August 9
We are moving on today. The destination is Cuttyhunk, MA. In the Long Island Sound area, currents are quite strong. Planning a trip east or west, or even across the Sound, should include taking the tides and currents into account. Of course on a trip like ours, we tend to just decide we're going from A to B today, and we go. We deal with whatever we get in terms of currents. Today was a perfect example. The Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book, which is the bible of tides and currents in the Northeast has nice pictures and tables to tell you what to expect in various areas. There specifically is a section that tells you how to go from Block Island to Newport, RI with a favorable tide all the way, timing the switch from a flood tide to an ebb tide perfectly. Well, we proved that the book is right, because we were exactly opposite the recommended way to do it and we fought an unfavorable current all day. We only made a little over five knots all day, with hardly any wind and the motor doing all it could.
The only interesting thing we saw on the way east was four boats on the horizon that appeared to be identical. They were far enough away that even with our binoculars, we were not sure what they were. They were either some kind of small patrol boats, or large recreational trawlers. They were heading southeast, almost perfectly spaced. Perhaps they were new trawlers being delivered somewhere?
We arrived in Cuttyhunk Pond at 14:15. Cuttyhunk Pond is a dredged area that has forty-six town moorings in it. There are also moorings and anchorage space available outside the pond, but they are exposed to swell from the open water. We have read and heard of how crowded the New England mooring fields can get and some expect people to raft together and some don't. We were happy to get to Cuttyhunk early enough that there were quite a few empty moorings in the pond, and we picked one up. The moorings here are unique in that the pennants are in a tube that stands up a couple of feet from the mooring ball. You have to snag the pennant and put your line through it in a bridle. We tried using our new mooring snagging tool that we bought in St. Augustine, and promptly broke it on the first try. On the second approach, Barb got down on the deck and snagged the pennant by hand and got us secure. We saw later watching other boats, that you can hook the pennant with a regular boat hook and pull it up enough to get your bridle line through it just like any other mooring. Live and learn.
One of the first things we usually do when we get secure in a new harbor is to connect to the world and see if we have any e-mails. I tried our cellular connection and found that we were in Cingular no-mans-land. No cell phones, no computer connection. Just for kicks, I hooked up my wireless antenna to see if any land-lubbers had an unsecured wireless system. Well, I found not one, but six to choose from. Here we are in a fairly remote part of America, where our cells phones don't work, yet I can bootleg a wireless connection.
We decided not to go ashore here. There is a nice little town, but we don't plan to stay more than the one night since we want to try to catch or friends on Diva, who are a little ahead of us. So, we relaxed for the afternoon and Barb made us a nice spaghetti dinner around 17:00. Just after we finished eating, we noticed a boat moving from boat to boat through the mooring field. I thought it was the harbormaster collecting fees at first, but it turned out to be a floating raw bar. They had oysters, clams, and chowder. Since we had already eaten, we didn't partake, but if we stop here on the way back west, we'll remember them.
A little before dark, a couple came by in their dinghy to tell us that they had friends who recently bought a boat like MoonSail. MoonSail is hull #26 and their friends bought hull #38. We enjoyed a nice chat with them and gave them our card to pass along to their friends.
GPS N 41-25.550 W 070-55.484 Nautical miles traveled today 37. Total miles 5944.
August 10
We actually consulted the Eldridge Guide last night to see what to expect today. Turns out that if we leave Cuttyhunk, headed for Martha's Vineyard by 08:00, we should have a favorable tide all the way, which is only twenty miles. So, at 07:45, we were underway.
Just outside the pond, we heard our friends on Diva hailing us on the VHF. I thought they were further ahead of us, but it turns out they were leaving Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, where we are headed today. We were able to talk to them and found they are moving just a few miles to Edgartown, also on Martha's Vineyard. Diva told us they just left mooring #9A, and left a reservation on it for us. Moorings are all first-come-first served, so we laughed about that. We made plans to get together via land bus tomorrow.
We went northeast for a few miles to where we turned south through Quick's Passage. Once we turned south, through the passage which is about a quarter mile wide, we picked up a strong boost from the current. Unfortunately, there was another sailboat right in front of us, so I throttled back to avoid passing them and only made seven knots with the engine barely over idle speed.
Once we were through the narrow part, we turned east, passed the other boat and took off at nine knots. We unfurled the mainsail for stability, but motorsailed since the wind was right behind us. Other than a couple of large motor yachts that seemed intent on how close they could come to us and give us big wakes, the short trip was uneventful. We entered the small bay at Oak Bluffs and found many open moorings. We did a little tour to figure out the numbering scheme and found that #9A was open. There were many more open ones, but we had to take 9A since Carl & Debbie ad left it for us.
Shortly after we arrived, we saw a boat leaving that caught my eye. It was one of the new Catalina/Morgan 44's. This is the first boat that Catalina has branded as a "Catalina/Morgan". Boats like MoonSail were called Morgans, although they were totally designed and built by Catalina. At any rate, we looked at a new 44 just before we left Kemah, and it's a beautiful boat although it costs twice what MoonSail is worth.
We dinghied over to the harbormaster's office and paid for our mooring for four days. They expect boats to raft up on the moorings, with as many as four boats on each one on busy weekends. We would like to not have to raft with strangers, but if we do we do. There are several harbors on Martha's Vineyard, but we plan on just staying here and seeing the rest by bus. There is a good bus system that can take us anywhere on the island, so rather than risk fighting for moorings, we'll stay here. From there we went to the main dinghy dock and tied up.
Our first walk was along the harbor-side boardwalk where there are several open-air restaurants that look good for lunch. We picked one and had a nice lunch. We then walked around town, including the Methodist Camp. The Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association was founded back in the mid 1800's. As many as 30,000 people would come to this camp and literally camp out during their stay. Over the years platforms were built for the tents, and eventually, the platforms were made into real buildings. These buildings are now privately owned and have been very well kept and colorfully decorated.
We left the cottage area and walked down Circuit St. which has the majority of the shops on it. From here we walked out to Ocean Blvd, which runs along the beach on the east side of the island. We walked down by the main beach and sat on a bench for a while watching the summer tourists. Eventually we walked back to the dock and dinghied back to the boat. So far we don't have anybody wanting to raft to us.
We ate dinner aboard and then were treated to a nice thunderstorm. The lightening wasn't to bad in our immediate area, but it poured for half an hour or so.
GPS N 41-27.576 W 070-33.545 Nautical miles traveled today 20. Total miles 5964.
August 11
This morning I checked in on the SSB with the Cruisehiemers Net. I have not been checking in regularly since we got back in the States. Through that check-in, I made contact with Carl on Diva and we agreed to make contact on the VHF. Diva is in Edgartown, the next harbor south of Oak Bluffs. We made a plan to meet for dinner tonight.
Since the storm came through last night it has been blowing hard from the north, which makes the harbor fairly rolly. I think the cat thinks we are underway as he acts a little nervous, but he hasn't gotten sick. Barb made French Toast for breakfast and we spent most of the morning just relaxing and watching the comings and goings of boats and ferries in the harbor. By 11:00, I was ready to get on solid ground for a while, so we went to shore for a walk. We had picked up a brochure for a self-guided walking tour yesterday, so we followed it through town. The tour took us through the Methodist Camp, and through the neighborhood adjacent to it which was built to look similar, although the cottages were bigger. One house in particular faces Ocean Blvd, and has a spectacular view of the ocean and the large city park. It was bought in 1991 by Peter Norton, of Norton Software fame, and meticulously restored. It then burned down in 2001. He had the house rebuilt almost exactly the same (at least the exterior).
The first stop on the tour was the Flying Horses, which is the oldest continuously operating carousel in America. When we went in there was a very long line, so we decided to come back later to actually ride the carousel. A couple hours later when we had finished the tour, we stopped at the carousel again. The line wasn't a lot shorter, but we went ahead and got in line. The carousel had a ring dispenser that you grab rings from each time you go by. If you are quick, you can grab two and sometimes three rings on each pass. The rings are steel until the end of the ride when they load one brass ring in the hopper. So somewhere in the next dozen or so grabs, someone will get the brass ring. There are actually two dispensers, one for the inside row of horses and one for the outside. I was on the outside and Barb was on the inside. She got the brass ring from inside, which entitled her to stay on for a second ride. Instead of staying on, she gave the ring to a little girl named Julia who was sitting behind us. Julia was pleased. As we were leaving the carousel, I was off the platform and walking to the exit when I whacked my head quite hard on the arm that holds the ring dispenser. Fortunately, I had my hat on, so it didn't cut my scalp, but it gave me a headache for a few hours.
Given the need for a painkiller, we went across the street to The Sand Bar, which is one of the many bars and restaurants right on the harbor. We had a couple of beers to ease the headache. While there Carl from Diva called. Our original plan was for them to meet us and another couple they know here in Oak Bluffs. But, they haven't been able to contact the other couple, so instead we are going to take the bus to Edgartown tomorrow and meet up with them. Carl also has done research on moorings in Nantucket, our next planned stop, and he gave me the scoop on that. We went back to the boat and I made a call to get us a mooring reservation there for Monday and Tuesday.
We decided to eat out tonight. Barb has been looking forward to a lobster dinner since her birthday, so we decided this was as good a place as any to get it. We went to The Island House and got immediate seating on the front porch watching the car and pedestrian traffic on Circuit St. The meals were only $20 for a one pound lobster, rice, and veges. Not too bad. We followed it up with ice cream across the street.
We dinghied back to the boat right at dusk and found we had a neighbor. A sailboat about our size had rafted to our port side. The guy was cleaning a fish on his swim platform as we boarded MoonSail. We said hi and went below.
GPS N 41-27.576 W 070-33.545 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 5964.
August 12
We got up this morning and made our usual coffee. We had a new reason to need to run the motor though. Back in the Bahamas, we ran the motor every day to charge the batteries which wouldn't hold a charge very long. Now that we have new batteries, and solar panels to help keep them charged, we can go for four days without running the motor. But, the motor is our way of heating water when we are not plugged into a dock. So, we needed to run the motor for an hour this morning to make hot water to take showers. Once it's hot, we're good for over twenty-four hours. I think our running the motor may have woken the neighbors, but that's the risk they ran when they rafted to us.
After showers, we headed ashore. We are going to take the bus to Edgartown to meet up with Carl & Debbie from Diva. As we were getting in the dinghy, the neighbors came on deck. We said hi and asked how long they were staying. The said they were leaving in about ten minutes. They sounded Italian or French. There were two guys, a woman, and a small kid. They bought the boat in the Virgin Islands and are headed to Maine.
We got to town, and on the way to the bus stop we were tempted by the smells of breakfast. The place that tempted us had a long line, but the seed was planted. We walked a block to another coffee shop and found a long line there also. Another block away, all towards the bus stop anyway, we found a bakery with only a modest line. We stopped there and got coffee, a ham & cheese croissant and a huge apple fritter, which we enjoyed on a bench out on the street.
A block further we came to the bus stop. We had been warned that the busses had fully automated machines on them which you fed your fare to and that the drivers never touched the money. This means you need small bills because you would get change as a voucher for a future fare, not cash. So over the last few days I have been breaking twenties every chance I got, and now I have at least fifteen one dollar bills. At the bus stop, we found a young lady from the Transit Authority selling vouchers before the bus got there, and she could make any change you needed. We got our tickets just as the bus pulled up. We and about fifty other people boarded the bus for Edgartown. It was full, including a full aisle of people standing. Edgartown is only about six miles from Oak Bluffs, but after the Block Island bike experience, the bus was the only way to go.
In Edgartown we started doing the walking tour of the town from the little island guide we had picked up. It included a stop at the Historical Society's museum. The museum was staffed by a couple of nice ladies who gave us brief talks before we got started on looking at things. One of them asked where we were from and we explained that we were cruisers. She was as interested in our story and lifestyle as we were in seeing the museum. We spent a couple hours looking at the exhibits of early life in Martha's Vineyard, which of course involved much maritime and whaling stuff.
After the museum, we made contact with Carl & Debbie. We finished the walking tour which ended at the docks just as they pulled up in their dinghy. We walked from the docks around several more blocks of the residential streets including one that had a dozen large houses which were the whaling ship captains. These houses all had widow walks on the roofs from which their wives would watch the sea awaiting their safe return from an expedition. After walking a while we stopped in a restaurant for drinks and lunch. We sat there talking for over an hour, and then moved to another restaurant closer to the water. There are a dozen or so twelve meter boats here racing this weekend, and we want to watch them come back into the harbor after their day of racing. These are the boats that raced in the America's Cup races years ago with the likes of Dennis Conner and Ted Turner skippering them.
After the race boats were in, we were joined for dinner by Herman & Jen, whom Carl & Debbie met in the Bahamas a couple of years ago. They live on Martha's Vineyard now. We shared stories with them of our past year and of the season they spent there. After a nice leisurely dinner, Carl & Debbie left for their boat and Herman & Jen drove us back to Oak Bluffs on their way home to Vineyard Haven. We'll use our bus fares tomorrow for a tour.
We got our dinghy untangled at the dock where it had been all day and headed for MoonSail. We found we had two new neighbors rafted to us. We chatted with them for a while and they were very interested in our story of doing this full time. It was after dark when we finally retired inside. Again, it promises to be a cool evening, where we don't have any windows open and we actually sleep under the covers.
Today when we were with Carl & Debbie, we discussed something we have both noticed. In the Bahamas, every boat there was a "cruiser". We all had this thing in common that we had left real life behind and gone cruising. Some, like us, had sold everything and were doing it until the money runs out or we change our minds, and some still have homes somewhere or had more finite plans. But while in the Bahamas, we were all cruisers. Here, we, as full-time cruisers, are the minority. In fact, we are few and far between. The vast majority of the boats we meet are people who only get to use their boats for a few months out of the year, and they are just doing weekend or maybe week-long trips. They find our story as different as our friends on land do. And then there are the people who come to these islands by ferry and don't know anything about boats or the cruising life. So we don't find ourselves as part of the tight knit cruisers community that we did when in the islands.
GPS N 41-27.576 W 070-33.545 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 5964.
August 13
We were up before 08:00 and enjoyed coffee in the cockpit in the cool morning air. One of the boats rafted to us left fairly early. We plan to take the bus to Vineyard Haven today, but we are not really in any hurry. I decided to fill our water tanks while we are here. We have to get fuel in the morning, but the fuel dock here has a "no water" policy. They don't want sailboats spending more time at the dock pumping water instead of fuel when they could be selling fuel to thirsty powerboats. The whole time we have been here, we have seen very few boats getting fuel, but rules are rules, so I used our two seven gallon water jugs to shuttle water from the dinghy dock to the boat. The water is free, and you can fill the jugs in the dinghy, so it really isn't that inconvenient, except that you then have to empty the jugs into the boat's tanks. I made three trips, for a total of forty-two gallons, which just about topped us up.
By the time this was done, the morning's coming and goings had started in earnest. We had the VHF on, monitoring the channel used by the Harbormaster to assign slips and moorings. It was quite entertaining to listen to the conversations. Especially the one between the fifty-five foot motor yacht and the Harbormaster. They wanted a mooring, but there are only two that can accommodate a boat that large. So, the Harbormaster got in the pumpout boat with three of his dockhands and went to one of those moorings and moved an unoccupied motor boat to a different mooring. I wonder what the people thought when they came back to their boat and found it moved. Or if they noticed.
Our other neighbors left about 11:30, and we availed ourselves of the free pumpout boat. We should be able to go four to six days before we fill our holding tank, but the vent line appears to be clogged, so we don't get full capacity before the tank seems full because of trapped air. Not a problem when we go offshore frequently, but since we have been in harbors a lot lately, we have had to use pumpout boats several times.
Around noon, we dinghied to shore and caught the bus to Vineyard Haven. It's only a few miles, but too far to walk. Once there, we decided to have lunch before touring. We found a restaurant called Zephrus in a small hotel that had nice outdoor seating available. The food was good, and we washed it down with nice lemonade, since Vineyard Haven is dry. (We knew that in advance.) After lunch, we did the walking tour of the town that was in the book we had picked up at the Visitor's Center. We actually did the tour backwards, based on where the restaurant was, but that really doesn't matter when you're walking does it? We saw lots of old houses that were built by/for whaling ship captains. This area was built during the whaling era, and the successful captains were the most respected and wealthiest men in the town. There were several old churches, including The Stone Church. The Stone Church was built after three of it's wooden predecessors burnt down.
After a couple hours of walking, we caught the bus back to Oak Bluffs. We dinghied back to the boat to find we had a new neighbor. A single guy and his nine year old daughter had just rafted up when we got there. We chatted with him a while and relaxed. About 19:00 we went ashore again to visit the Offshore Brewery. Somebody in the last couple weeks told us to visit this place, and they weren't wrong. Barb had wine, but I enjoyed a couple IPA's, and we shared a wood-fired pizza. It was a popular place, and we timed our arrival perfectly since we only waited a few minutes but there was a long line after that.
Back at the boat we sat in the cockpit with an after dinner beverage, chatted with the neighbor a little more, and then retired early, about 21:30.
GPS N 41-27.576 W 070-33.545 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 5964.
August 14
We were up fairly early today, around 07:00, to leave for Nantucket. The early departure is not to take advantage of favorable currents, as much as it is to get there before the forecast big winds. We got untied from our neighbor and the mooring about 07:25 and moved over to the fuel dock. The first ferry that uses the fuel dock for it's dock doesn't come until 07:55, so we have time to fuel. We got forty gallons, which means we really were almost empty, and were away from the dock about 07:40. We motored out of the harbor and passed the inbound ferry a mile or so out.
The trip to Nantucket is about twenty seven miles, and it was uneventful. We motored all they way, since there was little wind and we needed to top up the batteries anyway. The last hour the wind started to freshen, but we turned south right into it, so we just kept motoring. We did get a boost from the current for a little while, although not nearly as nice as our trip to Martha's Vineyard a few days ago. There is a large mooring field here, and we have reservations for two nights. There is no rafting here, so we will be by ourselves. For $60/night, we should have a private mooring and catering. This is by far the most expensive mooring we have ever found, but it beats the $4/foot with a fifty foot minimum at the marina. The marina is said to be one of the best you will ever find. For the $200/night it would cost us, it better be. But we won't find out.
Upon arrival, the mooring company's boat leads you to your mooring. Since we had given them all the credit card info when we made the reservation, no further check-in was required. We took showers, since we just made all that hot water, and then met Carl & Debbie from Diva ashore for lunch. They have been touring the Whaling Museum all morning, and are going back after lunch to finish. We left them after lunch and walked around town for a while. We toured the docks where the mega yachts dock, and saw three of the 12-meter America's Cup boats that we had seen in Edgartown a couple of days ago. We hit several shops, one bar, and a marine supply store before returning to the boat for the evening.
The wind has already picked up considerably, as forecast. We had dinner aboard and spent some time plotting the next week.
GPS N 41-16.969 W 070-05.239 Nautical miles traveled today 27. Total miles 5991.
August 15
The wind blew hard all night, but there was no storm and we slept well knowing we were secure on a mooring. The forecast for today is for it to keep blowing hard all day, and there is a 90% chance of rain later in the day as a front moves through. We plan to go to the Nantucket Whaling Museum today, which should be a good indoor activity. Our big decision of the day was whether to go to shore in our dinghy or call the harbor launch, which cost a couple bucks per person. The reason for this dilemma was that with the strong wind, the harbor is quite choppy. The trip in the dinghy could be a splashy affair, but what kind of wimps would we be if we left our own dinghy at the boat and paid for a ride? If the launch was free it would be a no-brainer. But, even though we are paying $60/night for the privilege of hanging our boat on their mooring, the launch is extra. So, we put all our stuff in a bag, put our foul weather jackets on, and headed to shore. The ride turned out not to be as bad as I had feared, and we arrived at the dinghy dock more or less dry.
We walked through town and were waiting at the museum before they opened at 10:00. The museum was very interesting. Nantucket's existence in the early 1800's was based on whaling. It was the third richest city in America (I assume on a per capita basis). This all changed when oil was discovered so whale oil was no longer the only way to light lamps or lubricate things. About that same time a huge fire burned most of the town to the ground, and the Civil War took it's toll. The town fell to only a fraction of the population and prosperity it had once had. In the late 1800's it started to enjoy a rebirth as a tourist destination, which it still enjoys today. The museum recounts the towns history, with the focus being on whaling. The museum has been here for seventy five years, but it's prized possession only arrived a few years ago. The whaling industry here hunted primarily sperm whales. Of course the whales were killed and processed way offshore and all that returned to port was the oil in large casks. So when a sick sperm whale beached itself on Nantucket and subsequently died, it provided a link back to the town's history that could not possibly have been artificially created. After a scientific necropsy to attempt to determine why the whale died (they never did come to a conclusion) they got permission to keep the skeleton and incorporate it into the renovation of the museum. You can see the result in my pictures. There is much more interesting info on all this at the museum's website.
We had arranged this morning to meet Carl & Debbie from Diva at 13:00 for lunch. The timing was perfect as we had just about seen the whole museum by then. We found them out front waiting for us along with Kelly & BJ from Hurrah, another boat in the harbor. Neither Diva nor us had met Hurrah before, but we had heard them check in on the SSB Cruisehiemers Net. We walked a block or so to the Atlantic Cafe for lunch, expecting that having waited until 13:00, the lunch crowds would be diminishing. That plan didn't work as we still had to wait about twenty minutes for a table, but all we have is time, and the rain has arrived, so we were in no hurry. We enjoyed a nice lunch and left the restaurant a little before 15:00. It was still raining lightly, so we decided to go back to the boat, with a quick stop at a grocery store. The wind had diminished, and the rain had reduced to just a slight drizzle, so the ride back to the boat was ok.
We are going to join Carl & Debbie and Kelly & BJ aboard Hurrah for cocktails and snacks at 18:00. I normally don't write about things until after we do them, but I want to publish this update before we go. So, I'll claim that a good time was had by all and that we visited well into the evening.
GPS N 41-16.969 W 070-05.239 Nautical miles traveled today 0. Total miles 5991.