Steamship Authority Adds Late Fast Ferry Trip For September And October

The Steamship Authority announced Friday that it was adding an evening fast ferry trip to its schedule that will leave Hyannis for Nantucket at 7:30 p.m.

The addition of a fifth round-trip for the Steamship's M/V Iyanough came as a relief for island residents and especially the Nantucket Public Schools athletic teams who rely on a late fast ferry to get home after off-island competition. But the addition was no sure thing as recently as last week and took some last-minute negotiations and maneuvering at the Steamship.

The Authority's last fast ferry trip of the day had already been eliminated during the summer due to crew shortages. But with the Hy-Line changing its schedule on Sept. 3, it meant the last fast ferry to Nantucket would have been at 5:40 p.m. had nothing else changed, which would have left island sports teams and other island residents reliant on the late slow boat, getting back to Nantucket after 10 p.m. through mid-October.

Nat Lowell, Nantucket’s representative on the Steamship Authority Port Council, explained how it all came together.

“Three weeks ago we found out there was not going to be enough licensed deck officers to fill the Iyanough schedule for this time frame (September and into October)," Lowell said. "So when we looked at a way to solve this, we have the Woods Hole back running three trips a day opposite of the Eagle, and the Gay Head was scheduled for three trips a day, seven days per week as well.

"We decided the best option was to reduce the Gay Head’s schedule to two trips per day, freeing up one crew to run the fifth trip of the Iyanough.

"There is no way that Nantucket can have the last fast boat trip to the island be 5:40 p.m. in 2024. The last time we had the last fast boat trip of the day that early was 6 p.m. around 2003 or 2004. This issue of not having a 7:30 pm boat in the core summer has initiated internal conversations about potential changes in the offseason scheduling for both boat lines that will benefit the traveling public, Nantucket residents, schedules, efficiency, and maintenance.

"We want to thank everyone involved for their patience and working through this as there were a lot of moving parts to make this happen.”