Sailing Buzzard’s Bay and Vineyard Sound - Part IV

Friday July 29th - Edgartown to Onset.

To beat the rain we get up at 3:30 AM. The boat is out of the harbor by 4. It's dark, and its foggy too. The hardest part is getting out of the harbor. Once we are in the channel we see other boats, the lights on shore, the flashing lights of cans and buoys. The rain starts around 8, and by 9 it's raining hard. We go through Woods Hole, a complicated passage, without mishap. We know how to check the currents and tides, and by 10:30 AM we are in Onset Harbor. 

We wait out the rain; it stops around 2 PM, as predicted. We go ashore to do a little laundry, take showers. Later we go to Ella's Wood Oven for dinner. This is the best meal of the trip, cod, lobster, mashed potatoes.

Saturday July 30th - Onset to Sandwich.

In the morning I run 7 miles. Its hot, but I find a shady sandy back road so its a nice run. Its time to say goodbye to Sally and Doug. They've been great sailors, helpful, easygoing, up for whatever. We'd do it with them again, but we really should try to not do it in an election year! Just too stressful for me and Doug, with our wildly differing political opinions.

We take the dinghy to town for a lobster roll for Lee, a hotdog and a stuffed quahog for me. Then off we go to Sandwich through the canal. This time we time it better and fly through in an hour, making over 8 knots with the current.

Back in our slip in Sandwich we go on another walk to the ice cream place and then to the grocery store. We eat supper on the boat and plan our final day.

Sunday July 31st - Sandwich to Salem

The next day we decide we're ready to be home and the wind is cooperative so we sail directly across Massachusetts Bay and get home in about 8 hours. It's almost 50 miles, our longest sail ever. The dogs just sleep and time passes quickly.

I light a yarzteit candle for my mother this morning. Its been two years since she passed away, and its her birthday too. 

Before we embarked upon this trip I had a lot of questions about how I would tolerate two straight weeks on the boat. As it turns out I had a good time. The improvements that Lee has made make it easier for high maintenance me, and the addition of a bimini next year will make it easier to tolerate the heat. We handled passages in the dark, the rain, the wind, we handled long sails, and short brisk ones. We have more places we want to go down south and more confidence that we can do them too. We'll be looking for sailing partners soon, just let us know if you think you might like to try it!

Sailing Buzzard's Bay and Vineyard Sound - Part III

Monday July 25th - Cuttyhunk to Vineyard Haven. We sail downwind across Vineyard Sound. With Doug’s help trimming the sails and adjusting the traveler we end up making over 12 knots under sail, a new record for us and our boat. I enjoy it because sailing downwind you don't heel.

Its amazingly hot. We go into town for dinner at The Beach Road Restaurant. We have oysters (so-so), lobsters (pricey), clams (not bad), and  an amazing German chocolate  cake for dessert. The rose is good, and so is the port, from what I hear.

Tuesday July 26th - Vineyard Haven. In the morning I go for a run. Martha’s Vineyard outside of Vineyard Haven is pretty, shady, surprisingly hilly. I run two miles to a lighthouse and back, then take a shower. The Harbormaster's facilities are pretty disgusting, old, no benches, high traffic, dirty.

For lunch we eat more lobster rolls at the Net Effect. This is a fish market with outside seating. These rolls are much better than last night, and cheaper too. We get ice cream on the way back to the boat. It is So Hot. The others go to the beach, but I stay on the boat, getting in the water to cool off. Then it's pleasant to sit on the boat, write, read. Dinner is halibut steaks grilled on the boat.

Wednesday July 27th - Vineyard Haven to Edgartown. Still very hot and no wind, but its only a short motor sail from Vineyard Haven to Edgartown. Edgartown is a very pretty old New England town. I wear my new Hillary tee shirt and get lots of positive feedback on the island, might get things thrown at me at home....lunch, then back to the boat to hang out for the afternoon. I rig up a sheet as a Bimini; the resulting shade makes a huge difference in the temps. 

We go into town for dinner at The Port Hunter. The bluefish cake appetizer is really good. For dinner Sally and I share a whole fish - fluke. The food is great but we have a long wait for a table. The people at the table that will eventually become ours are just sitting there hanging out long after their food is gone and the check has been paid. I have an urge to perform an Asian maneuver and go stand behind their chairs staring pointedly until they leave. Although if this really was Asia, it wouldn’t have much effect. 

When we get back Heather has pooped in the boat. Oh Heather. Poor thing, I guess her latent anxiety got the better of her. If there was a way to crate her on the boat we would but the space is just too cramped. The others take the dogs in to go potty and Harper gets away from Lee and finds a skunk. Its not a direct hit but traumatic nonetheless. We scrub her with “the cure” (1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, 1 tsp Dawn. Rub this mixture into dry fur, rinse and wash as normal).  Even after deskunking the poor thing a slight oder wafts through the boat and reappears periodically throughout the rest of the summer.

Its very very humid. When we wake in the morning everything is damp.

Thursday July 28th - Last day in Edgartown. I go for a run and then get a breakfast sandwich. Then we rent bikes. Its fun, there are bike paths all over this end of the island so we don’t have to share the road with cars. We ride to one beach on the Atlantic side, stick our feet in the water, then ride to another beach on the Vineyard Sound side. Some of us (not me) jump off the “jaws” bridge, an icon from the famous movie. 

Then its back to the boat. I get in the water and then take a shower. The marine forecast is predicting rain and wind tomorrow. We debate the best course of action while eating dinner on the boat. Stay tuned!