Vineyard Haven Harbor in Tisbury lies on Martha’s Vineyard’s northern shore, about four miles southeast of Woods Hole and 22 miles southeast of New Bedford. Vineyard Haven Harbor is used regularly by small coastal tankers and ferries transporting freight, vehicles, and passengers between the mainland and Martha’s Vineyard. The harbor also serves as an anchorage and refuge for vessels passing through Vineyard and Nantucket sounds.

Original work in the harbor, completed in 1909, consisted of stone seawalls and jetties that protected the headlands from erosion and the harbor from shoaling by the eroded material. More recent work, completed in 1937, involved dredging a fairway area at the head of the harbor between Steamboat Wharf and the state-built breakwater. This triangular-shaped area is 17 feet deep, 150-275 feet wide, and 1,000 feet long. The project also includes a 12-foot-deep anchorage behind the existing state breakwater, immediately north of the fairway area.