Massachusetts · Vineyard & Nantucket Sound · 41°17.1′N 70°05.7′W · VHF Ch 09
Nantucket is thirty miles out to sea and feels it — a cobblestoned whaling town wrapped around a long, protected harbor, and a genuine passage to get there across Nantucket Sound.
Enter between the jetties on the marked channel and pick up a harbormaster mooring (Ch 09) in the lower harbor near town, or carry on to the designated anchorage well up-harbor for good holding in sand and mud and more room. Protection is good all round once you're inside; only a hard northeaster reaches into the lower harbor. Time the entrance bar for higher water if you're deep.
Ashore is the reward: the chandlery and provisions right at the wharves, the whaling museum, and the cobblestone streets. Pick settled weather for the crossing and it's one of the great destinations on the coast.
Hazards & cautions. The entrance jetties and bar shoal — hold the marked channel, especially near low water. The lower harbor near town is dense with moorings and traffic; the designated anchorage is well up-harbor, a longer dinghy from town. Open enough to the northeast that a hard NE blow puts a chop in the lower harbor.
Coast Pilot notes Nantucket Harbor's jettied entrance and marked channel over a shoaling bar; the harbor within is well protected with good holding.
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.