Gloucester
SY Cookielicious
Private
Thu 16 May 2013 19:14
70:40.61W
On the previously agreed time Bruce and Greg showed up on the marina dock and sharp at 7 am we left from there. A chilly, grey morning, but the suns was definitely making an attempt to break the cloud cover. When we got to Buzzard's Bay, just before the Cape Cod Canal, the blue patches in the sky had made a lot of progress. Lots of radio traffic between Cookie and Canal traffic control - we had to wait for the railway bridge to come up again, but luckily no waiting time for the overhead electricity cables being worked on. 3.5 kts of current behind us so we actually had to slow down in the canal to not break the 10 Mph speed limit. It was a balmy spring day inside the protection of the canal, most enjoyalble. Well timed for lunch too, no sloppy seas while we were sampling the famous clam chowder from the Black Pearl in Newport. Cheers, Bruce!
On the other side we were now seriously in the country of crab pots. Nice flat waters as the winds were from the WSW and building as we went on. Had a blast of a sail and later in the afternoon we even started testing the staysail. What a great little sail that is, the boat felt so stable and was still doing 9+ kts. OK, not all that hard with sometimes 30 kts on the beam. We even saw a few whale spouts on our trip. We got treated to some warm puffs of wind, quite odd when you don't expect it.
Well past 7 pm we made it within the breakwater of Gloucester. A fishing town with quite some history as this is the town where the fishing boats left from to end up in the famous "Perfect Storm", which ended up in a bestseller book and a very scary movie when you are familiar with the sea. No such thing for us though, flat seas, a calm anchorage and a good Indian Curry to fill the hungry sailor's stomachs.
When we dropped the hook we were just 1 mile short of completing a 100 miles. Another 100 to be done tomorrow and as the plan is to arrive up the river at Thomaston at 17.00, we will have to be out of here before 5 am, as soon as it is light enough to spot the lobster pots.
Cheers,
Bruce, Greg, Geoff & Merel