The alarm rudely awoke us at 6:30 so we could get an early start to the day. Our destination of New Bedford lay 25 miles to the west, directly upwind, we prepared Dagny for a bumpy ride and we're on our way by 7:45. We haven't had the best sailing conditions so far on this trip but today made up for it. As we set sail with one reef in the main and a partially reefed Genoa, Dagny dug her heels in and as we stormed down Buzzards Bay. After a couple of tacks we cleared the final headland and steamed down the channel to New Bedford in 20 knots of breeze. As is usually the case the gusty wind made it a challenge to snare our mooring but Bev snagged it on the first shot.The winds were forecasted to increase to 40 knots overnight as the remains of Debra passed well to the west of us, although we had a breezy night less then 1/2 inch of rain fell.

We had stopped here last year on our way north but we were both recovering from Covid and were unable to tour the historic city. The plan was to stay 2 nights, day one of course would be taken up with the usual chores while day two would be for visiting the city.
Number one priority was a visit to the popular Whaling Museum. We had heard good things about it but even so we were both very impressed with the displays. The visit started with a 30 minute 3D movie on whales and the ocean currents that they follow. We spent another 3 hours working our way through the hundreds of well preserved and presented artifacts.

Once we had our fill it was time to take a stroll around the historic part of town. We were blown away by the cobblestone street lined with beautifully restored buildings from the 1700 and 1800s. We enjoyed the downtown area so much we decided to return that evening for dinner and people watching as the downtown core came alive with nightlife. After 2 very enjoyable days it was time to get moving again, next stop Newport.

Today's picture is from the museum of a 1/2 scale model of a whaling ship.