At Sandwich - Between Storms

Ahoy its me Matt. I woke up and snuggled Hoolie for a while then Grandpa and I took the dog ashore. The reward was ham and cheese omelet. Then I read in the Book I been reading for work in the yellow bag of horror. We left at twelve into Buzzards Bay and I stayed in the cockpit for the rest of the ride. When we were going up the canal three motor boats pass use in the same area. Oh baby oh did we rock. Then we arrived in Sandwich and Nana lassoed two cleats. Then we went to Seafood Sam's and I had fried calamari. Then we returned and Hoolie peed on the deck. (Ed.: Bad dog!)

We awoke to rain and thunder, not a good sign for our trip to Sandwich. Turning on the computer and accessing the NOAA radar scan for the area we could see the storms drifting from southwest to northeast. So, we waited for an opening. We were only an hour away from the entrance to Cape Cod Canal but we still wanted good weather for the passage. About mid-morning there appeared to be an opening but looking at the NOAA radar we could see yet another storm had formed and was headed our way. When it reached our area, it turned into a severe thunderstorm with winds predicted to top out at 60mph, needless to say, we stayed put. We watched the radar as the storm passed south of us but directly in the path we would have taken if we hadn't known about it coming. Finally, around 12:30 all the storms had passed and nothing else was coming via the NOAA radar wed site for at least an hour so we took off for the canal.

The wind had whipped up a few waves as we headed out with a few topping over the bow but we made a steady 7.4 kts and reached the canal without further ado. Approaching the marina we saw that wind and current was opposed, leading to short, choppy waves. That, combined with three powerboats chugging along in the opposite direction resulted in me getting drenched on the bow as I was preparing the lines and fenders for entering Sandwich Marina. However, all was well as we refueled and headed for our dock for the next four days. As you can see from the photo, the marina is packed tightly but it's very well protected from storms since the surrounding land is higher than the marina and provides a good deal of protection.

We headed for Seafood Sam's for dinner, a real family place - lots of families with kids - and a return to the boat for some quiet time before turning in. Tomorrow Matthew's family comes for a visit. It'll be fun.