4 days to sail: Nantucket or M's Vineyard?

[Kiltmadoc]

I have tomorrow through Sunday to sail from Catumet to "somewhere" around Martha's Vinyard, Nantucket, or elizabeth islands. I have to be back in Catumet to pick my car up at the end. Looking on google maps, Nantucket is 72 miles away. There will be a 4 year old aboard and the sailing wont start until (realistically) 11am tomorrow. Is it reasonable to try to make it to nantucket? Or should we cruise to the elizabeth islands or Martha's vineyard?

Any suggestions from people who have done this before would be welcome.

Also: predicted winds from the FAA show surface winds 10-20 knots from the east/north east for the next 4-5 days

[christyleigh]

You didn't mention if you have other crew and are going to sail 24 hours a day. Unless you are then, yes.... you could 'make it' to Nantucket, but then you would just have to turn around and go back. If you are looking for some relaxation and land time go to Vineyard Haven and enjoy

[Kiltmadoc]

yes, there is other crew. No, we did not intend to sail 24/7. If possible, we wanted to stick with day time.

[chef2sail]

Vineyard Haven and Cuttyhunk is my bet

Dave

[eherlihy]

Agreed. If I could get 4 days in a row on my boat, starting in Cataumet, it would look like this;
Day 1: Cataumet to Vineyard Haven,
Day 2: Vineyard haven to Cuttyhunk,
Day 3: Cuttyhunk to Lake Tashmoo,
Day 4: Tashmoo to Cautaumet.

[Tempest]

With all the great locations that you have there, I'd go where the wind lets you go...and with a 4 year old...arrive within a reasonable time..MV is easy..I guess you'd have to see what the timing is at Woods Hole..... Cuttyhunk..? then. Newport??

Nantucket seems like a long slog (14 hours) ? in potentially wet weather.

[eherlihy]

Or skip day 3 of my post above, and go straight from Cuttyhunk to Cataumet

[JonEisberg]

Agree with the others, Nantucket would be a bit of a push... Also, in ENE winds, the harbor/mooring field is a bit open, and can get a bit bouncy in a breeze from that quadrant...

One other spot I'd consider, is Woods Hole... This time of the season, you could probably score a mooring or a slip inside, in Eel Pond...

Very cool spot, Woods Hole is an interesting town with quite a bit to see and do, yet should be pretty relaxed this time of year...

You might consider Oak Bluffs, as well - another place that's generally a zoo in the summer, but pretty laid back out of season...

[bbarnewolt]

When our kids were 4 years old, we generally didn't sail more than 4-5 hours max before stopping. Made for happy kids and happy parents. Hadley Harbor, Vineyard Haven, Oak Bluffs and back has success written all over it.

[GEO42]

Hadleys habor is a nice place to spend an evening before going through woods hole.