We finally managed to tear ourselves away from Nantucket and left at the crack of dawn around 0530 to catch the early tide up to Martha’s Vineyard and motored out of the channel to the fairway buoy to hoist the sails. There wasn’t a great deal of wind and the first tack took us out towards Nova Scotia but we were rewarded by watching Meteor, a modern schooner rigged super yacht, motor across us bow.

 

Gradually the wind backed and we tacked to lay our course to the Vineyard, only to be passed by MITseaAH a sailing yacht making 18kts under engine with huge rooster tails almost the height of her deck. I guess when the boss says I’ll meet you in Newport RI at the New York Yacht Club (why is it not even in NY) it’s best to get the floating hotel there in time to meet Mrs Boss and the sproglets otherwise one’s career may be seriously curtailed.

 

Next to come by was P2, first seen in Mindelo stern to on the dock refuelling to motor to the Caribbean, and now following us around the world. These people in their Perini Navi’s seem to follow us everywhere if it’s not Maltese Falcon then its one of her smaller sister ships, I suspect they are reading our blog and following us on the social circuit.

 

As we approached MV wind died so we motored for 30 mins and then floated on the current making making water and anchored in the bay with all the big blue boats, P2, Virago, Aurora, Burning Palms where we were one of the smaller yachts, but at least we are doing it ourselves, not with a crew. I mean it must be like getting the chauffeur to do your wife, I’m sure it’s fine but you must feel you are missing something.

 

 

We got in around 1400 and Alice, Moody 54 Celia and Andrew, dropped by after we had lunch and a quick sun bathe and we had a couple of drinks before we got a US Coastguard CH 16 Storm warning of 60kts winds gusting 75kts and then she said, “If you hear thunder don’t shelter under a tree you might get struck by lightning”. I mean I’ve done a bit of sailing and I have never seen a yacht sheltering under a tree.

 

It was interesting to watch as the Skippers (we are called Captains in the US) all came up on deck powered up the navigation systems, put on life jackets, battened down the hatches, secured the decks and all the soft furnishings below and watched as this Steven Spielberg sky came at us across the water, preparing to do what was necessary to keep our yacht safe.

 

We had a hell of a night at anchor on a lee shore but held well and by first light several vessels had moved inside the harbour, where no space was available and moorings were all fully booked. It was not easy moving around the boat, but at mid morning the Harbour Master came out to invite us in courtesy of Rick and Chrissie, of Destiny that we had met in Bermuda, and who live here in Edgartown