Days 36-38, August 4-6. Homeward bound

Exiting the New River near low is rather exciting. The whole estuary funnels through a narrow channel and can reach high speeds with rapids. Daybreak gives us another hour before dead low, so we've got about a foot of drop through the channel, and with the engine at idle we hit seven knots without even trying. Crazy.

As usual the wind died, so we motored in to Boston Harbor. Online we have met Richard, who owns a MacGregor 25 and has plans for cruising to the north. Most Mac owners just do weekends, so we're excited to meet another cruiser. We meet on George's Island at the old fort. His daughter is playing with a horn group, and with some costumes they march through the stone walls with trombones, tubas, saxophones and more. Much fun. Afterward, we row him out to Eclipse for a tour. He's planning to sail his boat, Kymopoleia, up the Maine coast to Nova Scotia and to a little French-owned island nearby, Miquelon. As fellow cruisers on a small boat we offered some pointers.

Anchored off Peddock's island with a sunset walk along the shores and houses. We're off again at dawn, taking advantage of the falling tide to exit Boston Harbor. Once the morning doldrums are over, we enjoy good sailing past Gloucester and into Rockport. Serendipitously, my daughter is visiting in the area, and we rendezvous with her and her boyfriend along the quiet evening streets of this very touristy town.

As usual the wind died, but this time we were socked in with fog for three hours. Being a Tuesday and far from any busy harbor, we only encountered one other boat. But we did see a minke whale.

Around the NH line, the wind finally strengthened so we could turn off the motor. Quiet. Then as we’re approaching Portsmouth harbor there’s a minke very close. And he stayed with us for about twenty minutes, surfacing and blowing and diving. So exciting! We could smell him sometimes and see his markings underwater.

In the harbor we meet with Mark for dinner, then settle into Chauncey Creek for the night.

Days 32-35, August 1-3. Martha and Cape Cod

We've learned how to effectively trim the boat so she sails herself mostly. We tie the tiller to one side with an adjustable knot, and a bungee cord to the other, and she just keeps going. With variations in the wind she'll head a little upwind or down, so we often make little adjustments, or to dodge a lobster buoy. It makes for easy sailing.

From Cuttyhunk east, through Woods Hole and across to Martha's Vineyard. While looking for a place to anchor for the night, a motorboat came up to us and offered an un-used mooring ball. Yay! So we stayed two nights, spending a day riding the island busses around while occasionally stepping off to ride bicycles to points of interest.

We folded the bikes to board the ferry to Chappaquiddick which saved $4, as they were now 'luggage' instead of 'bicycles'. Lunch at a pricy cafe (everything on the island is marked up). At Gay Head we joined the throngs to look out at the tall clay cliffs and lighthouse. Then down to the bicycle ferry at Chilmark, then back on the bus to Tisbury and our floating home in Tashmoo lake.

From here we mis-read the tide charts and bucked a very strong current through the cut at Woods Hole to get into the quiet waters of Buzzards Bay. At times the engine was at max with our speed at only half a knot.

But we got the right tide for the Cape Cod Canal, and flushed through early saturday morning at up to 7.3 knots. Cape Cod Bay offered us great sailing with a nice quartering tailwind. Thunderheads were building and winds more erratic so we ducked into New River Inlet, south of Scituate for the night. 

Days 31-. July 29-31. Elizabeth Islands

Crazy winds and big choppy waves keep us in Narraganset bay two days. But even though the forecast for Tuesday was for more of the same, the waves were big (3-4) but with long periods, making for easy sailing except that the wind, while predicted at 15 kts was only 5. We motor-sailed almost all the way to Cuttyhunk, only sailing the last two hours. Gusts to 20 or 25 predicted for the afternoon, so we stayed put and walked the beach. Gusts never materialized, and winds dropped to 10-12. So much for accurate forecasts.

Cuttyhunk is such a nice island with a relaxed atmosphere. We enjoyed walking the town and looking out from the high point at 200ft.