Checked oil, speed and temp indicator dropped down the through-hull, checked lines, food ready for grab n go (new page above), Mazu in aft cabin (by choice), a sunny day to untie and shove off.
Mazu with her steady gaze seems to talk to us.
We set out on calm seas that continued throughout the entire 3 days. I read (Rosemary - about the Kennedy's disabled child), walked around, enjoyed the nighttime sky (this is another person's photo, but too good to pass up.)
It's a picture of how cool it gets in the middle of the night without the lights on the shore.
Luckily we passed, not ran over, these enormous green flag and orange buoys I hadn't seen before. I have no idea what they are for since they are in 65' of water out at sea; not a lobster buoy. The flag is about 4' high and certainly wouldn't be seen at night.
We didn't go as far off this time, only about 55 miles off shore around NYC where there are huge shipping lanes. We passed that area in the night and GPS shows us the shipping lanes when we're crossing them. We only saw one large ship far in the distance. What's far away can become close fast since they travel at 15+k. That means in 15 minutes they can travel 4 miles.
The confusing area was off the east end of Long Island. I called Drew up to the cockpit from sleep because many lights to port shown brightly and were not on any chart. What were they for? Drew had read that south of Block Island, RI wind turbines are being constructed. The "temporary" hugely bright lights were placed there to indicate the construction site. Once past those markers, we headed toward Buzzards Bay where there is always a pretty brisk breeze. But not this night.
Parkers Boat Yard in Red Brook Harbor in Pocasset, MA was our destination. We planned to have dinner with my college roommate, Jean Mojo and her husband, Steve. Needless to say, we go waaay back.
We followed the twisty turny entrance to Parkers in shallow 7' where we watch all the markers closely. We called Parkers on the radio to get a mooring - their launch service was not working yet since we were getting in before Memorial Day on May 19. We asked for a close in mooring and got the closest one.
Mazu came up on deck (she followed bathroom protocol on the bow during the trip since it was so calm.) During the trip she slept in the aft cabin so much that occasionally she'd come out with tail wagging, very excited to see us because it had been so long. As we came into port Mazu started to bark, kind of unusual. Drew put her in the aft cabin with the door closed and talked to her which usually works. She kept barking incessantly. Drew went up to pick up the mooring while I stayed at the helm. I kept saying, "This is so weird; she never barks like this." On it went. Suddenly from the helm I saw a haze in the cabin and smelled burning metal. I screamed, "fire" and ran down to find a dry teapot on the gas flame with the metal overheating. I moved off the teakettle and turned off the gas. Crisis averted. I let the dog out, and she was relieved running up into the cockpit. Good dog.
We dropped down the dinghy from the davits to row into the boat yard. With little wind it was an easy row. (Drew stayed aboard to get some work done now that we were back in cell range.) There are a series of nature trails nearby with a map at the marina office. Mazu is always excited to get off the boat and explore the woods.
We found this:
pink lady slipper wildflower on our walk.
The late sunset over the pretty protected harbor.
We rose in the early morning, 6 am, to get through the canal at exactly the right time, aligning slack tide, currents, wind direction, and weather of course to avoid a choppy go. Boats are only allowed to motor through the canal. We pick up about 5 to 6 k in the canal because going at the right time we hitch a ride with the north moving current. Mazu always perks up to watch the people, dogs and bikes moving along on both sides of the canal. We can see morning traffic on the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges above us.
Drew has us drift/sail at 2 to 3 k on the way into the sailboat packed harbor. We search around for our mooring ball and finally find it after a few passes.
Home Sweet Home. My sister, Chris, came the next day for a short perfect sail and to drive our first load back up to Exeter, NH, bless her. Great time and love the adventure of "sailing" up under almost any conditions.
End of the season and now day sails with friends through the summer.
We have some executive decisions to make about what we'll do next season since we have a few significant repairs (another blog about a manufacturer's faux pas), Mazu is going to have puppies in the fall, and my daughter is having our fifth grandchild Dec. 18.
Still, we can go south one way or another mid January - May.
