Another beautiful day, sunny and calm. And I had favourable currents all the way. I anchored here off Third Beach at 4:15 just as the sun was setting.
Not much to report. The trip through the canal was interesting. I’ve seen a couple of fishing boats underway, but very little pleasure boat traffic.
Tomorrow I’m going to noodle over to Newport. Rain and wind forecast for Monday, then the rest of the week looks fine. I may stay there a couple of nights.
Today was another great travel day. Sunny and a following breeze. Cooler, but nice.
Rick had problems this morning that prevented him from joining me, so I left anchor in Boston about 10:00.
I’m now anchored here in Plymouth Bay. I went in to Plymouth this afternoon and had a delicious pizza ashore then came out here at dusk.
It’s about two hours from here to the Cape Cod Canal and the current is favourable for a mid morning passage south. Weather looks great for tomorrow. Should be a fun day.
Cat took these. Some great shots.
Another nice day. Warm, about 21C. I’m anchored here in Boston Harbor.
It was a nice cruise past Marblehead and down here this morning, and I did a tour of the harbor.
Last night while anchoring I caught a line on my prop. The shaft cutter did its thing, but I noticed a drop in performance today. I had a diver look at it today, and he took this off the prop and shaft
One piece of nylon and one polypropylene. Maybe two different encounters. I’m glad to have the cutter. Without it yesterday’s entanglement would have been a serious problem I suspect.
Weather looks good for the next couple of days. Rick joins me tomorrow, and we’ll go through the Cape Cod Canal on Saturday.
Today’s pics, all in Boston Harbor
Today was another lovely traveling day. Calm and flat. I woke at dawn – on my own! – and had a leisurely beeline trip down to entrance to the Annisquam River.
This river and the Blynman Canal go inside Cape Ann and into Gloucester Harbor. It’s about four miles long. These pics are from that segment. The last is in Gloucester.
I’m now anchored here just off Beverly. Nice protected cove.
It’s going to blow in from the south tonight. I’m meeting Rick in downtown Boston Friday morning. Tomorrow will be a leisurely exploring day between here and there.
I filled up in Chester Basin 8 days ago, and again today. Six of those days were full bore travel, with two lay days.
Total fuel used: 510l / 135 gal
95 l was used for heat, 415 for propulsion
Travel distance: 434 nm
Engine hours: 62
I generally used 1 litre / nautical mile as my overall fuel target for travel in Mazurka, but used a lower speed than I’ve been traveling on Escapade. I’m very happy with these numbers.
I’m anchored here. Got in about 3:45 and this is the view as I write at 4:15. But when I stuck my arm out the pilothouse door to take that pic I got chilled. Wind WNW 15-20 kts and maybe 5C. It’s pretty raw outside.
Wow. I’m well stocked with everything I need, and this is a spectacular anchorage. I came in at dead low tide and dropped anchor in about ten feet of water. Nobody around. Life is good.
Today was another great travel day. I napped a couple of hours past my intended departure time, but got underway about 9:00 and cruised down to Portland to get fuel and a replacement for a VHF antenna which I damaged in Lunenburg just before I left. Then followed the coast down to here.
It’s been cool but generally sunny and bright. I have very good heat, and it’s always pleasant inside. Waves haven’t been unmanageable.
Tomorrow looks to be another brilliant day, weather wise. I’m heading over to the Blynman Canal, which I’m now off to learn more about on the interwebs.
There is a group of rocks nearby that had dozens of seals laying about. Most went in the water but I got pics of a few. Many have very light pelts. Cat and I were speculating yesterday than they could be pups, but that doesn’t seem right to me. Probably a breed I haven’t seen before.
Another couple of days of enjoyable travel.
Yesterday was a fairly straight shot from Rockland to Boothbay Harbor, then up the Sasanoa River to meet the Kennebec River at Bath. I anchored just above the bridge at dusk. I always enjoy exploring rivers.
My cousin Cat arrived bearing pizza and snacks and stayed the night aboard, and this morning we cruised upriver to Bowdoinham, then turned around to go back down the Kennebec to the sea. Then down to Freeport. Nice day, and great to have her aboard for a visit.
I managed to fill the water tank here on arrival, and will get fuel at 0800 then head south. Looks like a couple of days of decent weather, and I hope to be south of Gloucester by late Wednesday.
That was a beautiful travel day. Sunny and calm behind the islands. I threaded my way across to Rockport and anchored here about 4:45. It was almost completely dark by then.
This is a spectacularly beautiful and interesting area. The ten foot tidal range adds to the variety and challenge.
Another little front comes through this evening, then nice again tomorrow. I’m going to head up to Bath.
I thought I’d go ashore here and have a meal out, but that requires getting into the dinghy and it’s cold and dark and getting windy. Think I’m going to stay aboard and have an early night and try to be up for dawn.
I’ve been looking at lobster boats all summer, and I have to say the ones I saw today are my favourites. They all looked good to my eye.
I saw one pleasure boat underway today. I think it’s my first since leaving Chester. Lots of lobster boats out though.
It’s been a while…
I’m anchored in Bar Harbor. The trip over went pretty much as planned, and I arrived here about 0200 local time.
Clearing customs and getting a US cruising permit was easy using the ROAM app.
It’s now raining and stormy outside, with 50 knot gusts forecast this evening from the south.
In hindsight I should have left about four hours later, or stopped at Seal Island to wait for the tide to change. I should have known the strong current on my tail was going to turn the seas on my bow into monsters.
Instead, we (the boat and I) suffered a pretty good thrashing for a few hours getting around the tip of NS. Everything that wasn’t securely fastened down ended up on the floor and I was either standing at the wheel or well braced. It was at times pretty violent. Fortunately the best course to get through the waves was also the direction I wanted to travel.
I took a brief video of bashing into the waves. https://youtu.be/vNWMwSbRsSU
It was stupid of me to have not anticipated and avoided those conditions. Once the tide changed things settled down immediately.
The evening was calm and clear, as expected. But about 30 miles out from Bar Harbor I saw a lobster buoy, and from then on in I was focused on the radar trying not to catch gear. I see now why all the lobster boats in NS have big headlights. I don’t think it’s prudent for me to be traveling at night in these waters. There are a lot of traps out there.
I haven’t really looked at the route down the coast. These are unfamiliar waters for me. But I want to tour around a bit. Lots of famous yards around the corner at Southwest Harbor. Tomorrow morning I’ll be on the move.
