Hy-Line Cruises (colloquially referred to as Hy-Line, and legally Hyannis Harbor Tours Inc.) is an American family owned and operated

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

and cruise company. The company currently operates the second largest passenger ferry service between mainland

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer months. The ...

and the islands of

Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard, often simply called the Vineyard, is an island in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, lying just south of Cape Cod. It is known for being a popular, affluent summer colony, and includes the smaller peninsula Chappaquiddick Isla ...

and

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

(after the Steamship Authority). The company also operates sightseeing cruises and fishing charters. The company's main office is located at 22 Channel Point Road in Hyannis.

History

Hy-Line Cruises began operations in 1962 as Hyannis Harbor Tours run by Richard Scudder and his brother Robert. Originally, the company focused on sightseeing harbor tours, which it still does today. The company added deep-sea fishing charters in 1966 and started running seasonal passenger-ferry services in 1970, first to Martha's Vineyard and then to Nantucket in 1972 when Hyannis Harbor Tours bought out The Nantucket Boat Company, which at that time was doing business as Hi-line. Hyannis Harbor Tours took this trade name and changed it to Hy-Line. In 1995, Hy-Line Cruises started the first high-speed catamaran service to Nantucket; its original vessel was shortly replaced by a larger one in 1997, which in turn was replaced in 2003 by the ''Grey Lady''. Hy-Line introduced high-speed service to

in 2005, using its 1997-built ferry '' Lady Martha''. Another high-speed catamaran, ''Grey Lady IV'', was delivered in 2016 to replace Hy-Line's monohull vessel, the ''Great Point'' on the Nantucket route.

Current operations

Island ferry service

Hy-Line Cruises operates high-speed

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

ferry service between Hyannis and Nantucket (year-round) and Hyannis and Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard (seasonally). The journey time is approximately one hour. The company also operates seasonal inter-island trips between Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. All of Hy-Line Cruises ferry services are passenger only (although bicycles are carried for a small fee) due to the legal monopoly held on vehicle ferry service that is held by the Steamship Authority. Any new Hy-Line services must be approved by the authority, which serves as a regulatory body for service to and from the Islands.

Sightseeing cruises

Hy-Line Cruises also operates seasonal sightseeing cruises in and around Hyannis Harbor, and the

Cape Cod Canal The Cape Cod Canal is an artificial waterway in Massachusetts connecting Cape Cod Bay in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south, and is part of the Intracoastal Waterway, Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. The approximately canal traverses the nec ...

, (the latter sailing from the Wareham village of Onset).

Fishing

Out of Hyannis, Hy-Line operates seasonal half-day

deep sea The deep sea is broadly defined as the ocean depth where light begins to fade, at an approximate depth of or the point of transition from continental shelves to continental slopes. Conditions within the deep sea are a combination of low tempe ...

fishing trips in Nantucket Sound. The fishing boats, ''Sea Queen II'' and ''Sea Swan,'' go out daily in the Spring and Summer to fish in Nantucket Sound. They offer bottom fishing trips for scup and black sea bass, along with Captain's Choice trips for whatever the captain thinks will be the best fishing.

Fleet

Former fleet

Hy-Line also acquired two vessels upon purchasing the Nantucket Boat Company in 1972.

References

External links

* {{coord, 41, 38, 53.2, N, 70, 16, 45.2, W, region:US, display=title 1962 establishments in Massachusetts Barnstable, Massachusetts Companies based in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Ferry companies of Massachusetts Martha's Vineyard Transport companies established in 1962 Transportation in Barnstable County, Massachusetts Transportation in Dukes County, Massachusetts Transportation in Nantucket, Massachusetts