We left Onset on Tuesday at O dark thirty, actually 5:15 am, in order to catch a favorable current through the Cape Cod Canal. The current was with us, so we were able to travel between 8 and 9 knots. Now for some boats that’s no big deal but a sailboat its amazing and wonderful, and we transited the canal in less than an hour. Once through the canal we headed towards Gloucester Mass. It’s a 62 mile day, which is long for anyone.. The winds were 15-20 from the SE and the waves were just a bit off from that. With such good conditions we were able to sail almost all of the way to Gloucester in relative comfort. But all good things come to an end. About an hour out of Gloucester, the wind increased and the waves reacted to the conditions. To add some drama to the day, Bob and I got to practice for Maine. There were pots in every conceivable spot as we approached the entrance to the harbor, and even inside, regardless of channel. It was especially fun as the wind and waves were both high. We had never been to Gloucester and were looking forward to visiting the town. We weren’t able to get a mooring in the inner harbor so we were moored by Tenpound Island, which is pretty exposed. As luck would have it when we were picking up the mooring the wind decided to increase to 24Knts and I can tell you that it is not fun. Bob was able to keep the boat into the wind and I was able to pick it up and attach it pretty easily. Thank you Captain Bob. We did get to town and have a nice dinner, walked around a bit and then it was time to go back to the boat. We were both tired. We think that we would go back to Gloucester, but on a calm day and stay for a day or two.
In case you missed our constant theme this trip, it’s wind and weather. It’s been one or the other. Oh well that’s cruising.
Once again we were under way the next morning at 5:15 am heading to Portland Maine. The wind and waves were not as comfortable, but we persevered. The goal today was to get into Portland before the winds picked up and the weather started to change. Well, we had a little bit of everything today, wind, fog, waves. Motorsailing all day with a reefed main and full jib we were able to keep a consistent speed of minimally 6.5 knts but mostly we were doing 7knts and more. 75 miles later at 4:00 we entered the channel into Portland. And of course the wind picked up to 20-24, the skies were cloudy. Once again we got to retrieve our mooring with a 20 plus knot wind….fun!! Practice makes perfect I guess. It is certainly nice to stop, and we will stop for several days here in Portland. There are boat repairs that we need to do and we want to relax a bit as well. Its time to slow down! We made it to Maine…lobsters look out, here we come!