Our trip out of the Merrimack river was much better than the trip in. We went while the tide was coming in with the waves, so all was calm. Sails went up as soon as we cleared the mouth of the river and the engine got a rest. Although with a fresh oil change, the engine was running well, no exhaust smoke and even oil pressure.
The wind was on our stearn at about 14 knots so we ran wing and wing all the way to Rockport. As we rounded the tip of Cape Ann we jibed the main, which put us on a reach all the way to the islands just outside Boston harbor. The good news about sailing along the coast in a healthy off shore breeze is there are small waves, we just experienced an 18 inch or so chop most of the way, which the boat doesn’t even notice. The bad news about off shore breezes is they are inconsistent. Wind direction swayed back and forth by 10 degrees, depending on the coastline, and wind velocity waivered between 10 and 16 knots apparent. That made it harder for the autopilot to keep up, so our course was fluctuating to the point where steering by hand made the most sense. Our speed probably overaged 7.4 knots, with a high of 9.2. It was a great day to sail, many others felt the same as we crossed paths with a beautiful old schooner and a modern trimaran, it made a great statement about the joy of sailing, old and new.
About six hours after we shut off the engine, we started it again to manage the traffic at the entrance to Boston harbor and the islands. We slipped past a huge car carrying ship headed out of the channel with plenty of time to get out of the way of an oil tanker headed in. We explored the islands for a calm anchorage. Calm water and neat view of the city didn’t coincide, we chose the calm waters between Long and George Islands, up close to Long Island with a view of the Boston lighthouse. There were no lobster boats in the area, but we saw plenty of high speed ferries running a mile away, and spent 15 minutes out of each hour in the traffic pattern for Logan airport. Since we both spent the first six years of our marriage living on Air Force bases, the sound wasn’t unfamiliar. At least aircraft don’t make waves.
Lesley made a great scallops over pasta dinner. The aircraft activity settled around ten, so we had a good night’s sleep .... until about 5:30 anyway!