Day 2 - Cuttyhunk, MA
31 May 2016
Day 2 - Mon 30 May 2016
Anchored – Cuttyhunk, MA
[photo: this is actually recycled from last year, but Diane had on the same clothing and blanket, so it works. She was rather cold on this passage and declined my offer to run the generator and heater for a bit.]
Once the wind died last night, we had a very restful sleep and we both awoke just after 0500 to fog with visibility of less thanone-quarter mile. Since it is prudent to run more slowly in restricted visibility, I asked Diane if we could weigh anchor and get underway by 0600. She reluctantly agreed and we set off. Once thing about running very early and in cold, foggy conditions is that there are practically no other boats around to worry about.
We had almost as calm conditions as you can reasonably expect on the ocean as we cruised to the E entrance of the Cape Cod Canal. We had no issue transiting the canal except for a few serious wakes from boaters heading the other way who were not heeding the speed limit or the no wake restriction. Heading SW down Buzzard’s Bay, we saw maybe a dozen boats and a few ships, with fog that limited the visibility from 1/8 to 1 mile, varying all the time.
I had originally planned for Woods Hole, but knew we could make a further destination of Cuttyhunk easily, too, so headed there. The rain was mild to moderate much of the time, but the sea conditions were worsening slowly as the wind built from the SW, our direction of travel. It was only 1100 when we reached Cuttyhunk, but I knew if I continued on, we would be in a large stretch of open water with nowhere to go if things got too rough.
Rather than pay for a mooring inside the well protected harbor, we chose an anchorage just outside that is well protected from the SW winds we were getting for the next 24 hours or so. The only mystery was the many dozens of substantial sticks all over what would be good anchorage areas. I hope to research it in the future, but one thought is they mark the spots where boat mooring buoys will be installed. Another possibility is they are there to preclude anchoring and force people to go to the paid moorings inside the harbor. I would think that is illegal.
One unfortunate revelation was that there was not only no open Wi-Fi available with our long-range antenna, but our Verizon cell phones also had no data service.
Diane was a bit chilly during the ride today with outdoor and water temps in the 50s, so she suggested we use the crockpot tomorrow to make a meal while underway, running off the inverter while the engine alternators were available to keep the batteries charged. It will add some heat to the cabin at the expense of making us extra hungry all day.
The afternoon was very gray, drizzly, and foggy, so that would barely see the land mass just 200 yards from us. We spent the time reading. I would have liked to get Internet weather forecasts to better plan for tomorrow, but had to resort to listening to the drone of the NOAA VHF radio broadcasts.
We heated the supper I had prepared the other day. The hot sausage, potatoes, and green bean medley has become a boat staple for us and was very welcome in the still cool environment. What a contrast from the time when Diane was sunning herself on the foredeck just a few days ago.
Tomorrow, we’ll see what the weather lets us do comfortably. [Since I am posting this after arrival, I can tell you we decided on Block Island, RI.]