When boats are canceled, which occurs in storms or high winds, unembalmed bodies marooned on Nantucket can now be stored at the island’s sole hospital, which recently purchased a freezer.
The process has longtime Nantucketers expressing a certain loss of independence.
“It’s not about the people who live here anymore,” said Donna Douglas, while taking a late lunch at Pudley’s Pub on a recent afternoon. “Everything has to be done on the mainland.”