CUTTYHUNK - FAREWELL MASSACHUSETTS

He Said:   Hello Blog Readers.  We made it to Oak Bluffs with no problem and arrived in the late AM. We normally hit the water around 8AM and try to arrive wherever we are heading by noon. We spent just 1 nite in this very cool town that we mentioned earlier - kind of Cabo-like.  We took the very short dingy ride into town that nite for dinner and had our very first lobster roll.  It was very good, but for about $18.00 it really is a sub roll with lobster in it.  But it was very tasty.  We met a nice couple at the bar we were eating at that was so kind as to share part of their dinner with us.  Sounds crazy, but the restaurant will prepare your fish for you that you catch on these fishing boats, so that is what they did.  We enjoyed a bite or 2 of it, and it rocked.

 

We headed out first thing on Thursday to return to our favorite little hole called Hadley’s Harbor.  Yes, this is the peaceful/free mooring spot we stayed at the week before. We are great at returning to places we enjoy - we have done that for years in Phoenix.  Our trip was great with slight winds and 1 or 2 foot waves - we like both of these things.  As we pulled into our little cove a boat beat us by about 30 seconds to the last free mooring ball.  Our only choice was to head somewhere else, wait for someone to leave (fat chance that early) or anchor time.  What a great place for a new experience.  In our near 10 weeks of boating we have either been on the ball or been in a slip. We had no problem with the anchor holding in about 7 or so feet of water.

 

The first day of 3 was really nice but the next 2 days were sort of crappy, overcast and windy.  So we felt if we pulled anchor and moved deeper into the cove we would be more protected, and we were.  On Saturday we met some really nice people (Glen and Debbie) while cruising around on the dingy.  Glen was so nice to help me repair our windlass which stopped working when we were anchoring the 2^nd time.  For those of you that know my mechanical ability you also know that Glen fixed my windlass.   I of course handed him the proper tools (of course, he told me what tool to hand him).  Anyhow, about 1 ½ hours later we had a working anchor again.  Thank heaven.

 

Jess, Nick, Glen, Dave, Patty and Debbie
 

That nite our new best friends invited Pat and me to join them and their cousin’s family for a great dinner. So Dave, Patty, Nick, and Jess and the other 4 of us had a wonderful dinner and a few cocktails.  Great margaritas!  Both Dave and Glen own beautiful catamarans, one at 38 ft. the other 42 ft - I believe that’s correct.

 

So we left the hole on Sunday AM arriving in Cuttyhunk for our final nite in Mass.  Had a nice peaceful day here and hope to hit it tomorrow by about 8 AM - of course, weather permitting.  We should arrive by about lunch time in Newport, Rhode Island.  Later in the week we’re off to Block Island R.I.

 

Hopefully our motorcycle friends arrived today safely in Sturgis for the big ride. Hello to the Butlers,  Korwins, and Bill O’Shea, I’m sure you guys are enjoying the ride, have a safe ride back to Phoenix. That’s about it for now, not too eventful but that’s all good.

 

Take Care, Jack

She Said:  It was a short trip to Falmouth where we fueled up and filled our water tanks.  We’re still doing OK at about 1.5 MPG.  Since our last fill-up we figured out that our port fuel tank is the one that fuels our generator, so we’re putting 10-20 additional gallons in that tank.  We think we’re using 1 gallon of diesel for every 3 hours of generator use.  Just another thing to think about in our new life.

 

We were then on to Hadley’s Harbor.  It was mid morning and we followed a boat into the harbor.  Wouldn’t you know it – that boat got the last mooring ball.  That meant we were going to have to drop our anchor for the first time.  We read about anchoring and we practiced with the anchor, but we never actually anchored before.  There was an area with several boat anchored – mostly sailboats and one powerboat.  We drove near the powerboat and told them that we had never anchored before and asked them if they had any tips.  They were great and talked us through the whole thing.  I think we could have done it on our own, but it is always good to have help.

Meant To Be in Hadley's Harbor
 

 

As we do most days, we took the dinghy out and cruised the mooring field.  (Cruising the mooring field is Jack’s new version of walking the neighborhood.)  We met a nice guy from Mystic, CT (in our future plans).  He gave us lots of tips and ideas on places to visit en-route to New York.  We also met a couple from Palm City, FL.  They were very nice and gave us good cruising information in Florida.  We hope to meet up with them in Marathon in the Florida Keys.

 

As much as we like Hadley’s Harbor, the weather there just doesn’t like us.  The weather turned windy and rainy while we were there, and as a result our anchor dragged (as did our neighbor’s), but it did reset itself.  We decided to find a more secure place.  The couple from FL came aboard and helped us relocate – which was really helpful.  While moving to the new place, the wind caught one of our front windows and cracked it in half.  Then, as we were dropping the anchor, the windlass (the electronics that operates the anchor) just stopped working.  That meant we had to drop the anchor manually.  That also meant we were going to have to take the anchor up manually, and I wasn’t looking forward to that.  On top of that, we invited a few people over for happy hour and no one was able to come.  We’ve certainly had better days. 

 

Every cloud has a silver lining, and in this case the silver lining was Glen and Debbie.  With no happy hour guests, we took the dinghy out and cruised the mooring field.  (Cruising the mooring field is Jack’s new version of walking the neighborhood.)  There was this really nice catamaran with a hammock strung across the back – it was really neat.  So we shouted out to the owners, Glen and Debbie, and ended up having a nice visit with them.  They invited us to join them on a dinghy ride the next morning in search of seals.  It was a great trip for us because we never would have ventured out that far on our own.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see any seals.  Glen offered to take a look at our windlass and he was able to fix it.  Meanwhile, Debbie was back at their boat fixing homemade pizzas for lunch, and they invited us to join them. 

 

Glen and Debbie were expecting another catamaran to “raft” with them that evening.  They arrived while we were having lunch.  As they were rafting alongside and throwing lines, an errant throw resulted in a line getting tangled in a propeller.  It wasn’t as bad as our line in the propeller several weeks earlier, because they had their own scuba tank.  Glen gave us very helpful lessons on the proper way to throw a line.  One thing led to another and the next thing you know we were back there for dinner.  What a wonderful evening with really great people – we had so much fun (and the food was excellent).  We hope our paths cross again!  (p.s. Best of luck in Boston Jess & Nick)

 

Our last stop in Massachusetts was Cuttyhunk – the southernmost of the Elizabeth Islands.  This remote island is where William Taft accompanied President Roosevelt on a fishing trip.  The fishing lodge still exists today.  That’s about all there is on Cuttyhunk – except for the views, and they’re great!  The pictures don’t do it justice.  There was an art/craft show while we were there.  It consisted of four vendors.  We climbed to the top of the island and had a wonderful panoramic view of the island, Vineyard Sound, and Buzzard’s Bay.  We took the dinghy to a small, but nice sandy beach.  The winds started howling, so we only stayed about an hour.  The only restaurant in town is a pizza parlor, so we decided to eat it.  Weather permitting, we’ll be heading to Newport, RI in the morning.