A short cut
Scot Free III
Frank & Anne
Sun 26 Aug 2018 14:40
Provincetown 42:02.3N 070:11.1W Woke at 6am to a beautiful sunrise but very chilly. 18C down below, coldest yet. Made our way into The Cape Cod Canal, the artificial waterways connecting Buzzard’s Bay to Cape Cod Bay, saving a 130 mile passage outside. No locks, only 3 bridges, all of which are easily high enough for us to go under without another of those heart stopping moments.  The Art Deco, Cape Cod Canal Railroad bridge. Thankfully up, when down the clearance is only 7’ Trip reminiscent of our speedy passage along the Gulf Stream. Max speed today was 9.2 knots. Boaters must observe a 10mph speed limit - we did! and transit in 2 1/2 hours. Our timing was brilliant- thanks, Skipper! Encountered Another sailboat Andiamo (“Let’s Go”) coming from the opposite direction. According to AIS they were making 4.3 - surprisingly good progress, obviously had a clean bottom. Might struggle to adhere to the time contraints but the authorities can be lenient with pleasure craft. We didn’t want to put it to the test! The canal is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers and is “occasionally used by whales and dolphins”. Glad to report that we encountered neither. Lots of fast day fishing boats , spilling our coffee with their wash,( it’s supposedly a no wake zone!) but not many commercial vessels today, possibly being Sunday. Both sides have cycle paths and we lost count of the number of fishermen on the banks.  Herons were seen frequently standing to attention, ready to enjoy their next catch. Had to motor all the way across the bay to Provincetown, P-town at the extreme norther tip if Cape Cod. It promises to be interesting- a flourishing artists community, a working fishing fleet and loads of tourists hope Monday is quiet. A very unusual sight at anchor. 4 aluminum/ aluminium boats, 2 Ovnis, 1 Cigale from same manufacturer as OVNI and 1 unknown. |