Sailing in the Storm with Gail and Phil - Part 2

The conclusion of our aborted sailing trip back in September:

Thursday.

We drove up the coast, first to Rye for lobster rolls and haddock sandwiches at the Beach Plum. Then through Wentworth by the Sea, Castle Rock, and Portsmouth. We hopped on the interstate a bit, long enough to get to York. We went to the Nubble Lighthouse and admired the huge waves safely from the shore. We drove up to Ogunquit and walked the Marginal Way. On our way back we stopped at Stonewall Kitchens for jams and free samples. It was a very nice day, even if we weren’t on a boat.

Friday.

Our friends went to Cambridge for the day while we tried to figure out a plan for at least a few days of sailing. First we thought we'd go to Rockport and then on up to Newburyport and get the boat out of the water. But they can't haul it until after October 15th and there's no place to leave it there until then. So now we think we will go down and spend the night on the boat Saturday and then get up early and go to Plymouth. This has been a very frustrating experience, but there's nothing we can do. We’ve invited people to go boating with us many times and this is the first time our plans have been thwarted so thoroughly. SIGH!

Saturday.

Finally! Saturday is beautiful, warm and sunny. The seas in Mass Bay are still rough, but we go ahead and get ourselves packed and back down to the boat Saturday afternoon. We settle in, eat dinner, relax. It's actually warm and we have to put up the sunshade. There is a bank of fog way off outside the islands, hopefully it will stay far out to sea. Tomorrow with any luck we'll make our way to Plymouth. We have a slip at the Brewer Marina there. Time for our luck to turn!

It's Phil's birthday, and we have bought cake at the store, slices of raspberry, chocolate, and carrot. We have candles too, so we sing happy birthday, and eat cake on the boat, lots of cake!

Sunday.

The fog lifted and finally we were able to show our friends a nice day on the waters of New England. The last vestiges of Jose had drifted out into the Atlantic and the seas had moderated. Out in the middle of Mass Bay there were 2-3 foot swells, somewhat disorganized but smooth and gentle. There was no wind and not many other boats, except commercial fishermen. We saw several large ships, steaming this way and that, probably in a hurry to make up time after the storm.

This time we stayed at the Plymouth Brewer Marina, on a slip. Slips are so convenient, shore power, easy on and off. The dogs were happy to get off the boat and go for a long walk around Plymouth. We showed our friend's Plymouth Rock, walked up to the old graveyard and back through the park. For dinner we decided on Surfside Smokehouse again. This time I got the lobster Mac and cheese, which was very yummy. All our meals were enormous. Gail got salmon tacos, Phil got fish and chips and Lee got fried chicken.

Monday. 

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise. Lee took the dogs for a nice walk, we ate breakfast and took our time. It's not far from Plymouth to Scituate. First we decided to get pumped out. We needed to go to the town dock to do so, but a motor boat snuck in right before us. He filled up on diesel, and then proceeded to hose off his boat as well. Meanwhile we motored around in a circle, waiting.

The approach to the town dock was very narrow. Lee ended up backing into it; I was very impressed. Fortunately there was no wind, otherwise it might not have been possible.

Once pumped and with our fuel topped off we headed out of Plymouth harbor and back into Mass Bay. Lee wanted to go out a bit and see if maybe we could spot a whale. We went out about five miles and then turned toward Scituate. Nothing, the water was calm, there was no wind. It was very warm, and there was very little shade.

The surf at the entrance to the harbor was surprisingly fierce. The sea wall had big crashing waves, even though the swells were only 2 feet max. We could only surmise that it was due to the angle of the waves, pounding directly on the wall. Later talking to the launch driver, he said the wind just howled last Monday and Tuesday, and they could see towering waves high above the sea wall at the entrance to the harbor.

Finally we were in Scituate Harbor. Always a lovely place to be. Once on our mooring we could set up our sunshade. In a little while we went into town. I took the dogs for a nice long walk. Back on the boat it cooled off rapidly once the sun went down. I went from shorts and a tshirt to a sweater, long pants and even a fleece, before we decided to go below for dinner. Lee made pork burgers and sweet potatoes and it was delicious.

Tuesday.

We woke up to thick fog, again. Not quite as bad as last time, but bad enough. When it was time to go we turned on the AIS, took down the Westie flag, and hoisted the radar reflector. We can receive AIS signals but we don't transmit, so other boats can't see us.

At first we used the air horn every two minutes. Poor Cosmo, he truly detests that horn. He was shaking and looking at me in distress, since I was the horn blower. We used up one air horn, and since we only had one more we went to every four minutes.

Motoring through fog in calm seas is so boring, and stressful too. It's like sailing around in a circle of water ringed by a cloud. The cloud shifts and changes a bit, but not very much. Everyone tries to keep a sharp lookout, cause there could be other boats out there like us that don't transmit. As we approached Marblehead finally the fog began to lift and suddenly it was another beautiful sunny hot day.

We packed up the boat and headed home. We were all very tired, and Gail and Phil had to get ready to fly home tomorrow. We still need to get the boat up to Salisbury at some point, but probably not for another week, or two.

We certainly learned things on this trip. I kind of shudder at the thought that we almost decided to go ahead and go down to Plymouth before Jose hit. The boat would have been stuck there for a week anyway, and we would have had to figure out how to get home. And the winds there were strong enough that we saw some boats down there with damaged sails.

I learned that if you accidentally leave the ignition switch on after you turn the engine off it makes a very annoying clicking sound. I learned that the water heater switch on the power panel is only for use when we have shore power. And I also learned that if you leave that switch on overnight when you DONT have shore power you will be awakened in the middle of the night by a very loud high pitched squeal, as the inverter runs out of battery power. 

I wonder if this is the last time I will ever go out on this boat. It is for sale, but it may take awhile to sell, larger boats often do. It's probably our last sail boat, but certainly not our last boat. My husband loves the water way too much for that to be the case. But sailing is a lot of work and more and more we don't bother to put up the sails unless conditions are perfect. But motor boats that are large enough for cruising are very expensive to buy, and to own. So who knows what will end up happening!

Sailing Into the Storm With Gail and Phil September 2017 - Part I

This is about our thwarted cruise back in September:

Well here we are on the boat again. We had a great elaborate plan to make it down through the canal down to Cuttyhunk, to Martha's Vineyard and maybe even to Nantucket, but this annoying thing called a hurricane has intervened. 

No not Harvey, that made such a mess of Houston. And not Irma that giant scary storm that devastated the Caribbean and hit Florida but could have been so much worse. No, I'm talking about Jose, the irritating little storm that has been meandering around in the Atlantic for what seems like weeks, twirling around in a circle, heading here, heading there. Now it seems to be slowly making its way northwest. It probably won't hit the east coast, but it might. It may make for a tropical storm, or it might not. It most certainly is going to create some really big seas, and those we must avoid as much as possible.

Our plans keep changing. Plan A, plan B, plan C. Today we just came down to Salem, MA. We loaded the boat, ate lunch at Sea Level, fish tacos for me, Lee and Phil, and a lobster roll for Gail. A small storm blew through so we stopped at the Custom House and took a short tour. Did you know that before the income tax was created in the 19-teens, Custom Houses were the main source of income for the United States government? Did you know that before ships became too large for this harbor, Salem, MA provided 9% of the governments income through Custom House fees? Did you know that Nathaniel Hawthorne once worked as a clerk at the Salem Custom House? Well, now you do. Just think, all the years we have been sailing out of Salem and we have never been in that building before. The House of Seven Gables is right next door to the Marina and we've never been in there either. We're terrible.

Right now the weather for Saturday though Monday looks okay, but Tuesday says "possible tropical storm warnings". We don't want to be far away if that comes to fruition. So we think tomorrow we will sail to Scituate. And then we'll just have to see.

Saturday.

Well our plans have changed again (plan D?). Last night in the middle of the night I lay there worrying. Even in a safe harbor, if the ocean has 9 foot swells, it's going to be very uncomfortable on a boat. There will probably be 3 foot swells in any harbor, and most places will stop running their launches in that sort of weather. Add possible tropical storm winds to the mix and we have realized that we need to go home until this blows over.

I feel bad for our friends. We've planned this vacation with them for a long time and I know they are disappointed. But it's out of our control.

Instead, today we motored over to Marblehead and got ourselves a mooring for the night. Then we went over to Great Misery island and picked up a day mooring. We ate our lunch and then took the dinghy into the island for a hike.

This was really fun. It's one of those things we've been meaning to do for a long time but for whatever reason it never worked out before.

The island is really beautiful, and it has some interesting ruins as well. We discovered more beaches and coves that boaters hang out at on the other sides too. 

On the way back to Marblehead some really pea soup fog socked in. It was bad enough that we turned on the AIS and I stationed myself on the prow of the boat with our fog horn, emiting a loud blast every 2 minutes. We couldn't see a thing. 

As we drew closer to Marblehead we could hear other fog horns from other boats. Suddenly there we were right in the middle of a race! What a strange thing! I know racers can be pretty hard core but this seemed ridiculous, and dangerous too. I mean they couldn't even see their marks! We skirted around the activity and before too long we were on our mooring. 

Plans for tomorrow are up in the air as well. We can safely stay out until Monday, but don't want to range too far away. We'd like to go to Manchester-by-the-Sea but the yacht club is not sure they'll have any moorings available since everyone is staying close to home. Once again we'll just have to wait and see.

The one positive note is that the marine forecast is moderating just a little. So although the tropical storm warnings are still there, and the intense seas as well, they seem to think they will diminish rapidly. So we'll cross our finger that by next Friday it will be safe to venture out once more.

Sunday.

We wake to the most amazing fog. Marblehead is just totally socked in.  So we take our time. There's nowhere to go and nothing to do anyway. I go ashore with Lee, Phil and the dogs. I take a shower and then we go to a nearby coffee shop for breakfast sandwiches and muffins and coffee. We go back to the boat and go down to the pump out station, get pumped out and load up on water. Still very foggy. Finally we head out of Marblehead Harbor and start to head back to Salem. There are no moorings to be had at Manchester-by-the-Sea. As we get close to Winter island suddenly the fog lifts and it's bright and sunny. There is even a bit of a breeze. Maybe we can at least go for a little sail? But no. There is still fog over by the islands and Marblehead. We wait to see if it will lift, but instead it starts to sock back in. Oh well!

So, now we're home, waiting it out. It just depends how long Jose takes to pass us, and how high the wave height gets, and how quickly it diminishes. We're hoping we can get back out on Friday and cruise for 5 days. The forecast changes day by day. What happens next is anybody's guess.

Monday - Wednesday 

Well we're not on the boat. Monday our friends went to Boston, walked the Freedom Trail. Tuesday we hung out, making pies and applesauce. Today a movie (Dunkirk, very good!) and trip to Arlington to get sushi from Torero. We're making the best of it. Friday is out, seas are still forecast to be 8-9 feet. Now Saturday isn't looking good either, still 5-6 feet. Right now Sunday is 2-3 feet.