30 miles out to sea lies Nantucket, a fabled island most famously depicted in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. Known for its whaling history which powered most of the world during the late 18th and 19th centuries, this small slice of sand popping up out of the northern Atlantic ocean has something special in the air.

We’ve traveled to and from Nantucket for most of our lives, but never experienced the northern tip of the island which could be mistaken as a laid back off-road test site exclusively for Jeeps and Land Rovers. We called our friends Taylor and Ryan, who live on island to see if they’d be up for the adventure telling them we were thinking of “popping out to Great Point”. After a few seconds of silence and a short laugh they were in, but quickly let us mainlanders know that no one just “pops out to Great Point.”

The trek is almost an hour from town and when you finally make it out there you’re required to cover miles of dunes and soft sand shorelines. You need an all wheel drive vehicle, shovels, tow ropes, provisions, and a mindset ready to embrace the unknown.

The main attraction is undoubtedly Great Point Light originally built in 1784, it first employed a former whaleman as its Keeper, Capt. Paul Pickham, earning him an annual salary of $166.66. The structure fell victim to fires and burned down a few times over the centuries, but served as one of the most important structures in the United States during the 1800s guarding major commercial industries against perilous danger. At the time, the waters off Great Point were one of the busiest stretches of sea and saw 43 shipwrecks over a 27 year period where depths can go from 60 feet to 3 feet deep within a handful of yards.

During a clear day this fall, thanks to our friend Hafsa Lewis, we headed to Great Point for golden hour among the dunes gathering cold drinks and a handful of SeaWell™ sweaters before setting out in her restored matte grey Land Rover Defender aptly named GI Jane.

We were almost speechless after hours spent in the sun and sand. As twilight hit we began our journey back over the beach and through the dunes in awe of our Great Point adventure. There had been a lot of energy and anticipation heading out there and we now knew why. It was one of those experiences where words and photos could never quite do it justice. We had Gone To Great Point.