Cape Cod Canal to Judith Point

                                                                             

                                 Sunset at Sandwich Marina, East End of Cape Cod Canal 

   I knew we were in for some weather when I saw Spencer jump up in Danny's lap.
Danny said, "He's shaking."
Immediately, we knew there must be thunder so faint we couldn't hear it, but Spencer did.
Sure enough a few minutes later we started to see the sky and boat light up with distant lightning as we saw the first rain drops start to hit the windows. The weather report called for intermittent thunderstorms,  south-west  winds increasing in the afternoon with 20 knot gusts and rain.  On top of that we knew that  Buzzards Bay could get very rough if the current was west, the way we had to travel.
                                                                               

                                                   Cape Cod Canal RailRoad Bridge

                                                                               

                    Large Container ship that was escorted through the canal the evening before.

     Captain Eric from Gloucester, MA put it this way, "Under the right conditions, the channel all the way out to Wings Neck and beyond can present truly violent sea conditions, with short period, steep faced, 6-8' waves. It will be the pounding of a lifetime for many boaters. What are the conditions? Outgoing tide and a SW wind (which is the prevailing wind). All the water flows in the channel because it's so much deeper than the surrounding waters, and the winds funnel up the bay. It's Hell on water."
     We needed to get out at slack tide, so we left as soon as the thunderstorm passed us by.  It was a smooth ride out but we could see where the current was starting to kick up. Beth, now focused on the weather, spotted another area on the computer radar indicating that another storm was headed right for us.
    Agitated she pointed at the computer, "See this yellow and red color doesn't bother me its the purple that we have to watch out for! We need to find shelter before this gets to us."

                                                                         

                                                            Storms a brewing!

     Quickly, we plotted a course for a protected bay, Mattapoisett. What a pretty well sheltered bay. We set anchor in 10 feet of water a respectable distance from another sail boat who was obviously doing the same thing.  We watched as the multicolored storm moved toward us at 26 mph.
      Beth, glued to the computer blurted, "Look it turned! It's going around us!" We watched as the storm went out into Buzzard's Bay. We again heard distant thunder as the rain washed the salt off the boat. Waiting patiently for the last of the storm to pass, we saw the sailboat starting to leave, quickly pulled in our anchor and followed it out of the harbor.
     As the incoming ocean swells gently lifted the bow we had only 1 to 2 foot seas all the way to Point Judith.  The swells became more noticeable as we turned and caught them on our beam but the stabilizers acted to dull the roll.  We continued on through a fog bank which cleared within a couple of miles and enjoyed sunshine the rest of the way to the harbor of refuge known as Point Judith.
    A narrow entrance with lots of current, Point Judith opened up to a substantial bay with a sandy beach.  A rock jetty protected us from large ocean swells, which broke down to smaller swells rounding through the entrance.  There were a number of small boats on moorings and a group of kids were playing in kayak's right where we preferred to anchor so we circled until we found a 14 foot depth than dropped and backed down on the anchor. We got a good set, which, I felt would hold us through the predicted increased winds and potential turning tide in the middle of the night.

                                                                               

                                                         Point Judith Anchorage


   Danny, was especially helpful in picking out the intermittent lobster pots. His hunting skills, I think helped.  How so?  He seems to have especially good eye site for anything that moves. He could see pots  3 or 4 minutes before me because they would  "pop up".  Also, he is tall and has a better range down channel.
      He also noticed that the windshield wipers were starting to separate. In no time we located an exact replacement, ordered them and had them shipped to Brewer Marina in Port Washington on Long Island Sound.  We should be there in 2 days to pick them up.
                                                                             

                                                                                 

                                               Another beautiful evening!

      Three in the morning and something was banging up against our swim platform. Everybody is up. Apparently the wind came up and with increasing pressure on the boat caused our chain to stretch out placing the rear of the boat over top of a mooring ball.  We worried that the tether to the ball would get wrapped up in our prop but we eventually floated right over it.  It will no doubt be a long day today and I think I see a nap in the lazy boy in my future.
    

    

Boston to Cape Cod Canal

                                                                           

                                   Lots of different boats and Yachts in Boston Harbour                                                                                

                                                               

     The weather report, tide condition of the boat, and need to get somewhere are the basis for the go-no go decision to travel in the boat.  Since the thunderstorms, increased wind and the possibility of hail were predicted for the afternoon, and since the prediction for the rest of the week was similar. We decided to leave early with a favorable outgoing tide.  We would push the boat to the limit to stay ahead of the incoming storm.
     Ta Da!  It worked! 2200 rpm and the bow rose into the air and pushed through the swells at 13 to 15 knots.  We cruised the 53 miles to Cape Cod Canal and Sandwich Marina  in 4 hours....but at what cost? It is not so much the fuel cost as it is the anxiety cost of constantly looking for and dodging the ever present lobster pots, along with the other gremlin boat problems: ie the computerized mapping  system announcing that there was only 14 % power left, the inverter shutting down, the battery charger shutting down, and the port motor spraying oil around the engine room.
     We outran the storm but we spent the rest of the day troubleshooting problems and cleaning not only the engine room but the entire outside of the boat which was covered in diesel soot. The air filter on the port motor had vibrated off and the turbo charger flung oil over the motor and fuel manifold. Correcting the problem was easy.  We secured the air filter back in place.
     The problem with the inverter/charger was not apparent. When we are charging the batteries with the generator the reset button on the inverter pops out and shuts the charger off.  Resetting it multiple times, the batteries will eventually take a full charge. At the dock plugged into the 220 dock power the inverter and charger work fine...no shut down.  There is a back up battery charger but it is also not functioning.  We may have to find a marine technician to solve this problem. Danny and I both read the manual, changed what we thought was wrong and will watch this over the next couple of days. There is a Xantrex inverter/charger distribution center in Connecticut, so we can get help if needed.
     Danny and I tackled the engine room while Beth washed clothes and started on cleaning the outside of the boat. Beth than walked 3 miles to a local store to get fresh salad, steaks and sundries.  By the time we were done, all we had energy for was a few cocktails, steaks on the barbecue with corn on the cob and baked potatoes with portobello mushrooms.  Dessert was a custard pie covered in kiwi, strawberries and blueberries.  Yes, we eat well when cruising.
I worked on the navigation system and computer mouse problem and everything seems to be in good working order.  We will find out tomorrow, if the predicted electrical storm passes us by.
    

Beth, "This is the motion I don't like!"....Gloucester to Boston.

     Even though it was a grey sullen early morning, we decided to go.  Even though it was given the possibility of thunderstorms and higher winds in the afternoon, we decided to go. Even though it was given only 2 to 3 foot seas, we decided to go. We had to. Danny Collins, our brother-in-law was busing in from Bangor and was due to meet us at the Boston Waterside Marina at noon.  The problem was even though we were going to go somewhat faster, we had a following sea....for you landlubbers this means the sea swell was coming from behind us!  This makes the boat wallow from side to side if we aren't going faster than the sea swells and if you remember the first part of the blog, almost cost me a colonoscopy!
                                                                                 

                                   Old Fortress Structures coming out of Gloucester Harbour                                                                                                                                                                                             

     I didn't realize there was a problem until Beth came out from the main lounge, tapped me on the shoulder and said, "This is the motion I don't like.  It reminds me of when we were in Galveston Bay and the refrigerator was thrown over to the other side of the boat! Can't you do anything about it?
I responded, "I can pick up the speed. It should make the ride a little better but we will use a lot more fuel."
"I sold my car for this trip. Burn the fuel!" she retorted.
                                                                           

                                                1995 Jaguar XJS Convertable 2+2

     Forward on the throttles,  and the boat responded well with an easing of the wallowing motion but not a complete elimination of the pitching and rolling motion.
We sped along until entering the Boston Channel, when I saw  a huge container ship pull up on our port side. Up went the throttles.  All I had to do was get on the other side of the channel and let it pass.  Its speed was difficult to estimate because of its size,  but by the time we approached a half a mile apart it became obvious that he was much faster than I anticipated.  I pulled back on the throttles and turned to go behind the ship.  Oops! Not only did we have to endure the wake from the ship but my own wake caught up and struck Doc's Holiday from the side.  I shrugged as I heard things crashing in the galley and the main lounge. Beth appeared beside me, pale with an expression of fear on her face and obviously nauseated!
"Sorry, I said meekly.
     She just stared at me and turned back to the main lounge to lie on the couch.
     We followed the container ship into port and found our mooring in front of the marina.  This mooring was in between the ferries and the water taxi and thus very rocky-rolly for the entire day but did settle down at night when all the tumult stopped.

                                                                           

                            Entering Boston Harbour minus one very large container ship!


     I immediately launched the dingy telling Beth that I was going to go in to pick up Danny.  I really didn't want to stay on the boat and take the berating that I justly deserved.  Away I went, to wander around downtown Boston and wait, even though it was 2 hours early.  In fact, I was 4 hours early (but who was counting!) as Danny's bus was late and the times were mixed up.
     Finally, I spotted him.  He was kind of hard to miss, standing at least a foot taller than the crowd with a bobble head looking all around.  Danny, is a big boy and I am sure it looked comical to see his huge hulk and baggage weighing down the front of the dingy as we slowly motored back to the boat.
He tossed his bags up onto the boat and we quickly raised and stored the dingy, settling in for a rocky rolly night.
" How was the bus trip, Beth asked.
" Easy to get here", Danny responded. "Got on in Bangor and they dropped me off just a 15 minute walk from here.  One thing though, I'm going to have to drag myself into the 20th century and get a cell phone. I had no way to contact anyone. Pay phones are hard to find now.  Everybody on the bus had a cell phone and every car we passed not only were the passengers texting but a lot of the drivers were busy texting. Now I see why its convenient to have a cell phone when you are traveling. I guess I will get my own when I get back."
     A couple of cold beers and we turned in. We would be leaving early in the morning with the hopes of getting ahead of the coming inclement weather.

York, Maine to Gloucester, MA

    The weather report indicated smooth seas but there was a likelihood of severe thunderstorms starting in the afternoon and continuing into the evening. Since we had only 35 miles to go we decided to leave early and try to get to Gloucester before the storms and more importantly before low tide.  Our Nobletec mapping system showed the Anisquam River leading down into Gloucester to be narrow and shallow so we wanted to be through it before low tide.
     Leaving York on an outgoing tide gave us a little boost so we went about 4 miles offshore allowing us to dodge fewer lobster pots. It worked. We had smooth cruising allowing us to get a good view of  Smuttynose Island and others along the offshore chain.
     When we were about an hour out of the Anisquam inlet I opened up the big Detroit engines, so we could have an extra depth when in the river and to clear out any carbon deposits in these motors. It is a good thing I did.  Not only were the depths shallow (in places less than 4 feet) but the river was narrow requiring several 90 degree turns against the outgoing current.  Try staying in the channel doing this at slow speed because of the multitude of moored and docked boats just feet off of the periphery of the marked channel.
                                                                               

                                                                          

 
      We made it without going aground but had to hold in the current waiting for the railroad bridge to open.  We watched people working on their boats as we maintained our position for about 10 minutes.   We came through at a very opportune time as you will see later in the blog.

                                                                             

                                                      Gloucester Railroad Bridge


       The mooring we called for was empty as we passed to go to Rosie's fuel barge to fill up. At $2.04 per gal we took on over 300 gallons.  This saved us about a $1.00 per gal over the nearest other marina that had diesel. We than grabbed our mooring and settled in to see if the thunderstorms would develop.
      Within an hour we saw coast guard boats tearing up the river with their sirens and lights going.  That marina that we hovered at had a boat catch fire.  From our mooring we could see the black smoke billowing up from the area.  Later, apparently there was a 30 foot  high fire ball that went up when the fuel tanks exploded.  Luckily, no one was injured and we were by it before  the fire started. 
      Later I noticed Spencer hanging close to my feet and he began to shiver.  Poor boy. His hearing is much more acute than mine and I knew he must have heard distant thunder.  At first the thunderstorms passed around us but later, came close.  Bright scraggly fingers of lightning cracked to the ground and rumbled for minutes after!  Beth gave Spencer a mild sedative. It is heart wrenching to see him so scared that he vibrates and as usual the pill kicked in after the worst part of the storm had passed.  Oh well! At least it washed the salt off the boat and Spencer can have a good sleep.
                                                                              

                     Storm coming in at our mooring at Browns Yacht Yard in Gloucester

                                                                                  

 

      We finished the evening with steaks barbecued on the grill and fresh homemade potato salad.(almost as good as what my sister-in-law Patty Kennedy makes!)
                                                                             

           The storm left a beautiful sunset behind the clock tower in Gloucester Harbor.
                                                                                

       With some trepidation we head into Boston Harbor tomorrow to pick up my brother-in-law, Danny Collins.  Oh well, we made it through New York Harbor on the way up.  Hopefully we can get in and out of Boston Harbor without any accidents.


    

Portland, Me to York Harbor

     Lake cruising, is the best way I can describe the trip from Portland to York Harbor.  Smooth as glass, idyllic, relaxing, and most importantly trouble free cruising brought us into the tight, twisty entrance to York Harbor.
                                                                                   

                                                                           
                                                                               

     The trip wasn't uneventful. However, this time it wasn't lobster pots. It was the sighting of a fin back whale crossing immediately in front of our bow.  By the time Beth got her camera out the whale surfaced, but not long enough for her to snap the pic.
     Getting in to York harbor was tight but easily doable just by going slow and following the markers.  Picking up the mooring buoy was a challenge with the rushing incoming tide but a very friendly Harbor Master helped and made sure we were secured on heavy enough tackle to hold a 50 foot boat. He explained the local sites and eateries and supplied us with a map so we wouldn't get lost.
                                                                               

     We put the life jackets on Spencer and Sophie, launched the dingy, grabbed the camera and headed for a scenic path called the Cliff Walk, which led across a suspension walking bridge. (Spencer and Sophie had to be carried over this!), through a nature trail winding up at a wharf that had been owned by none other than John Hancock. The wharf has been restored and maintained by a museum but is still an active working wharf, with lobstermen still plying their trade.

                                                                              

                                                                                 
                                                                               

                                                                               

                                                       Click on the pictures to enlarge them

     We returned the dogs to the boat then set off to find a local restaurant which had the inside restored such that you felt like you were in a large old wooden ship, The York Harbor Inn. Indeed it had old kerosene lamps fueled with alcohol so there was no smell, brass lights in the ceiling, a bar rounded to appear like the forward peak of a ship and joinery that was yacht quality. A unique experience.
                                                                             

     We landed the dingy at the wrong dock and were immediately facing the owners, who informed us that it was a private dock and they couldn't let us stay because they had no insurance. Obviously not Mainer's so we didn't want to talk to them, anyway. We apologized and happily moved on. Another reason to return to the friendly's in Eastport.
     Beth had to have another "lobstah" roll before leaving Maine and we quashed our meals down with more of that very tasty Allagash beer.  Since our waiter got my order mixed up, they comped us the beer.
     Returning to the boat, we wandered through the local park and flower gardens which has several oversights to the Atlantic.  Its definitely warmer here...peeps were actually swimming in it!  Almost unheard of in Eastport.
                                                                        

     Tomorrow.....Gloucester, Ma....you know where the boats in the movie, The Perfect Storm left from!  Beth refused to watch that movie before bed tonight....What is she talking about....Bad Luck!
    
    

FFFFFFFFog and smoking generator, Boothbay to Portland

     Hmm, I now know how to drive a man insane!  Put him on a boat, set him on a mooring with a generator that is smoking, in the middle of fog that at times is so dense its hard to see the boats next to you, than teases you by pulling back to display a little bit of sunshine, than close back in again just as you think you might escape. FOR THREE DAYS! 
                                                                                 

                                                                                                                                     

     Ha! Ha!Ha!  The gremlins couldn't do it! Beth and I didn't kill each other! We didn't even go insane! (Although some of our relatives would disagree because we are on a boat! No. We relaxed, read books and watched old movies ie. Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, a long time favorite.                                                                                                                                                             

                                                              Interesting Scenery!

      I worked on the smoking generator, changing fuel filters, checking out the air silencer for blockages but in general,  just worrying about the possibility of running the generator and having a major problem.  A major problem to me is anything that might cost more than a BOAT buck. (Bring On Another Thousand!) and a new generator could easily run $10,000 to $20,000 or most likely the end of our adventure.
     We changed the navigation to take us to Portland Yacht Center. After talking with the service manager Rob, I felt confident that they could handle the problem, no matter how serious, since at their second facility, they were not a marina but a full service yacht repair. He assured me that he would get his mechanic, Dan Brackett to look at it as soon as we arrived.
                                                                                   

                                             
                                                     Heading into Portland Harbour                                                             
                                                                               

    It was a pleasant smooth ride on an outgoing tide, so minimal ocean swells and less than 1 foot seas. The sun was shining, but I couldn't really focus on anything  except generator problems. Thankfully,  we were going to have it checked out.
     Rob met us at the dock and helped us tie up. He explained where things were located such as the parts department, the dog walking paths, and where the locals like to eat. He assured me that his mechanic would be down to the boat right after lunch.
     Dan Brackett, a tall stocky man with a relaxing smile, slithered into the generator room and began examining the generator.
 Within minutes of starting it up he asked, "Where is your water intake:"
"Right behind you', I said with a quizzical look in my eye.
    Within another 5 minutes he handed me a bag of seaweed that had been clogging up the intake.
"You should be fine now," he grinned."
"How much do I owe you," I gulped.
"No charge." he said walking away as he looked over his shoulder.
"Whew! We dodged a bullet, and saved a boat buck!" I quipped to Beth
Then......the generator quit and could not be restarted. I looked in the generator room. Dan forgot to turn the intake valve back on.
     Dan immediately returned and began working.  The new impeller I had recently installed was destroyed and the motor was hot.  Within a half hour he replaced the impeller and although he worked to restart the motor, it took another 2 hours for it to cool down, the reset button to pop out and the generator to fire up.
     Now, here is the most important thing.  Dan immediately said, "I feel responsible for that. No charge!"
     Honesty, integrity, courteous, and efficient is the only way to describe how people are treated at the Portland Yacht Center. If I need to service Doc's Holiday in this area again, I will definitely use Portland Yacht Center.
    Beth and I immediately began washing the boat, filling the tanks with water and tidying up the inside. Spencer and Sophie got to go for a walk and by the time it started to get dark we were exhausted.
  One final observation,  I had seriously considered not writing a blog on this trip.  I just felt that the first trip from Galveston, Texas. to Eastport, Me was a new learning experience for us and  therefore exciting, and it came across . This  trip would be a rehash and maybe not so exciting.  Really who was interested but us, anyway.  On reviewing the Google stats, apparently 838 of you read the blog last month bringing the total hits to over 23,000.  I guess somebody else is either bored to death, with nothing to do....or interested!
     






    

Boothbay, Maine...the way cruising should be

     The fog held off long enough for us to easily find and secure Doc's Holiday on a very stout mooring.  The mooring field seemed very well protected with surrounding hills, no hint of ocean swells and even with working lobster boats and several cruise boats, tolerable wakes. We settled in with a cocktail (or two) while I fired up the barbecue. Beth prepared the salad and fresh organic bread we had purchased in Rockland.

                                                                           

 Second most photographed church in Maine. Apparently JFK attended this church when visiting Maine.

     We knew we had run over a lobster buoy mooring so we hooked up the new fish camera to our boat hook and looked down at the props.  There it was, a rope around our starboard prop. It just happened that a boater in a dingy was passing by and when I asked if he new of any divers in the area he told me to call Cage, in the pump out boat.
     Cage was a nice young fellow, who when not running the pump out boat, made his living lobstering and diving for the local lobster boats to get rope off of their props.  Ha! Ha! victims of their own bad deeds.....putting pots in navigation channels and around our moorings!
Cage came back the next day with his lobster partner, and in just a wet suit, let out a couple of yelps as he hit the cold water. He did a free dive and cut the line from our prop as well as checked out the stabilizers and the port side prop.  Damn! I can't hold my breath that long on the back deck, let alone in the cold water of Boothbay Harbor....I know I tried to hold my breath when he was down!  It's hard to beat youth.
                                                                             

                                                                                 

      By the next morning the fog lifted, so we launched the dingy eager to take the dogs for a run and explore Boothbay. This turned out to be a long walk from Carousel Marina, so when the dogs began to tire we took them back to the boat and used the dingy to putt around the harbor. Once we found the town dingy dock we tied up and ( in the sunshine and shorts)  did a walking tour.
     Stately old Captain's houses, now turned into Bed and Breakfast lodgings lined the main street across from the tourist shops and waterside restaurants. I will let Beth's pictures do the talking on the tour, however I have to mention Kaler's Crab and Lobster House. I have consumed many bowls of fish chowder, clam chowder and seafood chowder in my life, but Kaler's lobster/corn chowder really is the best I have ever had.  They also have a touch tank with live lobsters for children and for adults, at high tide, a bell goes off and special drink prices go into effect.

                                                                               

                                                                  Old B&B
                                                        
                                                                                  

                                                                  Tug Boat Inn


                                                                               

                              Yummy twin lobsters at Browns Wharf Inn on our second night.

                                                                                 

                                                   Along with a beautiful sunset!



     The weather is forecast to be patchy fog with 1 to 3 miles visibility and only 1 to 2 foot seas.  We planned on leaving in the morning to head for York Maine, however I noticed a problem.
     The generator was smoking. At first I thought it was the effects of cold air but when it did it in the warm sun, the smoke got my attention.  Closer observation revealed a dark diesel stain on the hull where the generator exhaust streams. Since on this trip we plan on holding down our marina costs (some of these places are charging $3.50/foot per night plus a charge for electric and water!) and we are headed to a place where without air conditioning a used to the cold Canadian would die, we decided to redirect to Portland to get a mechanic to check out the problem with the generator and the port motor starter.