Aboard Lady

Memories of Massachusetts

Cuttyhunk, Hadley Harbor and Woods Hole

July 11th to July 15th, 2012

We pulled anchor at Dutch Island Harbor at about 0940 on Tuesday and by noon we were beyond the three-mile limit, where holding tank discharge is permitted.  

We entered the Cuttyhunk Island Pond and found a vacant mooring.  This is a small island, but large enough for a permanent population and a school.  The moorings are really close together, and are a ball with a 2-3 foot pole on top that you loop your line through.  We noticed that one of the islanders has arrived by private plane.

We launched the dinghy and for a dock and explored ashore.  They are proud of their seafood here.

We did not dine at Soprano's, but it looked like they were ready for us.

We also did not need any groceries, but the small store was interesting.

We walked up to the highest point of the island, where we could see Martha's Vineyard in the distance, and then returned to Lady for a nap.

There's a floating oyster bar that comes around the harbor in the evenings.  We purchased a  hald-dozen each and slurped them down.  Yummy.  The harbor-master came by to collect the mooring fee - $45.00!!  I guess they only have a couple of months to make any money here.

Although it's charming island, I don't think we'll stay on one of the inner pond moorings again.  Not only are they expensive, but they are so close together, you feel like you are in a trailer park.  There's an outer harbor, and if we come back I think we'll anchor there.

 

We moved on about ten miles on Wednesday, and dropped anchor in Hadley Harbor, on Naushon Island.  This island is private, owned by a trust established for the descendants of the Forbes family.  There are a number of moorings in the harbor, all marked "PRIVATE".  Most of the moorings were in use;  we had been told that any visitor can take a vacant mooring, but we  decided to anchor, rather than risk someone showing up after dark and evicting us.

Thursday we motored over to Woods Hole, home of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Although our guidebook indicated that there was room to anchor, we could not find space between all the moorings.  After chatting with people on a couple of other boats, we picked up a vacant mooring and dinghied in to the Woods Hole Yacht Club to check if we were OK.  The dock-master informed us that the mooring we were on was used by a 20 foot power boat, and that all the club moorings were booked for the evening.  Disappointed, we were about to leave, when one of the sailing school instructors, Ella, informed us that her family's mooring was vacant, and we could use it.  Thanks Ella - if you see this tell your family thanks again!

The club has dinghies beached along the shore, and it was interesting to see how other boats were docked there.

 

 

Once re-moored, we went ashore, docking dinghy at a dock in the Eel Pond.  

We walked around the village, visited the exhibit center, the local museum and the aquarium and had a delicious lunch.

 

 

In the harbor as well as contemporary yachts, there are a few schooners, and what surprised us was a lot of house boats!  

Friday we sailed in Vineyard Sound, with the current in our favor and a nice breeze.

We made it back to Dutch Harbor in time to anchor before dark.

Saturday, we motored up the bay, past the West passage light, and docked at Nortons Marina at East Greenwich.

Norton's is a very nice marina.  Swans are swimmming around and the staff are most helpful.

 

 

Rhode Island fun

Newport and Dutch Harbor

Friday July 6th to Monday July 9th, 2012

We bid good-bye to Sapphire, Il Sogno, Joy For All and Serafina and motored over to the Bristol Yacht Club where we were able to fill the water tanks, then motored down Narragansett Bay to Newport, where we were able to anchor off the New York Yacht Club.  We had been concerned that there might not be room for us, as the Operation Sail - the tall ships were meeting in Newport that weekend.  We said a quick hello to Maureen and Mike Yorke on C470 Certa Cito and arranged to meet for coffee the next day.  After riding around in the dinghy, we found Reef Points, the yacht that our Tulsa friend Jeff Gentzen is working on and we had a nice visit with him and the yacht's owners.  We went ashore with Jeff that evening and had a delicious dinner at a Mexican restaurant away from the tourists.  We hope to see him again soon.

Next day the tall ships were offering visits aboard, but we decided to cruise the harbor and see them from the water.  You can tell from the pictures that a lot of other people had the same idea - it was a busy Saturday!  My brother Nigel sailed with the first Operation Sail in 1972.  It was cool to find a newspaper that had a story of the ship he sailed on - barquentine Black Pearl.

 

After circling the harbor, we left Newport along with a bunch of racing boats.  It seemed as though some of them were racing around Conanicut Island. We stayed out of their way.

 

We rounded Beavertail Point and headed for Dutch Harbor, where Il Sogno and Serafina were anchored, and anchored close by.  

Craig and Karene have a car on Dutch Island, and they gave us a tour of the island the next day.  We found a bead shop where Karene and I shopped for beads.  

Monday morning all the girls did laundry and some grocery shopping. After lunch we all went to a park on Conanicut Island where we could watch the tall shops headed for sea, their Newport visit being over.  There wasn't much wind, so the ships all had their motors going.

       

We had some great meals together with Rob and Sarah (Serafina) and Craig and Karene (Il Sogno), played Liar's dice and Mexican Train dominoes.  Sarah won most of the time, it seems, but perhaps that's because she was keeping score.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bristol, Rhode Island - USA National holiday

Bristol, Rhode Island

July 5th, 2012

We arrived in Bristol at the end of June, and anchored in the harbor near Sapphire.  Linda and Bill had organized the "Salty Dawgs" Rally for some of the boats travelling back from Tortola to the East Coast of the USA, and we had joined them last May.  They had mentioned that they spent the summer in Bristol, and invited us to visit.  

A week of gastronomic shell-fish cuisine followed.

After feeding us rum and shellfish the first night we were there, they kindly invited us along to go shopping.  After stops at four or five stores for supplies and provisions, we went to Nacho Mamas - supposedly a "Mexican" place for lunch.  I think the only thing Mexican was that lunch was tortilla wraps, filled with your personal choice of chicken/jerk chicken/pulled pork/beef/3 kinds of beans/ two kinds of greens/corn/peppers (three kinds)/ grated cheese/tomatoes/etc/etc....kind of like a Subway with all the choices at the counter.  Never seen a Mexican restaurant like it. The employees didn't even speak Spanish.  (We aren't in Oklahoma any more, Charlie).  They fed us again that night - steamers, I think.  All very delicious.

Thursday (June 28th), Charlie and I went ashore to explore on our own.  Bristol is an old town, with tons of traditions.  Patriotic memorial parks all over town.  Houses already fully decorated for Independence Day.

While Charlie went to the library to find Internet, I went to the town hall and saw this magnificent quilt depicting flowers, birds. animals, shellfish, and other sea critters all from the area.

The tall ship Picton Castle was in port.  We discovered that she has to partly un-furl her sails after every rain.

 

There is excellent public bus service here.  On Saturday (June 30th) we took the bus to Newport (about 40 minutes).  Crossing the Mount Hope Bridge gave us lovely views of the bay.  Charlie likes to joke that we finally saw that Newport is more than T-shirt shops and overpriced restaurants.  They do have normal hardware and grocery stores away from the harbor!

We had a delicious lunch at The Black Pearl, and are posting a picture for the benefit of my brother Nigel, who crewed on the ship of that name about 40 years ago.

We also walked through town along Thames Street, did some shopping and managed to wear ourselves out.

Sunday (July 1) seemed like a good day to visit the Herreshoff Museum.  No cruise ships there, and excellent approach to the dinghy dock.

We spent about three hours going around the museum, learning about the history of the family, the boats and the America's Cup.  

We got on board some of the boats.  How would you like to cook for the family in this galley?

Charlie and I went to the park for the out-door concert that evening.

Monday we decorated Lady in preparation for the holiday.  Some of the other "Salty Dawg" boats had arrived and strung their international code flags together.  We used our courtesy flags from the countries we have visited.

Linda and Bill had planned a lobster feast for the group, using friend Mary's house, so we helped to move cooking equipment.

Also the Wolf, flagship of the Conch Republic had arrived, and they inducted the "Salty Dawgs" in to their Navy.

I believe that Mary also was inducted to the Conch Republic Navy.

Not too much to say about the lobster feast, other than way too much butter was consumed by the crew of Lady, Sapphire, Il Sogno and Serafina.  Thanks, Mary for hosting our rowdy group!

Boat chores kept us busy enough on Tuesday morning.  After lunch another tall-ship arrived.  This was the Bounty.  She motored up the harbor, came in next to Lady and fired a salute at the two tall-ships (Picton Castle and Wolf) already on the dock.  Wolf responded with another cannon blast.

Joy For All had joined our group, and we all had a wonderful meal aboard Sapphire before the fireworks display.

Bristol is famous for it's July 4th celebration.  They claim to have had a cebratory parade for the past 227 years or so.  Bill had made prior arrangement for us to hang out at Leos.  We arrived around 1100, and the first marchers came by shortly after that.  The parade lasted for three hours.  Militia, patriotic floats, beauty queens, ethnic groups, politicians, marching bands from as far away as Kansas.  Quite impressive.

         

Other members of my family might be impressed by the cows, milk-men and milk-maids provided by a local dairy.

         

We rested in the afternoon, then all five crews got together for a clam boil aboard Sapphire.  Can't believe I ate so much.  Lots of fun.

       

 

Thanks again, Bill and Linda, for all your generous hospitality!

 

 

 

 

Annapolis to Block Island

June 11th to June 24th, 2012

 

We headed in to Annapolis after the Catalina 470 Rendezvous, and anchored off Jabins yacht yard in Back Creek.

Miles and Anne on Karina worked with us the next day lining up the stainless steel specialist who was able to straighten up the stanchions.

Repairing the tornado damage to the bimini wasn't quite as easy, but Bob and Pam from Silhouette offered us the use of their slip AND Pam's car for the four days they were off to Baltimore for the tall ships event.  We had a lovely evening with them at the Eastport Yacht Club before they left, and then moved in to their space at Horn Point marina, where we made a daily trip to West Marine, shopped for groceries and hardware and did a few loads of laundry while our canvas was repaired.

The marina was next to the Annapolis Maritime Museum, and it was interesting to watch the A. J. Meerwald arrive one morning.

After Silhouette returned, we moved out to the middle of the creek, and anchored close to Onward, yet another Catalina 470, last seen at the rendezvous.  Joe was having a major problem with his refrigerator, and ended up replacing it.  We had fun with him and a couple of Corithian friends at Davis Pub one evening.

Son Mike and girl-friend Meghan joined us over the weekend.  It was great to see them again.

Here's an interesting picture of something one doesn't see every day.  Looks like this boat started taking on water and had been recovered by Tow Boat US after being floated using big inflatable bags.

After a final meal with Bob and Pam, we departed Annapolis on June 17th, and headed north up the bay.  Light winds, so we motored all day, and dropped anchor at dusk at Bohemia Creek, a nice place right before the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

Next day we we started early and went through the canal.  We were approaching the railroad bridge near Summit, when Charlie realized that the bridge looked rather low.  In neutral we discussed the situation and while we were trying to decide if the bridge really was too low for us to go under it, the bridge-tender hailed us on the radio to inform us that the bridge was indeed down, and the service work on it would be completed in fifteen minutes.  We were relieved that it wasn't just our imagination and that Charlie was, as always, ever vigulant! 

An un-eventful motor down the Delaware Bay.  We stayed out of the main channel to give the big ocean-going cargoes plenty of space.

Here's the Ship John Shoal light-house.

We made it safely in to Cape May, and dropped anchor off the  Coast Guard Station.  

It was lovely to hear their band playing the National anthem the next morning at  0800.  Nobody seem to be up on any of the other anchored boats, so it was grand to sing out at the top of my voice with a wonderful  band as my accompaniment in the early day.

We went in to the South Jersey Marina for fuel and water.  The marina was most hospitable, and allowed us to stay at their dock for a couple of hours while we went ashore for a walk, food and a look around.  After a delicious lunch at the Lucky Bones Grill, we returned to Lady, cast off from the dock and returned to the anchorage.

Next day, we headed offshore.  WInd behind us, so we motored a lot.  That night, we heard and identified about five other boats heading in our direction, so we were not alone out there.  There was also a sizable fishing fleet that we successfully avoided, and a lot of traffic headed for New York, all coming in on the latitude 40 degrees 30 minutes, henceforth to be know as "highway 4030".

Dolphins swam with us off Long Island, New York the next morning.  It's always fun to see them showing off, even if they are yankee dolphins.

Off Montauk our new fishing lure purchased at Cape May finally paid off!  Charlie landed a good-looking fish that we later identifed as a blue fish.  He amde 2 meals.

After lunch we finally arrived at Block Island, motored past the Coast Guard Station, and anchored safely in the Great Salt Pond.  The blue fish was delicious for dinner that night.

The next day was baking hot.  We went ashore and found some groceries, and in the evening our Salty Dawg Rally friends from Il Sogno, Craig and Karene, joined us for drinks, along with SSCA Commodores Pete and Stephanie from Brilliant.  A squall blew through as we visited, and it was good that everyone was very comfortable with the way their boat was anchored. We watched and looked out as a couple of other boats in the anchorage started dragging in the 30 knot winds.

By Saturday it had cooled off, and we rented bikes.  We rode up the Corn Neck Road, hiked down the Clay Head Trail to the beach and back  before heading in to town for lunch at Aldo's.  We had enjoyed tasty food from this bakery the last time we were in Block Island in August 2011.

We planned to leave Block Island on Monday June 25th.  However, it was windy and rainy when we got up that day, so we decided that since we were not in any realy hurry to get anywhere, we'd just stay put.  We found boat projects to keep us occupied.

Tuesday the 26th was a lovely day, so we pulled up the anchor, and after purchasing fuel, left Block Island, promising to be back soon, and headed across the Sound to Narragansett Bay.  America's Cup racing was starting in Newport, and we'd heard that the harbor would be closed by the Coast Guard for the events, so we kept on and dropped anchor in Bristol, Rhode Island.