Summertime and Slow Versus Fast Travel

Summer has settled into New England, coating us with blankets of wet, sticky air and temperatures that cause people to complain it’s too hot. Not me – I love it. Typically summertime weather here hits in July. To southern New England’s delight this year, though, summer began two months early, in May. Party on. To honor the onslaught of the best season of the year, I wish to focus on one of my happiest, most favorite summertime-only activities – shuttling back and forth via ferry to the islands of New England.

A slow ferry gently sailing people into their island vacations

When I moved here 15 years ago, large and slow ferries chugging through the ocean were the sole means of water transport from the mainland to the islands. The ferries heading to our two most popular islands in New England, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, were stationed only on Cape Cod. To reach the Cape, a rather lengthy highway drive had to be undertaken, at the end of which the road narrowed for miles into the smallest vehicular funnel imaginable. This asphalt thread was suitable, perhaps, for horses and buggies centuries ago but is a maddening scene on the summer weekends of our modern world, with thousands of cars riding the brakes for hours on the way to their ferry. Literally, I could crawl on my hands and knees alongside these automobiles and reach the ferry sooner. We all want to get to the ferry quickly. But the ferry ride itself, now that is where the vacation begins. So why not relax on a nice, slow sail to the islands?

A high-speed ferry catapulting passengers onto shore

As life on earth began spinning faster and people started feeling a need to vacation more quickly, high-speed ferries started appearing at points along the shore closer than the Cape. I’ve watched these fast ferries take over the waters, at first with curiosity but now with disinterest. Their multiple locations up and down the Eastern Seaboard have made unnecessary the lengthy wait on the road to Cape Cod but leave people with a far more boring sail to the islands, shooting them through the Atlantic like fish on fire. When you’re heading toward some laid back island time, do you really need the speed? Their velocity and their newness adds up to more expensive tickets, with slow ferries essentially offering discount cruises to the islands. I much prefer these slow ferries of yore.

A Cheetos-eating seagull flies along with a Block Island ferry

Recently, as I bought a ticket to Block Island, the lady taking my money corrected me when I told her I wanted to ride the slow ferry. “Traditional ferry,” she said in a protective tone. I had used the term lovingly, though. On slow ferries you can relax on the deck and watch the views from shore to island without the wind whipping so frenetically you are forced inside as the ferry hits its peak speed. On some slow ferries seagulls fly beside us, while passengers holding Cheetos and other bits of junk food between their fingers lean over the rails and let them eat from their hands. Sure, this isn’t good for the seagulls, but it is a part of the slow ferry tradition. On slow ferries, you peacefully travel to your destination, relaxing all along the way. When I’m on a slow ferry, the trip itself is a large part of the island escape. Unlike the speedboats shooting me to shore, slow ferries carry with them a sense of summers gone-by and anticipation for what awaits me once I finally reach the islands. Traditional, slow ferries – they mean summertime in New England, to me.

What about you? Do you like to get to your destination as fast as you can? Or do you prefer to enjoy the ride along the way?

Thumbnail speeding photo by jpctalbot