Tonight we are comfortably moored in Onset, MA, at the SW end of the Cape Cod Canal, thus at the top of Buzzards Bay. Since leaving Portland (that's Portland Headlight above) on Monday we've been in big water : Gulf of Maine, Massachusetts Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and we've had nearly constant NW winds, which is where the term 'Fetch' comes in.
On Monday when we cruised down the coast of Maine from Portland, we hugged the shore so as to reduce the fetch. The NW wind was offshore and if we stayed close to the beach the wind had little chance to build up chop. This added a bit of distance to the cruise as the bays curve in some, and rather than straight-lining from point to point we arc inland to hug the beach. All in all it made for a comfortable 55 mile cruise to enter the Piscataquis River and grab a mooring at the town of Kittery Point ME. We had time to explore Ft. McClary with the pooches.
Tuesday was the same deal, again with NW wind and hugging the NH and MA coasts as we headed to Cape Ann. Rather than go out around the Cape we took the inland route of the Anasquam River to deliver us to Gloucester MA. Fortunately the tide cooperated well for that. (At the south end of the Anasquam we went through our first drawbridges of the journey. There will be scores more.)
Gloucester makes my top 10 list of favorite towns between Castine and Key West. There is no doubt it is 'fish city', and we rented a mooring in the inner harbor where we were surrounded by all aspects of commercial fishing. It's also very Italian and we enjoyed some pizza slices for lunch.
Our goal for Wednesday was to cruise straight south, crossing Massachusetts Bay to Scituate MA. Again there were NW winds but these were now roughly from behind us (waves from ahead = best, waves from astern = OK, waves from abeam = worst), and we watched them build in amplitude the farther we got from shore (bigger fetch). Spray yaws some in following seas which makes steering more challenging but is still a fairly comfortable ride. It's 25 miles from Gloucester to Scituate and half way across, with Boston maybe 12 miles to the west, we were probably farther from land than we will be at any other point in the trip.
We arrived Scituate at 2:30 and tied to a rented mooring. This includes launch service to/from the town dock. They really pack the moorings in there. We were amazed that the swinging boats didn't hit each other. Scituate is a high-end town and its biggest asset to boaters is a decent food market within 2 blocks of the town dock. Not only that but there was a farmers market where we scored some great corn and plum tomatoes.
Today (Thursday) we were cursing the fetch. From Scituate to the entrance of the Cape Cod Canal is a 28 mile SE run, and we had north winds acting on a fetch of at least 25 miles, so we had 3-4 ft waves acting just astern of our beam, making for a very rolly run of over 4 hours. To make it worse, where previous days had cool temps but warm sun, today was fairly cloudy so much colder. At first KT and Riggs were very upset by Spray's motion, but eventually they calmed down enough to sleep some.
We were some happy to turn into the Cape Cod Canal at about 2:30. The water flattened and the sun even came out more. In no time we were passing some 2nd tier state maritime college..
A mile later we turned right and followed the channel into Onset Harbor, where we hang on a town mooring. This is a nice town with a great beach (signs say no dogs but ours can't read) and an island to explore.
Soon we'll be making our way into Long Island Sound and stopping in CT to visit family, but not too soon. We're thinking of slowing down and visiting some obscure stops such that it'll take a week or so to reach CT. Stay tuned to see where we visit.
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