fetchinketch

We arrived within the hour of predicted at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay… which is pretty impressive for three days of uncertainties with weather and currents.  The wind forecasts were quite accurate as far as direction and time go. For some reason I find that the models very consistently underestimate the wind strength.  Not in a huge way, usually 5 to 7 knots or so, but it is just odd that it is a consistent error.

We found a quiet sheltered creek last night to anchor, and over the next couple of days we will be moving north the 100 miles or so toward Annapolis.

The One that Got Away

As we approached the coast and the rise up to the continental shelf, we had comfortable easy sailing, so we set out our fishing lines.  Shortly after that we found ourselves in the middle of the recreational tuna fishing fleet out of Ocean City that had made the weekend run out to “The Canyons.”

We saw a large pod of dolphins moving in a purposeful direction, and that usually means yellowfin tuna are nearby. We caught nothing, and saw none caught.  Some time after we crossed the continental shelf, I laid down for a short nap… when one of the reels screamed as a fish speed off with our lure.  It took us a few minutes to get the boat stopped, all the while the fish was running fast.  Just about the time the fish ran out of gas on his first (long!) run, the line went slack.

Whenever that happens, I wonder, what did I do wrong?  Did a knot slip?  Did a sharp tooth cut the line?  Did I apply too much pressure and break something?  When the end of the line came into sight, here it what we saw:

No, the hook did NOT start out that shape!  Those of you with a fishing interest who have been following our stories, might recognize that this is by far and away out most productive lure–and the cheapest.  The venerable cedar plug.  This fish, most likely a medium sized wahoo, picked this drab simple lure from an assortment of much flashier offerings.  If only I had rigged it with a heavier hook!

Hurricane Thoughts

So far, the people we have heard from who were in Irma’s path survived in good health, even if some suffered serious loss of other kinds.  Good luck to Alexis, Libby and Alexandre.  If we know you and you have been in the path of the storm, drop us a line (when it’s easy for you) and let us know how you are doing.

Time 0900 local
Lat N 38° 12.9
Lon W 73° 26.7′
135 miles Northeast of the entrance to Chesapeake Bay

The weather forecasts and sailing models all agreed: Hold your course, stay offshore, it will change. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. On schedule even.

Since we left Buzzards Bay the wind had been pretty steady out of the southwest. We have stayed close hauled for two days. This has taken us on a course more or less due south. While this is generally the direction we want to go, we were on a course the would have us over 200 miles off shore by the time we got to the latitude of Newport News, VA.

Last night exactly as predicted, the wind clocked to the west, and then the northwest, leaving us on a fast easy beam reach for the final approach to the bay.

We plan to head up the bay to Annapolis. As a major yachting hub, we can find supplies and services gathered together there that we either need, or might need as we tackle various maintenance projects. We called ahead to a sailmaker for an appointment to have their loft go over our sails, restitching seams, and fixing a few minor problems. A chance to have them looked over in detail. So… under the caption of “that figures” just as we are setting sail we get a small tear in the mainsail. We sailed down with just the jib and mizzen, which actually works quite well.

As I was writing the above paragraph, a shackle broke on the mizzen outhaul car leaving us without the use of the mizzen sail too! Fortunately, on this point of sail we can use the mizzen staysail and keep our speed up. I think I have the part to make this repair onboard.

Yesterday we encountered a large containership sailing out of New York. As we maneuvered to stay out of his way, I found my planned course change wasn’t working as I expected. Then I realized he had stopped. Very strange to see a 1200 foot long commercial ship hove to. Then Karen asked the critical question: Where is he headed? As soon as we noted the answer (Charleston) we knew what was up. He made his scheduled departure from NY, but didn’t want to be in Charleston as Hurricane Irma threatened.

Today we see the first signs of the distant storm on the water as a very long period swell from the south passes under us. A subtle, but powerful reminder of what’s happening a thousand miles to the south.

Time 0900 local
Lat N 39° 29.6′
Lon W 71° 43.3′

Yesterday morning we weighed anchor as the wind shifted toward the west, and we have been heading south since then. So far an uneventful trip. No exciting wildlife sightings, weather has been tracking very much as predicted, only one or two places we had to play “dodge-em” with members of the commercial fishing fleet. About the biggest event was a distant sighting of the QEII’s lights in the wee hours as she sailed toward New York.

Our destination is the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay where we plan to spend the next month or so exploring and working on the boat.

As we were getting ready to leave the first news and first person reports were coming in of the trail of human and economic disaster that Irma left behind in the Caribbean. Some of the places we visited last winter are, quite literally, no longer there. We know of at least one boat like ours destroyed at its dock in Saint Martin.

As Irma damages places with better news coverage, it will be hard not to forget those people who had less to start with and now have nothing.

At least for a bit we get a chance to relax as Irma has taken a southerly route that will put the bulls eye on points further south.

We made our first trip through the Cap Cod Canal yesterday.  Our trip down from Boston was fast and fun as we rode westerly winds that were the last vestiges of Hurricane Harvey on a fast reach down the South Shore towards the neck of Cape Cod.  The weather kept us on schedule to catch the tide that roars through the canal.

Approaching Sagamore Bridge over the Cape Cad Canal.

Passing through the canal is not dramatic, just a quick motor run down a wide ditch. Canal rules say “No Sailing” so no matter the wind you have to come through under power.  It was a quiet day, without any big ship traffic to deal with.  Coming out the east end things got a lot more interesting. The 2 to 3 knot current that had been pushing us along so nicely suddenly was running straight into a 4 foot chop generated by a 20 to 25 knot southwesterly wind that was blowing up the length of Buzzards Bay.

Thanks to the current, the waves were stacked up very close to each other, at times less than one boat length apart.  Up, and down.  Up and down. We really had no choice because the channel is narrow and straight into the wind for a couple miles.  Finally, we got to the deeper wider water and set sail.  Even sailing close hauled was way more comfortable than motoring into that!

We had been coming up behind a couple other sailboats just as we cracked off and set sail.  They continued to motor straight up the channel, bashing into the waves hard and often. As we came back up on the channel after our first tack, we found we had made far more progress to windward tacking off then they had motoring straight on.

We continued across Buzzards Bay and anchored in Mattapoisett Harbor to take a break and wait for a wind shift to a more desirable direction.

With the usual proviso that our plans are made to change, it looks like we will ride out a cold front tomorrow here are anchor, and we can then catch a good weather window out of here the following day and make a snappy run all the way down to the entrance to the Chesapeake.  So–for now–that’s our plan!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Thursday night we were just sitting down to our dinner onboard, when we heard–very close by–the unmistakeable sound of fireworks.  While we had been relaxing below, someone had moved a pair of pyrotechnic barges into position right off the Boston waterfront.  We still aren’t sure exactly what the occasion was, but we were treated to front row seats at a pretty impressive display.

Our Friend Irma

Planning ahead for large storms is always a challenge.  The further ahead you look, the more time you have to plan, but the less accurate the information you have.  Our plan in the past has been, and will continue to be, to assume the worst, and be pleasantly surprised when things are better than expected.

As always after one disaster, the news media is anxious to keep the pressure on, so they are already hyping Irma as the next Harvey. I have to avoid reading the popular press and pretty much stick the the official information to get input for my planning.  At this point I am looking further ahead than the official forecasts are comfortable predicting, so I look at the computer models the forecasters use to try to see what the reasonable range of possibilities are, being fully aware that the chances for an accurate forecast a week ahead are very small.

Right now the GFS model has a land fall for Irma right up the center of the Chesapeake, while the ECMWF model has the storm tracking offshore. Since our current position is right in between those two tracks, my conservative assumption that it is coming this way, and have begun planning accordingly.

The European Model says “Here”

The US model says “Here”

So our plan will be to head out of Boston as soon as the weather allows (Monday–we expect) and head south through the Cape Cod Canal toward Narraganset Bay, where there are many quiet backwaters to hide from nasty weather.  We had planned to stop at Provincetown out at the end of Cape Cod on our way out, but right now it looks like we’ll stop there next time we are in the area.We will keep watching, and as always, will modify plans as needed.

We have been staying once again in the middle of the city.  As some of you know, I went to school here in Boston many, many moons ago.  The transformation of the waterfront between then and now is dramatic.  Some of the changes are good. Some… well… less so.

The big catalyst for changes here was the project known as the “Big Dig”.  The old elevated highway called the “Southeast Expressway” was buried under ground at an incredible cost ($24 BILLION dollars–the most expensive highway project in US history).

The removal of the elevated highway opened up the waterfront to development and tourism in ways that were never possible before. The character of the neighborhoods has significantly gentrified. The old North End, which was in my memory an Italian immigrant enclave, is now home only to very expensive condos.  Some of the old flavor is retained in restaurants, but it is really is not the same.  More Disneyland, less “real”.

It used to be I would come down to Haymarket on Friday for a real farmer’s market.  The same market is here, but it is now just a craft and trinket sale. Tourism is now the central business of the waterfront.  Ferries, whale watching boats, and daysailing schooners dominate the harbor.

We have been here getting some travel and logistical projects complete, and we will continue our migration south in a few days.  In the mean time, here are some views of Boston from the water:

In Boston the Lobster is second only to the Cod as a symbol of prosperity from the sea.

Harbor sailing in Boston.

Boats of all kinds jockey for position in Boston Harbor.

Seafood is still big business in Boston

Boston still has a vibrant and exciting Chinatown

The replica of the British ship Beaver at the Boston Tea Party Museum.

We checked out of Bar Harbor and sailed to Gloucester.  The sail south was really delightful.  We did do some motor sailing in light winds, but most of the way the wind was perfect and the water flat.   It was about a 36 hour trip all told, including the time we stopped to catch some fish–have to keep the freezer full!

We haven’t had much luck with seeing whales up here.  In fact other than a quick glimpse of one through the binoculars while looking at other things, we have come up empty on the big creatures.  Other critters haven’t been so shy and retiring however!

Here is our Wildlife Count for the day and a half trip:

• Marine Mammals
  • Gray Seals
  • Harbor Seals
  • Harbor Porpoise
  • Another (unidentified) kind of dolphin
• Fish Seen:
  • Ocean Sunfish (8 or 10)
  • Unidentified Sharks (2)
• Fish Caught:
  • Haddock (3)
  • Pollack (3)
  • Mackerel (1) (Who ever catches ONE  mackerel????)
• Birds:
  • Guillemots
  • Northern Gannets
  • Storm petrols
  • Assorted Shearwaters

Efficiently catching fish.

We stopped at Jeffrey’s Ledge, the same place we did well a few weeks ago.  After three drifts across the best looking spot around, and I had nothing to show. A few nibbles but no fish in the boat.  What was I doing wrong? Well, it turns out: nothing.  Not the wrong place, or the wrong technique, just the wrong time.  We started our final drift just as the tide changed, and quite suddenly it was a different world.  Suddenly I was bringing fish up two at a time.

Oddly, one of the fish I caught was a mackerel.  Odd not because they are rare, they are the most common fish here.  Odd because I caught ONE.  They usually travel in schools of thousands, and if you catch one, you catch a cooler full.  All the same, it was our dinner.  Mackerel makes great sushi, especially when that fresh.  At the Sushi Bar it is called “Saba”.

One of our other catches was more unusual…  while trolling lures for tuna a large young seagull thought the purple plastic squid in our trolling spread was just the thing for dinner.  Seagulls are mean, and nasty at the best of times.  Dealing with them on deck when they are hurt and scared is a challenge.

Shark!  No…. Not this time!  The fin of an Ocean Sunfish, the largest bony fish in the ocean.

You know you are approaching Gloucester when you spot the first of the old gaff-rigged fishing schooners.

And you know you have arrived when you see Gloucester Light at the harbor entrance.

Yes, that’s what we have been!  What the locals call “Summer People.”

Bar Harbor has been just a beautiful place to spend several weeks in August.  The weather has been delightful.  Highs in the high 60’s and low 70’s.  Beautiful scenery.  Just gorgeous.  The downtown is a bit touristy in a very small scale way, but you don’t have to walk far before a very local flavor takes hold.

It is an easy  place to take on provisions.  Although it is a serious working fishing port, all the boat repair and supply services are located in other towns nearby. There are moorings right off downtown that are reasonably priced ($35/day), and the harbor staff is eager to please and go out of their way to help.

When you are this far north flower gardens can be delightful  EVERYTHING blooms at once because the season is so short.  Hollyhocks, petunias, marigolds, dahlias… a good well planted garden is a riot of color in August.

And we continue to believe that Maine has a Boat Police Force whose only job is to keep ugly boats south of the state’s waters.  It really seems every boat here is prettier than the last.  That even goes for the motorboats.  And to get me to admit that a motorboat is pretty is tough!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We jumped from Gloucester all the way to Mount Desert Island in Maine.  It was about a 24 hour trip, and we are now on a mooring at the Williams Shipyard in the Some Sound.  The Some Sound has the distinction of being the only fjord in the United States.  If you are wondering exactly what that means, a fjord is officially a valley that was carved by a freshwater glacier, and is now flooded with saltwater.

It is beautiful country.  Easy to understand why people come here for the summer.  It is a balmy 75 degrees during the heat of the day.  As the sun sets, the eerie calls of the loons echo across the sound.   Of course that coincides the rising buzz of the mosquitos…

We went into “town” today.  Town consists of a post office, a gas station, and…  well… that’s it.  The main road has a lot of traffic as the summer people drive hither and yon, but not much is happening.

We found a friend of ours from OCSC in California is now working as a ranger at the national park here on the island.  Hopefully we’ll get a chance to connect before we have to move on.

We’ll be here for a few days, and then move around the island to the “big” city of Bar Harbor for some provisioning and exploring.

I also promised myself that after the earlier post about the number of lobster pots I would never complain about them again.  It is a hard promise to keep!

A few days ago we were anchored on the north side of Cape Ann just outside of the town of Rockport. Where the “X” is on the chart below.  A quick look at the chart, and you can see that in the normal prevailing winds from the southwest where we were anchored is very well protected.  In fact it is very well protected from every direction except the Northeast.

The little harbor that was directly in front of us built themselves a little seawall to protect the boats from the famous Nor’easters that rage along the coast here.  In fact, I have never seen a seawall quite like this one:

This isn’t a breakwater, or even a seawall this is a fortification.  That’s a three story building just poking above it.  Obviously the locals take the Nor’easters very seriously.

So… when the weather forecast had several days of winds to 30 knots from the northeast in the forecast, we decided that discretion was far and away the great part of valor, and we ran back south to Gloucester harbor where we anchored for the duration of the weather.

The weather is now breaking, and our plan is to run back north tomorrow morning.  If things go exactly according to plan (Ha!) we will run north for about 24 hours all the way to Mt Desert Island in Maine.  From there we will begin to work our way back south, exploring as we go.

Gloucester is a town in transition.  It is still very much a working fishing town.  For example, there really is a Gorton’s of Gloucester, and they really are based here. Commercial fishing boats of all sizes and shapes dominate the harbor. Gloucester also has a significant chunk of town dedicated to vacuuming money out of tourists wallets.

We did stop in the local fishing outfitter, and asked about fishing on our way north.  He said there were two likely fish we might encounter trolling offshore.  Bluefin tuna, “but you won’t land one of those on your tackle” or a mako shark.  Hmmm….

Photos from around Gloucester and Cape Ann: