On almost the last day of summer my husband and I loaded our kayaks on top of the car and found our way to the entrance of Squibnocket Pond for our last waterway exploration of the summer.

For much of the work week, Emily Bramhall inhabits a world devoted to the creature comforts of the indoor world - stuffed pillows, luxurious bedsheets and cozy handknit sweaters sold at her store on Main street Vineyard Haven.

It was all the more shocking then to see Ms. Bramhall wearing a crash helmet and scrunched into the wooden cockpit of a vessel capable of reaching 60 miles per hour across the ice of a frozen pond.