Time and Tide Nantucket

On this episode we do a deep dive on a number of subjects related to oyster farming on the island today, the operations at the shellfish hatchery on Brant Point and a look into the work of the Nantucket Shellfish Association.  The group includes Sam Denette, Executive Director of the Nantucket Shellfish Association, Tara Riley, Shellfish and Aquatic Resource Manager at the Shellfish Hatchery and Matt Herr, local oyster farmer and o...

We’ve got something a bit different for you all on this episode, and I’m excited to see what you all think about this one. This past fall we were coming up with program ideas to get people out to the museum in the off season. One that we wanted to try was a live quiz show centered on Nantucket with a maritime theme. Styled after a few different radio quiz show formats, we had a panel of guests, audience participation and a series o...

Part Two of the South Shore Shipwreck Series.  Since the release of part one, a significant new wreck fragment has been uncovered roughly 1,000 ft west of the original site.  Based on new clues, yet to be discussed publicly, can we conclude, beyond a shadow of doubt, that these are the remains of the Warren Sawyer?  Join host Evan Schwanfelder as he sits down and does a deep dive with Massachusetts Underwater Archeologist, David Ro...

"South Shore Shipwreck Part 1: The Find" is the first episode in a two part series that documents the rediscovery of substantial shipwreck remains recently uncovered on Nantucket's South Shore in late November 2022.   We go in depth on the research and archeological process with first hand accounts from the many generous and knowledgable people who helped along the way.   I hope you enjoy!

Special thanks to ...

We are very thankful to the Nantucket Atheneum for reaching out to see if Time and Tide would be interested in collaborating on a podcast for this year’s 1 Book 1 Island series of events.  The book “The Yellow House” is a powerful memoir by author Sarah Broom, that tells the story of her family’s house in New Orleans, the loss of the house during Hurricane Katrina, and ties in the mythology of the storied city where she grew up and...

Part 4 of 4 - Discussion at the end of Episode

The Experiences of William S. Cary, a Nantucket man.  The sole survivor of the crew of the whaleship Oeno, who lived for nine years among cannibals of the South Pacific.

"Cary's log of his experiences is a most graphic depiction of life among the Fiji Islanders.  His capture and adoption by the king of the tribe, the life and customs of the natives, his esca...

Part 3 of 4

The Experiences of William S. Cary, a Nantucket man.  The sole survivor of the crew of the whaleship Oeno, who lived for nine years among cannibals of the South Pacific.

"Cary's log of his experiences is a most graphic depiction of life among the Fiji Islanders.  His capture and adoption by the king of the tribe, the life and customs of the natives, his escape and return home are all touched ...

Part 2 of 4

The Experiences of William S. Cary, a Nantucket man.  The sole survivor of the crew of the whaleship Oeno, who lived for nine years among cannibals of the South Pacific.

"Cary's log of his experiences is a most graphic depiction of life among the Fiji Islanders.  His capture and adoption by the king of the tribe, the life and customs of the natives, his escape and return home are all touched...

Part 1 of 4

The Experiences of William S. Cary, a Nantucket man.  The sole survivor of the crew of the whaleship Oeno, who lived for nine years  among cannibals of the South Pacific. 

"Cary's log of his experiences is a most graphic depiction of life among the Fiji Islanders.  His capture and adoption by the king of the tribe, the life and customs of the natives, his escape and return home are all touch...

In this episode we present a series of short vignettes and first person accounts of major freeze up events in 19th century Nantucket.  These were the days before fast ferries and airplanes, when news of the day and word from loved ones travelled only by mail.  Sailing ships and later, steamboats, were the only lifeline to the mainland carrying mail, fuel, supplies and people.  During large freeze ups, lasting weeks to as long as a ...

This story goes back to the early 1980's on Nantucket.  Capt. Pete Kaizer was in his early years of fishing on the island when a local market for bluefish developed.  Pete used gillnetting strategies he had learned while fishing the winter seasons in Florida, and applied them to Nantucket's inshore fishery.  One August afternoon, Pete and his mate found a large school of fish just north of Sankaty Head, but not long after...

The Joseph Starbuck, named after the wealthy whaling merchant who built her, was the last one built at the Brant Point shipyard, launched in 1838.  She completed one successful voyage to the Pacific and was fitted out for her second in 1842.  She was a beautiful and highly valued ship of live oak, and copper fastened.  The vessel alone was insured for $24,000.

On Sunday, November 27, 1842, the ship left Nantucket with a fa...

On a stormy morning in early spring, 1893, just after the sun's rays had lifted a foggy curtain from the sea, the strongly-built Norwegian bark Mentor emerged from the fog and found herself in the shoals off the east end of Nantucket.  There was a high sea running and before she could extricate herself she struck heavily, and remained fast.  It was Sunday morning, April 23rd, 1893.  White water was breaking all around the vess...

During the winter of 1871, Nantucket Sound experienced once of the worst freeze-ups in history; the ice was so thick that it was incredibly challenging and nearly impossible to cut through. At this time there was no paid lifesaving service on the island. Rather, volunteer surfmen with the Massachusetts Humane Society risked life and limb to aid mariners and passengers in distress on the shoals around Nantucket.

On the evening of Feb...

The two-masted schooner Eveline Treat was sailing along the south shore of Nantucket, heading to Gloucester, MA, with a cargo of coal during the early morning—around 1am—on Saturday, October 21, 1865, she struck Miacomet Rip. There were five souls aboard the ship: sixty-two year old Captain Job Philbrook, two of his sons, and two other men. Under the cloak of darkness they had no option but to weather the waves with hope that the E...

During a massive freeze in the winter of 1918, the Cross Rip Lightship, anchored north of Nantucket, was held fast in a crushing ice floe.  The Captain, stranded at shore, left first mate, Henry Joy in charge.  Fearing for the life of the crew, Joy walked seven miles across the ice to Nantucket to ask permission for the crew to abandon ship.  The country was at war and his request was denied.  The Cross Rip, spotted from Great Poin...

The Nantucket South Shoals Lightship, numbered LV-117, was anchored 43 miles southeast of the island, beyond the outermost edge of the treacherous Nantucket Shoals and served as a major navigational beacon marking the western end of the trans-Atlantic shipping channel. Though prone to stormy seas and heavy fog, this position allowed incoming and outgoing vessels to heed the dangerous shoals by homing in on the lightship's radi...

Whenever a shipwreck on Nantucket was mentioned by islanders in the late 19th and early 20th centuries one was always certain to be recalled - the wreck of the big, three masted schooner, T.B. Witherspoon.  The details of this tragic wreck left an indelible memory, never to be forgotten by those who chanced to be on the frozen beach at Mioxes Pond on the island's southwest shores, standing by helplessly as they watched the men...