Nantucket Voices

Women line the shoreline casting at sunset during Tammy King's annual women's fishing seminar on Nantucket.
Nantucket Events, Nantucket Voices

A Vision Realized

Jesse Cole is a visionary. Wait, you don’t know who Jesse Cole is? I bet you do. Or, at least, I bet you’ve seen him. Jesse is the tall guy in the bright yellow tuxedo and top hat who formed the Savannah Bananas baseball team and subsequently created Banana Ball. Yes, that’s the game that is selling out major league baseball (and football) stadiums across the country. It started because Jesse Cole had a vision that baseball could be so much more than it is. It was a vision that became his passion.

Continue Reading
Two young anglers proudly hold up a bluefish caught during the August Blues Nantucket Fishing Tournament.
Nantucket Voices

Dog Days of Summer

Ah yes, the dog days of summer. The fishing has been, well, tough. My friend and boat charter captain Corey Gammon says that the fishing has been “opportunistic.” We spoke recently, and Corey told me, “Yesterday we did nothing at Great Point, and today it just went off. Fish everywhere!” Yes, Corey is right. I’ve had good days and bad days and going half-mad days, to borrow a lyric from the late, great Jimmy Buffett. My best day of the past week was when I had to cancel my charter clients due to extreme wind and rain. I went out and fished into that wind on an empty beach and caught some big, fat bluefish. You can’t catch ‘em from the couch, right?

Continue Reading
Beach chairs and a yellow umbrella on a sunny Nantucket beach with sand dunes, beach grass, and classic shingled homes in the background
Nantucket Voices

A Carpenter’s Definition of Wealth

I have worked inside some extraordinarily expensive homes.

Homes with wine cellars larger than my first apartment. Homes with hidden doors, imported marble shipped across oceans, and refrigerators sophisticated enough to probably qualify for voting rights in certain states. I’ve stood in kitchens worth more than entire neighborhoods I’ve lived in while in college in Arizona.

Continue Reading
landscapers, and seasonal workers preparing Nantucket for summer
Nantucket Voices

Building Summer

There comes a moment every July when Nantucket settles into itself. The fireworks have faded from Jetties Beach, the last parade chairs have disappeared from Main Street, and another Independence Day has become part of the island’s memory. Families unpack their suitcases, restaurants find their rhythm, gardens burst into bloom, and the island seems to slip effortlessly into the busiest weeks of the year.

Continue Reading
Nantucket Voices

A 4th Full of Memories

I never needed an alarm clock on the Fourth of July. I was always awake before anyone had to tell me it was time: the excitement had a way of beating the sunrise. Before the coffee was brewed or breakfast was finished, I was already figuring out which friends to call. One by one we’d meet on our bikes, towels draped over our handlebars, pockets full of nothing, and an entire island ahead of us.

Continue Reading
1 2 3 … 7