Cuttyhunk gets in your blood. It as an awe-inspiring island perched 7 miles from the mainland coast of Massachusetts.  This distance has driven the island to stay a bit in the past.

In my families summer homes there we have 1 landline phone, 1 old beat up truck named “sparkle plenty” that we share with our dearest friends the Garfield’s, and no TV.  We do, however, have a bounty of hand made boats, fishing rods all shapes and sizes, and an enormous summer garden.  To my mind the boat ride to the island leaves all that we do not need on the mainland and allows us to take all that we are to the island.

Cuttyhunk summers growing up were dragging those many boats down to the cove to adventure in the harbor with cousins and friends. It was learning to sail in the Cuttyhunk Yatch Club (CYC), which is the most non-yatch club yatch clubs in the world. It was working hard for Cuttyhunk Shellfish Farms when we were old enough to work.

More importantly, though, Cuttyhunk was family and friends, and the joy of knowing that those people we always going to be there to catch up with every summer.  The island is always there as well she welcomes you differently each time, from a cold nip of salty icy wind in the winter, to the beaming kiss of a warm summers morning running down the islands to meet friends for the summers first fishing trip.  Cuttyhunk has defined so many stages of my life from young CYCer to manager of Cuttyhunk Shellfish Farms. You talk to anyone that loves this place and they will say please don’t ever let her change.  Cuttyhunk is changing, she is being found by people who sail to her shores or come to stay at the bed and breakfast. Is this bad?  Maybe yes, maybe no, but it is the truth. I only hope that people love Cuttyhunk for what she is: a place set back in time. We should leave her there, as there are fewer and fewer places left that we can say that about.