GUIDE TO BIG CHANGES IN 2006

Last year began  a new era for Star Island and the Isles of Shoals. The regular daily summer ferry no longer runs from Portsmouth to Star Island. Visitors to the Oceanic Hotel will have their own ferry as will students at the Shoals Marine Lab on Appledore. This guide is for them and for everyone who wants to see or visit the rocky historic Isles of Shoals. Rye Harbor has become the new center of activity.

HOW TO SEE & VISIT THE SHOALS
Half are in NH, half in Maine

Note: SeacoastNH.com is not responsible for changes to schedules or to this information. Please check with your transportation source in advance of travel. If you have additional information on tours and travel to the Shoals, please email us.

SEE: Our Shoals Maps
VISIT: Isles of Shoals history section

ISLES OF SHOALS SIGHTSEEING
(stay on boat, view all islands)

Isles of Shoals Steamship Company
Historic Isles of Shoals, Lighthouses and Portsmouth Harbor Tour
departing twice daily aboard the steamship style M/V Thomas Laighton
from Portsmouth. Tour features up close views and famous narration of
the nine Isles of Shoals and sights of Portsmouth Harbor including three
lighthouses, five forts and the Olde Port Waterfront. Beverages and snacks available. Onboard activities and portable touch tank provided by Blue Ocean Society.Special events, party ships, dinner cruises, weddings, receptions and
educational fieldtrips are also offered.

Portsmouth Harbor Cruises
Regular summer sightseeing tours 2.5 hours starting at noon Tues – Thurs from dock on Ceres Street in Portsmouth

Island Cruises
Daily narrated tours around the Isles of Shoals aboard a real lobster boat leaving Rye Harbor

Granite State Whale Watch
Wednesday evening Isles cruise with fireworks over Hampton Beach, July and August at 7pm from Rye Harbor

Island Cruises
VISITNG STAR ISLAND & the Oceanic Hotel (click here)

VISTING APPLEDORE ISLAND & the Shoals Marine Lab (click here)

VISITING THE OTHER ISLANDS at the Shoals (click here)
Includes Smuttynose, White, Malaga, Seavey, Cedar, Duck & Luncing.

Continue to VISIT INDIVIDUAL ISLAND

VISITING STAR ISLAND
READ: Star Island Corp 2005 Press Release

Privately owned by the Star Island Corporation offering summer conferences at the Oceanic Hotel for over 100 years. For conference catalog and island info visit the official web site

Beginning in 2005, after 150 years of service, there will no longer be a regular summer ferry from Portsmouth. This guide is for those wishing to go onto Star Island. For those wishing to tour the entire Isles of Shoals by sightseeing boat, click here.

Star Island Day Trips
The Thomas Laighton no longer offers its daily Star Island Stopover. Here are alternative ways to get onto Star Island. If you have you own boat, scroll down.

Sail Amaryllis
Offers sunset sailing cruise aboard Amaryllis, a 45 ft catamaran with dinner at the Oceanic Hotel on Star Island. Leaves Portsmouth Harbor at 4:30PM. Call 603-205-0630.

Charter trips to Star with advance call, when available. Goes out twice daily from Rye Harbor. Call for planned DAILY stop over trips to Star Island.

Northeast Charter
Offers a Star Island dinner cruise starting at 5 pm from Portsmouth Harbor with trip to Star and dinner at the Oceanic Hotel.

Star Conference Now Take Captain's Lady

From StarIsland.org
For the 2005 season, conferees will be traveling to and from Star aboard the 149 passenger "Captain’s Lady." The "Captain’s Lady" has been used primarily for off-shore whale watches. She is well suited for the weather and sea conditions around the Shoals and should be able to make the trip in less than an hour. Use of a vessel this size will mean reverting to the tradition of many years ago when two round trips were necessary to bring the conferences to the island. For many long-time Shoalers, this will be a taste of nostalgia but for others, this will become a "new" tradition. Captain’s Fishing Charters, owner of the "Captain’s Lady," is based in Newburyport, Massachusetts, but will operate from the dock adjacent to where the Thomas Laighton is berthed. Conferees will park in the same lot we have used for the last several years. There are a few logistical issues yet to be worked out and we will send detailed information to conference leaders well in time for planning your summer trip to the island.

The change in transportation to and from Star Island came about this fall when the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company (ISSCo.) notified us they would be unable to continue their contract with us, in part because of the complications presented by Homeland Security. Since then, we have been in contact with a number of boat companies along the New Hampshire coast and as far south as Boston. After meeting with five boat owners, we selected Captain’s Fishing Charters to provide conference transportation services for next year.

We are confident that the change will have very little impact on most conferences and will do our best to make the transition to a new ferry service as easy as possible for everyone. A long term agreement with Captain’s Fishing Charters is being discussed this winter and by the summer, we will be able to apprise you of the nature of ferry services for the next several years.

Star Island's Pamela J. Thayer workboat as well as the SML's Kingsbury workboat will be working cooperatively to transport each other's staff and to transport the Smuttynose Stewards

For Private Boats & Lunch & Dinner Guests

From StarIsland.org
If you have a private boat, you are welcome to visit the island for a meal, or just to walk around. Please note than the island’s dock is very busy, and only dinghies are permitted to tie up. Meals are served family style at 12:30 and 6:30, and include beverages and dessert. There is no lunch on Saturdays. You may call ahead for reservations or inquire at the front desk upon arrival.

Continue to VISIT INDIVIDUAL ISLAND

VISITING APPLEDORE

UPATE: The MARINE LAB has created this updated web page for 2005
Getting to Shoals Marine Lab
Boat Schedule

Owned by the Star Island Corporation and with some private homes, largely used by the Shoals Marine Lab, a cooperative summer educational program run by Cornell and the University of New Hampshire. For more info visit the official web site.

See latest updates on GETTING TO APPLEDORE

Shoals Marine Lab Students
SML update
SML is going to be transporting all participants EXCEPT Celia's Garden Tour passengers aboard SML vessels to and from the SML dock in Portsmouth.

Star Conferees & UNH Docents to Appledore
SML Update
SML will continue to host weekly Star Island Conference day trippers from Star (on Tuesdays now, instead of on Mondays), and we will continue to host weekly UNH/Docent Day trippers aboard the R/V CHALLENGER (usually on Saturdays and Sundays).

See Celia’s Garden
This year Celia’s Tour will be run from a boat out of Seabrook, NH run by the Eastmans, More details and schedules to follow.

Continue to VISIT INDIVIDUAL ISLAND

Visiting Smuttynose & Malaga
There is no formal tour of Smuttynose which is a privately owned island. Visitors with their own boats are welcomed to tour responsibly following the rules posted in the harbor. (No dogs, fires, alcohol, camping, removing plants or other items). There are no restrooms or public facilities of any sort. There is a nice walking tour in season and stewards on island to offer information. Cove is for small boats only, rowboats are best, Please don’t block the cove or use Smuttynose moorings.

Visiting Cedar and Lunging
Sorry, private islands. No public stopovers. These islands are best seen from sightseeing tours or private boats.

Visiting White& Seaveys Islands
Sorry, no regular tours. The lighthouse is best seen from sightseeing tours. Landing is difficult for private boats and not advised. Currently the State of NH is building a docking facility in order to begin repair of the widening cracks in the 19^th century brick lighthouse.

Visiting Duck
Bird sanctuary run by Audubon Society. No tours. Seals and birds can be seen at a safe distance by private boats and on sightseeing tours.

FROM STAR ISLAND CORPORATION
2005 Season Update

After interviewing many potential ferry services, Star Island has signed on with Captain’s Fishing Charters of Newburyport, Massachusetts to bring conferees to Star Island. As part of our commitment to continue Star Island’s close relationship with the Seacoast Community, the Captain’s Lady will depart from Burge Dock on Market Street in Portsmouth.

Conferees will no longer come aboard the Isles of Shoals Steamship Company’s M/V Thomas Laighton due in part because of complications presented by Homeland Security. The Star Island Corporation, which owns both Star and Appledore Islands, was founded in 1916. The Isles of Shoals Steamship Company has been ferrying our passengers and freight for about 40 of those years and we are very sorry to see the historical relationship between us end. We respect Robin Whitaker’s commitment to continuing education about the Isles of Shoals and wish her all the best.

We welcome visitors to Star Island between mid-June and mid-September aboard their own vessels. Other opportunities for visiting Star Island are aboard the Prince of Whales which operates from Newburyport, or aboard the Uncle Oscar which departs from Rye.

Day visitors can visit the island’s snack bar, book store, lobby store, or gift shop or tour the Oceanic Hotel lobby, Rutledge Marine Lab, or Vaughn Cottage. You are also welcome to join us for a hearty and satisfying meal served home-style in the Oceanic Hotel dining room. Meals are served at 12:30 and 6:30, are all you can eat, and include beverages and dessert. Please note that the island's dock is very busy, and only dinghies are permitted to tie up.

In years past Star Island’s Grand Hotel Era Oceanic House, along with the hotel on neighboring Appledore Island, was frequented by Childe Hassam, Celia Thaxter, Nathaniel

Hawthorne, Ralph Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and other notables of the time. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s recently published diaries include a two-week visit to the Isles of Shoals and Star Island. Star Island remains a destination for writers, artists, philosophers, and musicians as well as people from all walks of life, including contemporary notables who enjoy the benefits of being just one of the "Shoalers".

One of Star Island’s most promi­nent features is the chapel, a simple stone meetinghouse built in 1800 on the highest point of land. Vaughn Cottage, another site of interest, is open from 1 to 3 p.m. and features artifacts and historic manuscripts including writings from the collection of Celia Thaxter. The Rutledge Marine Lab is open every day for hands–on learning about native marine life.

The first summer conferences were held on Star Island in 1897 under the auspices of the Isles of Shoals Association. In addition to several family conferences (Life on a Star 1 and 2 and All Star 1 and 2), Arts, and Natural History, we host the Isles of Shoals Historical and Research Association, International Affairs, the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science, Dover Yoga Studio and Gallery, New Hampshire Photographic Society, and Star Hampshire Traditional Music and Dance. Star Women and Midweek Retreat are two other early September conferences and this year, we have added a Writer’s Conference. For more detailed conference information as well as how to register, please call the office at (603) 430-6272 and we will send you our Blue Book.

As an island environment ten miles out to sea, Star Island must provide its own utilities including electricity, water, waste treatment, and garbage disposal. We are currently installing a reverse osmosis machine to allow us to convert salt water to drinking water. We handle the largest amount of compost in the State of New Hampshire. We grow our own flowers in a perennial garden and display them throughout the hotel and dining hall. Maintaining and preserving our historic buildings is at the forefront of our operation.

Star Island Corporation is a membership organization comprised of about 400 members and governed by a board of directors under the direction of Irene Bush, president. Paul Jennings is Executive Director of Star Island.

There are nine full-time staff members who work in the Portsmouth office and on Star Island and four seasonal staff members who work on island. In addition, every job on the island including docking boats and handling freight; cooking and serving food; maintaining the grounds, buildings, power plant, and waste water treatment facility; and providing all hospitality services is staffed by a Pelican, the affectionate term for the nearly 100 young people who work here and often return year after year to what Yankee Magazine once called "one of the top ten summer jobs in New England".

For more information, please contact:
Deborah Lielasus Tombleson
Director of Development & Community Relations
Star Island Corporation