7 August 2009 Marblehead

The EJ's Voyage
Mike Everton-Jones
Fri 7 Aug 2009 14:48
Left New Bedford Yacht Club last Tuesday. Had a busy Monday at Imtra, the company representing Lofrans windlass. We spent bout 4 hours there whilst they repaired our windlass on the spot. Had to buy a new motor for it so it ended up being an expensive day but it is all fixed now and a big relief. The taxi driver then left us at a Portuguese restaurant for lunch - the Portuguese community is huge in New Bedford - a bit of a strange place but lunch was ok. After a trip to the grocery store we took a taxi back to the boat. We then spent a lovely evening with a charming couple from the boat next to us, Canadian Robert and American Kathleen with their cute little dog Fifi. Drinks onboard followed by a launch ride to the restaurant. We ended up having to "take away" our food as we would have been to late for the last launch ride back to our boats and ate our dinner on Robert and Kathleen's boat. A lot of wine and good company, great evening. Robert then drove us back home in his dinghy. We laughed a lot. We hope to meet them again in their home territory near Boston on our way back South.
 
We sailed on Tuesday to Pocasset, just before Cape Cod Canal entrance and anchored in a beautiful cove. Took our G&T's in the dinghy and toured the bay. We stopped on a sandy beach and had our sundowners whilst watching the world go by.
 
Left very early the next morning to get the flood right going through the canal. 5 knots of current and we "flew" through the canal at 10knts! Great! We carried on sailing to Marblehead, NH. Lovely day, sunshine, bit of breeze, flat sea. Until we got to Boston bay and hit a short squall which shook us up a bit with our bow getting under the water. Luckily we took the MPS down minutes before the squall hit us. Forgot to mention that in the morning on our first attempt to hoist the MPS, it got caught in the bag and ripped. Captain Mike had then to repair it successfully and we were able to hoist it again.
 
Found a well located mooring buoy at Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead deep in the cove. We all love it here. Great place. Lots of historic houses dated from the 1700's, all immaculately maintained. Went for a run around "The Neck" where all the posh houses are. Must be nice to live here. had lunch at the Yacht club yesterday and a walk around. dinner onboard. Mike has installed a new strip of lights in the cockpit that work off the batteries so it is very cosy at night.
 
We might leave this afternoon to sail North half way to Portsmouth or we might wait tomorrow morning and sail a long hop straight to Portsmouth. We'll see. The wind has change to Northerlies this morning which is obviously not great for us. But at least it has been sunny, dry and warm for about a week now. Let's hope this will last.
 
Hope you are all well. Keep sending us your news.
 
Love to all
Catherine and Mike

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