Pelagic, Hyannis MA to Nantucket shoals. All day (7 am to 4 pm). Dec 5 - (Weather Date Dec 6) 

A great time of year to get offshore. We often find masses of sea ducks around Nantucket Sound, with lingering shearwaters over the shoals and a chance for alcids. 

It can be very cold and windy on the water in December. Dress in layers as you would for a pretty cold winter day. The boat moves fairly fast when cruising between spots and that adds to the apparent wind speed. The weather may not be ideal. The weather cancellation decision is made mostly based on safety and difficult sea conditions. Layer up and sign up!

Cost: $110 (BBC members), $130 (non-members).

1. Weather date: You are expected to be able to attend on either Dec 5 or Dec 6 depending on the weather. The decision will be made very close to Dec 5 because marine forecasts are not reliable earlier in advance.
2. Cancellations: Notify pelagics@brooklinebirdclub.org if you need to cancel. We will have to charge you for the trip anyway unless there is someone on the waiting list who can take your place. We try hard to fill your spot. Even if we can fill your spot, there is a non-refundable $5.00 cancellation charge to cover credit card transaction fees which we have incurred on your behalf (those fees are not refunded to us when we refund you). However, we will fully refund you if the entire trip including the weather day is cancelled. 
3. Due to weather conditions, the captain sometimes cancels the trip if there are safety concerns. We will keep you informed as soon as we know of a change of trip status. While unfortunate, it may be unavoidable that we have to cancel only a day before the trip which could create difficulties for our participants. Similarly, the decision to switch to the weather day may happen only a day before. 
4. Please consider purchasing trip insurance for flights and hotel arrangements, since the pelagic trips are occasionally cancelled due to sea conditions.

We are only allowing two additional participants per registration session (that is, per email). If there are more in your party, please have them sign up in separate registration sessions with different emails. It is necessary to collect an address for each participant. Sorry for the extra typing.

To reserve a space, click the "Register Now" button. "Register now" is on a page reached after clicking review and confirming your information. If you don't get a confirmation email, you haven't successfully registered. Contact jedmondson@brooklinebirdclub.org if you have registration issues. For other questions, pelagics@brooklinebirdclub.org.

Here is a trip report from December 2025: https://ebird.org/tripreport/439877

Please see our Pelagic Trips page for useful trip information and caveats.