Day 5- Salem, MA

We had an uneventful broad reach sail through Massachusetts Bay in 20 knot winds, flat seas, to Salem, MA.  It started blowing 30 knots when we entered the harbor.  You would think that 30 knots would have a cooling effect but not in this 90 degree plus heat.  The wind generator is buzzing again.  Pablo is starting to offer excess power to neighboring boats.

Day 4- Plymouth, MA

Had a little excitement getting to Plymouth, MA today.  We came through the Cape Cod Canal.  The weather was hot and hazy and the seas calm, for the most part.  As we motored through the Canal, a huge obnoxious power boat got really close to us and created a monster wake.  Unfortunately we had the salon hatch open which allowed the monster wake into the boat.  We're still wiping salt spray off everything inside.  Rookie mistake thinking that we could leave the hatch open just because it seemed calm. The major causality was my computer which was on the table directly below the open hatch.  Luckily I backed up recently so I don't think I lost much, other than MY computer.  We seem to have adjusted to one cell phone but I'm not sure we can live with one computer.  Made lemonade out of lemons and took a slip for the night to dry out the carpets, cushions, towels, books, cameras and computer (unsuccessfully).  Walked around Plymouth and saw the Mayflower II and the over-rated Plymouth Rock (even the plaque acknowledges that it probably has no true historical linkage).  But it still seems to draw crowds, not surprisingly most of them from Europe.  The margaritas improved the rest of the day.  As we sit in our slip about 200 yards from Plymouth Rock, a live outdoor concert is playing making for a perfect summer evening.

Day 3- Hadley Harbor, MA

We had a short 2 hr motor from Cuttyhunk to Hadley Harbor this morning. No wind or seas. About as opposite from our last trip as possible. Hadley Harbor is beautiful. The girls have been swimming and jumping off the boat all day.  They caught a bunch of little jelly fish and call them "no sting-ems", since they didn't sting.  The numerous limpets also provided hours of entertainment.  So far our favorite place, granted it is only Day 3...

Day 2- Cuttyhunk, MA

We left Dutch Harbor early this morning to out run thunderstorms forecast  for the afternoon.  We decided to divert to Cuttyhunk (instead of Hadley Harbor) after a very lumpy sail for 5 hours.  The winds were 15-25 knots and the seas seas were 3-5ft and very confused which made for a bumpy ride.  A good test for how well everything is stowed, if nothing else.  One drinking glass that I left in the sink broke, but my eggs from Clover Leaf Farm stayed intact!

Cuttyhunk is a fun place, only accessible by boat.   The roads are just wide enough for golf carts and the beaches are great.  Remi wants to live here someday.

Successful departure

We're on our way!  Had a great sail to Dutch Harbor, winds about 20 knots.  Feels great to be off the dock.  The anchorage is a little rolly but the wind generator is buzzing and creating excess power.  In fact, it is generating so much extra power that Pablo is running around looking for things to plug in so that the energy doesn't go to waste.  Anyone have an extra toaster?

Roughing it? NOT so much tonight.  Pablo was able to stream the women's world cup final game live.

On Track

OK, OK, I know I'm way overdue for a post.  We've been a little busy.  Amazingly we're on track for departure tomorrow.

Pablo has been busy with various boat projects,  I've been packing and repacking, shuffling cars to where they belong, taking stuff to storage, picking stuff up from storage... you get the idea.

We had a great couple of weeks with lots of visitors.  See here  for photos. Thank you to everyone who made the trek to Rhode Island. It meant a lot to us. 

We really enjoyed our stay at Brewer Cowessett Yacht Yard.  There is a great sense of community among the boaters and the yard is well run.  We made many new friends.

We're planning to leave Greenwich Bay tomorrow afternoon and spend the night in Dutch Harbor.  From there we'll get an early morning start for Hadley Harbor.  We're hoping the weekend crowd may have cleared out and left a little space for us.

Plan to set up Mia's blog soon.  Things will slow down soon and we'll have more time for blogs.

Lost our marbles?

After buying the boat last July we spent a couple of weeks sailing it up the coast from Maryland to Rhode Island and had an absolute blast.  We spent the rest of the summer exploring Narragansett Bay and the surrounding area.  This confirmed our desire for more adventures.  We decided that life is too short not to follow a dream.  We started putting all our ducks in a row for a year of cruising. 

The past 4 months have been a whirlwind!  We put our house on the market on March 1^st and had 4 offers within a week.  We scrambled to get rid of a ton of stuff.  After a very successful yard sale and lots of trips to Good Will we were able to fit the remainder in a 10x20 storage unit.  It felt amazing to shed much unnecessary stuff.  We moved into a temporary apartment (with added benefit of baby chicks) until the end of the school year. 

There are things that we miss already, like Pat the Cat.  But we couldn’t ask for a better home for her.  She has great people to take care of her and even a dog to boss around!  And of course, we’ll miss family and friends and the great community of Stow.