The federal government formally declared the Gay Head Light surplus property Thursday, clearing the way for the town of Aquinnah to take ownership of the lighthouse which is now critically endangered due to erosion.

The General Services Administration posted the notice Thursday, making the lighthouse surplus property. Aquinnah voters have already agreed that the town will apply to take ownership.

The send-off felt a little like the dawn of a new adventure, a trip to uncharted territory — a discoverer’s voyage to the new world or the Wild West. And the subject of the voyage is almost as mysterious and misunderstood, its public perception more determined by stereotypes.

Early Sunday morning, when most are still asleep, a thin crescent moon appears near the planet Jupiter.

For many fishermen, boaters and sailors, Nantucket Sound is a neighborhood. It is an inland sea with personality where stories abound. The sound ranges in size from 500 to 700 square miles, depending on who is doing the measuring. Nantucket Sound is the water that separates Cape Cod from Nantucket and much of the Vineyard.

Friday, July 26: Rainy wet morning. Torrential shower overnight. One inch of rain falls from 1 to 2 a.m. Leaden grey morning. Puddles abound in all the down-Island roads. Colorful umbrellas and raincoats decorate Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs. More rain in the afternoon. Drizzle. Light showers in West Tisbury. Pink skies in the west, at dusk. Overcast.