Boston "42:21.56N 71:02.64W"
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Wed 6 Jul 2011 02:39
|
We left Cape Cod a day or two later than intended
due to lack of wind, but when we did eventually leave (at 0500hrs EST on Sunday
morning) we got it right - a beautiful broad reach (wind coming over the rear
quarter of the boat) on a flat sea in bright sunshine, so we had several hours
of lovely sailing at 6-8 knots, fast for us. We went right up to the centre of
Boston on the rising tide through the quite complicated entrance (unusually the
Bay is a huge flooded drumlin field so there are lots of islands and narrow
passages with fast tide). But really worth it.
Here we are arriving in the river, with Boston in
the distance.
 And here is the fantastic view from our
anchorage. Boston is a wonderful city, with a full range of architecture
from beautiful colonial houses through skyscrapers to the quite
dreadful City Hall - real 1970s concrete brutalism.
 Here is another view of Downtown. The park
with the fountain in the foreground is part of a wide new linear park running
right through the centre where a large dual carriageway which had scarred
city has been buried and a beautiful high quality park built on top. I just
cannot see this happening in the UK.
 We arrived in time for the last couple of days'
racing in the global Extreme Sailing Series. Eleven of these 40 foot catamarans
with a crew of four stage match racing in several venues around the world.
Next stop Cowes, UK. These boats are amazing - they fly the upwind hull in
much less than ten knots of wind - very exciting to watch but unfortunately
the winds were very light after our arrival - but as you can see we had
ring-side seats. The UK boat, Team Pindar, received a thoroughgoing drubbing -
tenth. 'Emirates' helmed by a New Zealander and seen here in the middle of the
shot won the series of nearly 40 short races on the very last race, robbing
the Americans of victory.
 Boston is of course the cradle of the American
Revolution - the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's ride, the
first real land battle of the revolutionary war at Bunker Hill (a pyrhic victory
for the British who lost half their troops). A quite fascinating history trail
leads through the city; and there is a lot of history to see. Here is the
original British government building dating from 1715, later the Massachusetts
State House. Incredibly there is now a modern underground station built into one
corner, but you'd have to look very closely to see it.
 And here is the splendid later State House
built immediately after Independence, a quite staggering achievement in the
aftermath of a bloody war - talk about confidence. We were in the city for
Independence Day and went to see the fireworks advertised in the photo - along
with 800 000 other people! It's the biggest 4th of July display in the
USA. The fireworks were truly spectacular.
 Also in Boston is the USS Constitution, 'Old
Ironsides', which played a major role in the idiotic war of 1812, humiliatingly
defeating a series of Royal Navy vessels. It is now the oldest ship still
in commission in the US Navy (keel laid down in 1797), and to retain its status
as a serving warship she has to move a mile down the harbour and back at least
twice a year, including 4 July. Here she is going down the river to fire a 21
gun salute at the river mouth, propelled by a tug, with thousands and thousands
of people watching. Quite a spectacle.
 So we loved Boston. But our stay has been cut short
by the weather. There is wind to get north & east to Maine tomorrow (a 24
hour trip) but it seems none after that for several days, so we're hurriedly
packing up ship and leaving on the tide at dawn
tomorrow.
|