Getting here and our first day on Block island

We left Nantucket very early Sunday because we knew it would be a long trip to Block Island. In addition to being long it was slow and tiring. We left Nantucket on a falling tide but it soon turned and we began slogging our way against current that would last for most of the day. Additionally, there wasn't much wind in the morning but as we rounded the top of Martha's Vineyard it built and stayed int he 15-20 kt range most of the day. If we could have sailed it would have been great but it was not even far enough off the nose that the sails could be much help. The heavy winds also generated heavy chop which was also right on the nose. So slogging against the tide, wind and chop we could only motor about 5 kts when we usually zip along between 7-8 kts.

Sunday was a busy day on the water for the Coast Guard and rescue agencies. For most of the afternoon the radio hummed with crisis conversations from boaters in crisis to rescuers feverishly trying to locate them. At one point there was even a "mayday" call because of a power boat on fire. It was one of the busiest I can recall.

So we made it into Block Island just before sunset and were able to get a mooring which is unusual in the summer. But, we're finding that the summer crowds have gone since kids are back in school making this week a little more pleasant with fewer obnoxious events occurring around us.

Since we didn't make our usual Sunday breakfast on Sunday we made it today on Monday. We started the day slow and relaxing to make up for yesterday. After getting caught up we dinghied ashore to explore.

Just down the road from the marina was the Harbor View Inn. A very classical looking group of buildings with commanding views of the center low part of the island.

Several views of downtown.

And a couple of the beach. Can't believe anyone is in the water. It's only 70.

Boating is really a small world

Last week while sailing down to the Vineyard another boat called us and we began a conversation that led to mutual friendship. Seems that there in Buzzard's Bay and a region far removed we found a couple who lived less than a mile from where we used to live. Turns out they keep their boat in the same marina we used to keep our boats in and they know other people from the marina that we know.

This isn't the first time we've run into people who know other people we know.

But tonight I was searching the USCG Vessel Documentation website to see if our previous boat name change documentation had been processed. Because on the Marinetraffic.com website it still reports our old boat under the name Amekaya. The buyers told us they were changing the name to Papagayo. Turns out there is a boat on the mooring next to us named Papagayo. But it was a fairly big Beneteau and of course our 380 was an Island Packet.

While looking through the listings that came up for Papagayo I came across one that had as a former name "Joss." Joss was the name of a Beneteau 50 just down the dock from us in Herrington Harbour, Deale, Md. that belonged to a friend of ours who was selling his boat at the same time we were selling our 380. He also was very interested in buying our boat once he sold his.

Well fast forward. We sold our boat before he sold his and he didn't get to buy our boat.

So I looked at the information in the listing and the boat on the mooring next to us had the same hailing port as the one listed for the former Joss. This evening when the owners returned I went over and confirmed it is the same boat.

Here we are hundreds of miles away and we through chance end up on a mooring next to a boat that we lived almost next door to for a couple years. We knew the boat having seen it many times, had been in it and the biggest coincidence is that the buyer's of Joss and our boat both renamed their boats the same name.

What a small world. The former Joss and the former Amekaya that once lived on the same dock are now Papagayo.

Last day in Nantucket

Hard to believe we've been here 3 nights and spent a fair amount of time ashore. Nantucket is a wonderful places and really feels like an island. It has a touch of Key West to it. All the activity around the docks from the ferries coming in frequently during the day with cars, trucks and lots of passengers. Many of their passengers just come for the day.

It is of course very interesting and different traveling around to these places in our house. Because we're here to sight see but at the same time we have all of our regular chores to do along with maintenance and repairs. The last few times we ran the generator it didn't sound right. It seemed that not enough cooling water was coming out the exhaust. So common wisdom is to replace the impellor which is the wheel inside the pump that pushes the cooling water through the system. So yesterday I dug around and found one of my spare impellors and this morning I opened up everything to get in to do the work.But before I did I wanted to check the water flow into the pump.

I pulled the hose off the pump and no water came out when water should be running out. I had just cleaned the strainer a week ago so I knew that was clean so I took off the hose going into the strainer and likewise only a trickle of water was coming through. I tried to blow air through it to unblock it but after a half-hour of trying gave up. I would have to go under the keel and see if the intake as blocked. But it was early and cold with lots of current flowing so we decided to  go to town and go diving later. This evening I dove on the boat and found a huge clump of seagrass forced into the intake and on two dives was able to pull it all out and the generator runs fine.

We went to town this morning and visited the oldest house on the island the Jethro Coffin House which was originally built in 1686. We toured the house and had a lovely conversation with our guide who now lives here having moved here from North Carolina.

We had lunch at a very well reviewed place called Something Natural and it was packed. We even bought a loaf of their bread that is just like home made but from their bakery.

We walked around through the historic district an stopped and visited the Wind Mill that was first built in 1746 to grind corn. Had an excellent discussion with the tour guide who was also the speaker at the Whaling Museum yesterday on the Sinking of the Essex. The Essex was a Nantucket whaler that got attacked and sunk by a whale that was the inspiration for the classic Moby Dick. But we got a thorough explanation of how the mill ran.

Tonight we are getting ready to sail out in the morning early for our long trip back to Block Island.Wind forecast is for dead on the nose so we'll see. Would like to sail but it's a long trip. About the same as Rockland to Harpswell a couple weeks ago in Maine. The Newport after BI.

 Sunset and full moon rising.

First day in Nantucket

What a beautiful day on this lovely island. Our anchor held well overnight with all the turning from the wind and current so after a leisurely breakfast and some chores we dinghied to town to see the Whaling Museum other sites.

The Whaling Museum had exhibits and artifacts from the time that Nantucket was considered the whaling capital of the world. Their ships covered the globe whaling and especially for the Pacific Sperm Whale because of the high quality oil it held in its head cavity. This was used in lamps, machinery and for medicinal purposes. Other whale oil made from blubber was used in candles and other things.

The museum is very interesting and as we belong to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum we had reciprocal privileges.

Sitting here in the cockpit tonight looking at a nearly full moon over the water it is always magical.It's really funny. We live on the water and spend most of our days on the water and when we're ashore we want to sit by the water. Its beautiful. That's why everyone want to own property by the water, vacation by the water and part of the reason we are doing what we're doing.

It's interesting that this island feels like an island. Not like Martha's Vineyard. This is a lot like the Bahamian islands or the Keys. In fact, here they talk about going back to America when they refer to the mainland. It is a world apart.

Tomorrow more of Nantucket after we do some boat chores in the morning preparing for our move to Block Island on Sunday.  

Exploring the southern coast

We were able to leave the Kingman Yacht Center where we spent our night after the Cape Cod Canal. On the way into dinner we met a family in the marina launch and discussed our plans. He asked if we were planning on going through Woods Hole on our way to the Vineyard and we said we were.

View of Woods Hole as we left it.

He then cautioned us about many issues. The cut through there it seems is much like many of the passages in the Bahamas. They have trick currents, confusing navigational marks (if they have marks) and hidden obstacles that could pose severe risk. So we spent a bit of time studying the charts and determined that slack water would be about 1130 in the morning so we would cross then. We did and the weather was perfect so we had an uneventful passage and saved probably 15 miles from going through the next good passage through the chain of islands that extend southwestward from Cape Cod.

The Edgartown Light.

We motored the short 11 miles from Woods Hole to Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard because there wasn't much wind and a menacing looking storm cloud that could present serious issues if the sails were up. About half way to Edgartown we got into some heavy rain that lasted about 20 minutes and then cleared off. But between Woods Hole and Martha's Vineyard there was very heavy commercial traffic and large pleasure craft running back and forth so constant lookout was required.

Views around the Sound.

We arrived in Martha's Vineyard and took our assigned mooring. We planned to be here or a few days to let a front pass and explore this legendary place. After walking through town it was obvious a few days would not be enough but that's true everywhere. The streets were thronging with tourists and summer residents. This is where many of the scenes for "Jaws" was filmed portraying the legendary town of "Amity."

Today we took our bikes to shore and the rode the ferry over to Chappaquiddick Island where there was far less traffic and beautiful unspoiled rural scenery. We biked out legendary Dike Road and across the bridge where a young woman named Mary Jo Kopechne died in 1969 while allegedly in a car with Ted Kennedy. The beach is part of a natural preserve and was our first beach since the Bahamas. Since we got north this is the first water warm and clean enough to swim in.

When we entered the Cape Cod Canal we saw a boat that we had seen elsewhere. We saw it again when we approached Woods Hole and they called us on the radio. Turns out they have retired but still live in Reston  probably less than a mile from where we lived and they kept their boat in the same marina we used to use. So Monday night we met them for happy hour and tonight they invited us over to their boat for drinks with some other friends who we met several years ago when we took our 380 south and also kept their boat at Herrington Harbour. Cruising is really a small world and yu get to know folks fast.

Tomorrow on to Nantucket.

The Chappy Store complete with auto parts.

The Chappy Ferry.

It's all downhill from here

We left Boston Thursday morning in hazy conditions. It wasn't quite fog but it was patchy in some places. Harbor traffic was heavy with the cross-bay ferries and excursion boats coming and going. By the time we got away from the dock several hours of daylight had already been burned. But, we didn't have far to go so no rush to leave and there appeared to be some good wind that we could sail.

Fog blowing over one of the Boston Harbor islands.

We motored out of the harbor channels and around the many islands in the Harbor approach until we got to open water. We set sail and managed to have a very nice sail for several hours tacking because of course the wind was directly on the nose. Finally by mid-afternoon the wind died off tat we had to motor the last 10 miles to Plymouth Harbor and Duxbury Bay. We approached and followed the channel up the Bay when we were startled by a hot engine alarm. Quickly we shut down the engine and looked around to determine if we were in any danger before I went below to check the engine and found the alternator belt had blown off. I could fix it but we needed to get out of the channel.

Plymouth Light.

Being a sailboat I pulled out the sails and we sailed the last 2 miles to our mooring. Unsure of which ball was ours we sailed on to one which turned out not to be the right one. There were some folks in a small power boat talking with some folks on a sailboat on another mooring and they offered to tow us over to the other mooring and help us get on. Once on the mooring we got back to our schedule as replacing the fan belt would have to wait until the engine cooled.

Duxbury Pier Light just before the alternator belt blew.

We came to Duxbury to visit with some great friends, Dave Sikes and Cindy Wright. We spent most of the next several days with them sharing stories and doing some sightseeing in one of the oldest towns in New England.

Our friends Dave and Cindy standing by the Mayflower II. Lower picture is Plymouth Rock where the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

But after the days of their great hospitality it was time to move on. Having replaced the fan belt and cleaned up the boat we could move on with some confidence. We had originally planned to go to Provincetown from Duxbury but fog delayed our departure so by the time we would get there we would need to move on so we took our time and sailed down to the Cape Cod Canal and on to our next destination of Martha's Vineyard.

While passing through the Canal it rained but at the other end of the canal was a rainbow.

Passing through the Cape Cod Canal requires timing the tide so that it is favorable. Unless we had made it to the canal at 6 in the morning we needed to wait for the tide to turn about 1600. So we sailed, albeit slowly, to the canal and hit it perfectly. We topped off our fuel in Sandwich Marina right along the canal as we had done on the way to Maine. For our evening I had made a reservation at Kingman Yacht Center in Red Brook Harbor.

The piano ensemble at the Chart Room at Kingman Yacht Center.

We made it there and spent a nice quiet night. The marina is well sheltered and there was little wind so after a nice dinner ashore we retired to peace and quiet a long way from Boston's hustle.

Final night in Boston

The Hub has really changed in the 30 years since I lived here. They buried the central artery, built a new bridge out of town, a new tunnel to the airport and tons of new buildings including a new Garden and building more. We've visited here in 2006 and 2008 for a few days but being here on our boat in good weather has been really great!

Amekaya in the marina.

I'm sitting here in the cockpit with some warm breezes blowing (finally) and listening to the buzz of the City and the lights illuminating the horizon. I would prefer to be in a cove but sitting here in this marina in one of the greatest cities in the world is way cool. Tomorrow we are sailing to Duxbury as we continue our way south and will meet up with some friends for a few days of enjoyment before pushing on.

We've met lots of great people here in this marina, Everyone is friendly and if we were going to be here a few more days we probably wouldn't want to leave. Tonight I took our sun cover down and went to fold it and spent an hour talking with folks down the dock. I'm sitting here looking up at the Bunker Hill monument, one of the shrines to several thousand brave men who died to make this country free. They lost the battle but proved that the American Army was a force to be reckoned with.

Last night we had a friend over for dinner who was my college roommate the second semester of my freshman year. Stanley Greenwood who retired from the Army Reserve a few years ago as a Full Colonel and took care of her until she died at 101 looked great and enjoyed coming over to our humble abode. It was great catching up since the last time we saw him about 6 years ago.

Today we played tourist and roamed around Boston, a city where I went to Law School and worked in for several years. But, we moved from the area in 1984 and hadn't been back to since with the exception of a few days.

Tomorrow we move on to Duxbury and plan to sail with whatever wind we have. The forecast is for winds on the nose but we plan to sail.

A new week a new town

This Monday morning began somewhat relaxed as we didn't have a long trip from Gloucester to Boston. It was actually shorter than any of the other legs heading south and the forecast for wind was little or nothing so we expected a motor and about a 4 hour journey. An iconic sight in Gloucester.

The mariner statue from the water.

A view of a castle on the shore.

Gloucester is a real working town that has developed a large tourist business capitalizing on its history as a seaport and preeminent fishing community.  The result is a very pleasant town with lots to see and do. But, having visited it was time to move on. So after our usual Sunday morning pancake breakfast we buttoned up and headed south to the Hub.

The journey was uneventful as we watched to skyline grow coming in the channel past the islands and Logan Airport.

After securing the boat and a long-overdue washing we ventured out into Charlestown to do some sightseeing, sample local fare and do some provisioning.