The Islands: 10 Little Islands

CUTTYHUNK

On a sparkling day, it's a glorious one-hour boat ride through New Bedford's commodious harbor out to the island the native Wampanoags called Poocuohhunkkunnah. The westernmost island in the Elizabeth Islands chain, Cuttyhunk sits 14 miles off the New Bedford coast. You'll pass other islands in the chain along the way, including Nashawena, where cows graze, and Penikese, once a leper colony that is now a school for troubled adolescent boys.

All of the Elizabeth Islands but Cuttyhunk are privately owned by the Forbes family. Only Cuttyhunk welcomes visits from the public-just not too many. While a few residents own automobiles, visitors cannot take their vehicles to the island. You may take a bike on the ferry for an additional $2.50, but there's almost no need. At about 2 miles long and one mile wide, the island is easily traversed by foot. In Melville's time, Cuttyhunk was a haven for whaling-boat pilots, those who guided boats through the treacherous waters of Buzzards Bay into New Bedford Harbor.

Today, the island is a quiet haven, where the principal occupations are sportfish guiding, lobstering, shellfishing, house building, maintenance and municipal work, with some call for serving the needs of summer residents and visitors. The island's year-round population of 35 swells to about 400 in the summer, according to the latest count posted outside the island market. Residents are reluctant to turn their little slice of heaven into a tourist destination, so they offer the bare minimum in amenities. "That's the way we like it," says resident Katherine Dennis, who runs Smooth Te mptations, a home-based business offering Dr. Smoothies, tasty and purportedly healthful beverages you can sip as you go.

There is no restaurant on the island, just some food carts on the wharf that offer sandwiches and fried foods in summer, an ice cream shop, a pastry shop and Smooth Temptations. There is no shopping center, only the Market, which provides groceries and sandwiches. There is no liquor store. In fact, Gosnold, the town which encompasses all of the Elizabeth Islands, is a dry town. The Corner Store is one of four small gift shops on the island. When someone in these parts mentions "the islands," the speaker is generally referring to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. But the waters around Cape Cod are dotted with smaller islands like Cuttyhunk-some inhabited, some not-where the adventurous can have one good time.

We're talking raw beauty: basically, nature and you. For those who seek the road less traveled, these islands won't disappoint. They offer a variety of opportunities: primitive camping, seal watching, lobstering, bird watching, bicycling, kayaking-even the opportunity to stay overnight in a lighthouse.

With no movie theater or nightclub, nightlife on Cuttyhunk consists of the occasional bonfire on the beach. And while you may see residents driving along the unmarked roads in golf carts, Cuttyhunk has no golf course. There are no hotels, either, just one bed-and-breakfast inn, the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club, built in the 1800s as an escape for wealthy businessmen. So what's the attraction? "Peace and tranquility," says Bonnie Veeder, a sixth-generation island resident who runs the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club B&B Inn. You'll feel as if you retreated into another era.
 
The drone of Bayside Air's seaplane may interrupt the silence occasionally as it touches down in Cuttyhunk Pond, reminding you that you are in the 21st century. Bayside Air provides year-round service to the island from New Bedford Airport (508-636-3762). Whether you arrive by air or sea, wear comfortable shoes, sunscreen and layers of clothes you can peel. Pack a picnic lunch, or take your chances that the market will be open when you're ready to eat. Places of business here tend to take European-style hours off in the middle of the day.

Bring a camera because the views you find here you will want to remember. The road to Lookout Hill houses the Cuttyhunk Historical Society, which operates a museum with free admission, as well as the town hall, public library, church and one-room schoolhouse. The road leads to a hilltop picnic area where you'll find incredible sweeping views of the island's rolling hills of bayberry, as well as Buzzard's Bay, Vineyard Sound and Gay Head on Martha's Vineyard.

You may choose to spend the day "on island," as they say, or if you wish to stay overnight, call Bonnie Veeder (508-992- 5585), who offers eight guest rooms and a three-bedroom apartment. Besides serving up wonderful stories about growing up on the island, Veeder provides daily breakfast and dinner Thursday through Saturdays in season. Several private properties are also available to rent on the island.

BULL ISLAND

Tiny and uninhabited, Bull Island is also part of the Elizabeth chain. Waquoit Kayak Co. at Edwards Boatyard on Route 28 in East Falmouth (508-548-9722) offers a six-hour kayak tour around picturesque Hadley Harbor, which includes a stop at Bull Island. For $75 per person, Waquoit Kayak owner Walter Chadwick promises an all-day paddling adventure, which offers the challenge of negotiating interesting currents between Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound. A boxed lunch is included. Leaving at 8 a.m. from Edwards Boatyard, a group of six is transported, along with kayaks, by a 26-foot boat to Hadley Harbor, for what is known in the Northwest as "mother ship" kayaking. No experience is necessary; a 20-minute lesson in paddling is provided. "This is an entry-level tour," says Chadwick. "It's just a bit exotic." The tour begins at the north end of Naushon Island and continues counter clockwise among the islands of Nonamesset and Uncatena to Bull Island, where kayakers stop for lunch, a swim and a hike along the island's trails. As with all of these unspoiled islands, be alert to ticks, especially deer ticks, which can carry Lyme disease.

WASHBURN

Washburn Island off the coast of Falmouth is part of the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. At 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays in July and August, Reserve staff members offer free 2-1 /2-hour educational trips to the island. The boat ride takes about 30 minutes. A 23-foot landing craft, a smaller scale version of those used during the Normandy invasion during Word War II, transports visitors to the 330-acre island. The island's southern coast was, in fact, used to train American troops prior to the Normandy invasion. The public can now walk the old military trails and see endangered flora and fauna. This uninhabited island is a nesting area for the piping plover as well as the osprey. Eleven primitive campsites await those who are willing to trade the absence of facilities for the opportunity to explore, swim and fish in a pristine environment. There is no running water. Two solar-powered toilets are provided. To reserve a campsite, call the Waquoit Bay Reserve (508-457-0495). Cost is $5 per night for Massachusetts residents; $6 for non-residents. The boat leaves reserve headquarters at 149 Waquoit Highway in Falmouth, where you can pick up information about the history of Washburn Island as well as the entire 2,500-acre reserve.

CHAPPAQUIDDICK

A jaunt to Chappaquiddick is a great way to spend an afternoon if you are already on Martha's Vineyard. It's not advisable to take a car to Chappy, as the locals call it, because parking is limited. If you don't have wheels, you might want to rent a bicycle at one of the local shops on the island because the distances on Chappaquiddick are too great to walk comfortably. Some rental shops will even deliver to your hotel. You might want to pack a lunch before heading over because Chappaquiddick has no restaurants or stores. The island ferry, known as the "On Time" ferry, is located on Dock Street in Edgartown. It runs from 7 a.m. until midnight daily. Riders with their bicycles pay $5 to board the ferry; pedestrians alone pay $2. The ride across the harbor takes about 30 seconds. Once on the island, head straight ahead on the main road where you'll see the private Chappaquiddick Beach Club on your left. Follow the paved road a couple of miles to a dirt road, where you'll see signs for Mytoi, a Japanese garden. Follow the road for a half-mile to get to the garden, where you can meander over the bridges and enjoy the trees and flowers. It's a pleasant 15-minute interlude. Then, keep heading in the same direction and you will end up at the Dike Bridge, infamous for the Kennedy-Kopechne incident. Rebuilt and reopened in 1996, the bridge leads to Cape Pogue, where you'll find a light-house. The Trustees of Reservations (508-627-3599) offer tours of the Cape Pogue lighthouse, as well as natural history and fishing tours on Chappa-quiddick. Staff members will provide transportation to and from the ferry for those who have booked a tour.

TUCKERNUCK & MUSKEGET

Shearwater Excursions (508-228-7037) offers a seal cruise from Nantucket to Muskeget and a lobster cruise to Tuckernuck, two undeveloped islands off the Nantucket coast. For $70 per person, Capt. Blair Perkins will take you on a 30-minute ride in his 26-foot Catamaran to see grey seals. It is estimated that 2,500 grey seals "haul out" at Muskeget. While on the two-hour trip, you might also see long-tailed ducks, scoters, gannets, grebes, peregrine falcons and marsh hawks. Sea turtles, whales and dolphins have also been spotted on this trip. The boat departs daily from either Walter Barrett Public Pier in Madaket or Children's Beach Public Pier. The lobster cruise to Tuckernuck Island, a 10-minute boat ride off Nantucket's coast, teaches all about this curious crustacean, a gastronomic delicacy once scorned and used as fertilizer by the early settlers. On this excursion you can see how a fisherman hauls and sets a lobster trap. You may also have hands-on experience with other marine life, such as conch, eels, crabs and fish. This one-hour excursion is fun for kids. Cost is $50 per person. The boat departs daily from Walter Barrett Public Pier in Madaket.

MONOMOY, NORTH & SOUTH

For under $20, you can visit the largest haul-out site of grey seals on the Atlantic seaboard. As many as 3,000 grey seals can be spotted year-round at Monomoy, off the coast of Chatham, and you can get an up-close view of these "horsehead" seals as they get a closer look at you. Whether cavorting in the water or lounging on the beach at North Monomoy Island, the seals provide great entertainment for kids and adults alike. Companies like Rip Ryder (508-945-5450), Outermost Adventures (508-945-2030) and Beach-comber (508-945-5265) offer daily one-hour seal cruises in combination with shuttle service to South Beach. You can remain on this pristine barrier beach until the last shuttle, if you wish. The striped-bass fishing is reportedly good here, so bring a fishing rod and something to sit on. For wildlife viewing, bring binoculars. Monomoy is a bird-watcher's delight.

The barrier islands of North and South Monomoy are examples of the Cape's ever-shifting landscape. Once a sand spit attached to the mainland, Monomoy was inhabited, first by native people and later by European settlers. In the 1800s, a town known as Whitewash Village developed along the southern end of Monomoy. It flourished for decades as a shipping and fishing port and as a haven for shipwrecked sailors. In 1823, the federal government commissioned a lighthouse on the island's southernmost beach. In the 1920s, Monomoy ceased to be used as a lighthouse. Despite shifting sands finally closing the inlet to navigation, the settlement persisted well into the 1930s, mostly as a summer community. In 1958, a spring storm tore the sand spit from the mainland, creating a single island separated from Morris Island and Chatham. Twenty years later, the infamous blizzard of '78 cut that island in two: 2 1 /2-mile North Monomoy and the 5-mile South Monomoy, accessible only by boat. Together they form the Monomy National Wildlife Refuge, an important stopover for migratory birds, including the federally protected piping plover and roseate tern.

The Friends Group (598-945-0594 x19) now manages the lighthouse and keeper's quarters on South Monomoy. Restored in 1988 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Momomoy Lighthouse now serves as a center for adult educational programs. The museum offers weekend camping trips to the lighthouse for up to eight persons throughout the summer. Campers sleep in the keeper's house, but conditions are primitive. There is one indoor toilet but no running water, so you have to pour your own. The museum provides food for the overnight trip. After a 45-minute boat ride to the island, campers hike about 1-1/2 miles to the lighthouse. The museum guide provides information about the island's natural history. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge headquarters and visitor center (508- 945-0594) are located on Morris Island, which isn't technically an island, connected as it is to the mainland Chatham by a narrow road. Besides information about the refuge, visitors will find a three-quarter-mile nature trail, which winds through a variety of coastal habitats. From the trail, visitors can see North and South Monomoy islands.

HOG ISLAND, SAMPSON'S ISLAND

Of the several islands in Pleasant Bay in Orleans, Hog and Sampson's are two where Dick Hilmer escorts kayakers from the Goose Hummock Outdoor Adventure Program and Kayak School in Orleans. For $60, Hilmer offers a tour of Pleasant Bay, which includes stops at these islands. Reservations are required (508-255-2620). Tours are offered daily in summer, six persons per tour. No experience is necessary; the adventure begins with 20 minutes of dry-land instruction at Lonnie's Pond. From there, kayakers glide along the Keycayoganesett River, a winding tidal stream, into Little Pleasant Bay. Kayakers then paddle to Sampson's Island, where they can leave their boats awhile and walk, bird-watch and swim. Then it's on to Hog Island, where local lore claims pirate Capt. Kidd buried treasure. Both islands are privately owned, but the ownership allows day visits . On this tour, you'll see a variety of birds above you, as well as marine life below you. The shallow water of Pleasant Bay creates "an aquatic pantry," Hilmer says, "a smorgasbord of marine and avian life." Plus, Hilmer says, "It's one of the few places you can get away from boat traffic in the summertime." And getting away from it all is what these island adventures are all about.