Nantucket alphabet blocks now available as a set downtown at Nantucket Looms. Each one is handmade (and I still have some glue on my hands to prove it), carefully assembled using acid-free, archival, UV-protective, antibiotic and growth hormone free products.

$199 for the set.

Amazing show in the skies the last three nights for Swift-Tuttle’s magnificent tail: the Perseid meteor shower. With skies so clear, the brightest Milky Way I have ever seen, about 12-18 meteors/hour, and winds quiet enough to make the whole show reflect perfectly in the surface of the normally choppy Sesachacha Pond…I am happy to be exhausted from the missed hours of sleep.

I had the thrill to board Captain Blair Perkin’s catamaran, the Shearwater, for a whale watch tour. Left from Town Pier at 8 am, was fortunate to see clear blue skies, quiet winds, and a glassy sea as we rounded Great Point and headed to the waters off the Outer Cape. It was an amazing experience when he turned off the engines and began to drift amongst the 75 or so Humpback Whales that were rolling, diving, and breaching in the waters. Best part was when Blair looked like a Georgia boy at a Hog Killin’ when he excitedly instructed everyone to take deep breath to take in a smell “that says ‘ocean’ to me,” the smell of the breath of dozens of whales spouting right around the boat. Here are the shots:

(the boat’s namesake, the Greater Shearwater)

Check it out: Explore Nantucket with Shearwater Excursions
Captain Blair’s blog

Scenes from today’s Ozone Surf Classic, Cisco Beach. Another wonderful, charitable local event. Hats off to the organizers!

Back to back weekend race events. First the wildly popular Nantucket Triathlon, then this weekend, Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s Race For Open Space. Certainly a good cause. Fog in the morning and humid, hazy heat at racetime, made this a tough event to photograph. Okay, okay, I’m sure it was easier to snap it then to actually participate!

Great event. Congrats to the organizers and the local first-timers!

Thanks Dorothy!