THE former Oceanic House is no longer a hotel, but the Star Island Corporation (603-430-6272) generously allows yachtsmen to visit the island from 10 AM to dusk on weekdays and from 10 AM to 3:30 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Please land only at the float, where there is room to tie a maximum of eight dinghies.

One of the young dockhands (known as “Pelicans”) will orient you to the island, its buildings, its trails, and its rules, particularly the policy of no open flames in the buildings. The Oceanic House has restrooms, a snack bar, and a gift shop. The Vaughn Cottage, open daily from 1 to 3 PM, displays Celia Thaxter memorabilia. There is a small playground for children.

Near the eastern end of the island is Betty Moody’s Cave, described in Robert Carter’s 1858 Summer Cruise on the Coast of New England. “Early in the old Colony times,” Carter relates, “the Indians from the mainland made a descent upon the islands, and killed or carried off all the inhabitants except a Mrs. Moody, who hid herself under the rocks with her two small children.” As the Indians combed the island, “the unhappy mother, unable to keep her infants quiet, killed them with a knife to prevent them from crying.”

From there, walk south along the coast to find Miss Underhill’s Chair, a rocky perch from which a romantic young island schoolteacher was swept away by a great wave.


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