Summer in New England?
PASSEPARTOUT
Christopher & Nirit Slaney
Wed 15 Jun 2011 17:15
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On the day we left Woods Hole and transited the Cape Cod
Canal the weather forecast noted, 'Highs in the mid-fifties', which is around 12
degrees centigrade. This is summer? You will notice in the video that I am
wearing a woolly hat and gloves; when you factor in the effect of all that cold
water and the wind chill factor I'm sure it was below 10 deg C.
In Plymouth MA we visited the replica of the Mayflower
and a few other historical exhibits. One of the first facts we learned is that
not one of the 102 Mayflower pilgrims nor the crew died on the voyage across,
but fully half of the settlers perished during their first winter ashore. They
landed in December 1620 and I really can't imagine what a cold and inhospitable
place this would have been if June feels like this. No wonder so many of
them died. The question Nirit and I were asking ourselves was, why did they make
the voyage at this time of year? The ship's master had sailed to New England
before and he had a pilot on board who also had local knowledge. They left
England and sailed into the teeth of a series of north Atlantic gales. Their
course kept them well north, so far north in fact that a final blow off the
American coast prevented them from putting in at their intended destination
at the mouth of the Hudson River. All this happened one hundred and thirty years
after the Columbus voyages which proved the ease and effectiveness of taking a
more southerly route. Also, English and French fishing fleets were frequent
visitors to the Grand Banks and presumably there was plenty of information
available in European ports about weather conditions along the New
England shores in December. Brrr!
The canal transit was interesting. We shared it with a
barge being pushed by a powerful tug and a second tug alongside just in case.
Lucky for us, the railroad bridge you wee in the video was lowered, closing the
canal, just a few minutes after we passed underneath. Best of all, the Cape Cod
Canal is free, what a change from the ditches we've sailed through previously,
Corinth and Suez, which cost hundreds of dollars plus hours and hours of delays
and paperwork.
The weather is changing by the hour and something like
summer seems to be establishing itself for the coming weekend. Our next leg,
from Plymouth to either Marblehead or Gloucester, looks like being in shorts and
tee-shirts instead of hat and gloves. I have to add that even if the climate
seems cool, the people up here are very warm and welcoming.
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