After waiting 2 days for a weather window, we left Provincetown Monday morning in almost no wind. The forecast sw and w wind never came up, so it was the motor all the way. Amazing how far Seguin Light is visible--long before we crossed into Maine waters. After an uneventful night, we arrived at our dock about 8:30 am and began off-loading food, dirty laundry, garbage, dogs, dog beds. The Omlands and Kitty Norton greeted us from shore as we rode up to our dock. Made us feel how good it is to be here.
Probably no more blogs 'till August when we head north to New Brunswick.
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With gale warnings out on Cape Cod Bay, it is wonderful to be tied up in a secure slip with a big ship on the other side of the pier acting as a wind-break. This is simply terrible weather--showers, wind, fog. And it looks like it will continue tomorrow and then improve on Monday. So here we will sit for a while. I leave you with a picture of the famous Provincetown tower I took yesterday in better weather.
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By morning the wind had calmed,and we dawdled along the Elizabeth Island chain to be at the Cape Cod Canal for a favorable current about mid-day. As a result, we sailed just offshore of the islands and were able to see how lovely and unspoiled they continue to be. The beaches are accessible by boat and several small harbors (on the Martha's Vineyard side primarily) can take an overnight cruiser, but the interior of the islands is off limits. And all of them are owned by the Forbes Family Trust, which is determined to keep them wild and unspoiled. How wonderful for all the rest of us. This means the islands will stay beautiful, with no beachfront resorts or dune buggy trails--nothing to destroy their fragile beauty.
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A 6am departure, since we are going from Noank to Cuttyhunk and the wind is supposed to come up this afternoon. By 9:30 we pass Point Judith and at noon are whizzing along under jib alone. At 2:30 we approach Cuttyhunk in 25 knots of wind--taking in the jib was a challenge. After much bouncing and flaying, in it comes and we enter the harbor. To our amazement, we are the ONLY boat here, except a local fisherman. The wind continues to increase, so we put two lines on the town mooring we've picked up (how wonderful that these mooring balls have high poles!) Later 2 more boats arrive--but for anyone who has been to Cuttyhunk in the summer, seeing the harbor virtually empty is weird.
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The weather was fine for a short run down the Sound today--a little motoring, a little great sail under both jib and main and NO MOTOR--very nice. This is our original sailing area--we passed the CT River and its lumpy entrance, sailed across Niantic Bay (home for the Burkett boats for years), across the entrance to New London in our first boat in a storm (we remembered that very windy, scarey sail back from the naval base to Niantic --everything, including Adam, was white from crusted salt in the spray). And tonight we are in Noank, the first port as you go up the Mystic River to Mystic Seaport. For unknown reasons, we never stopped here--and it is lovely, reminds us of little Maine coast towns. Lots of great old houses, and several nice restaurants (think seafoood) including the famous Abbots Lobster House next to Costello's Clam Shack. Wonder how many people remember Abbott and Costello?
I leave you with a picture of a Noank grand home.
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