Last Day at Gloucester

Ahoy it's Matt. I woke up to the sound of Grand pa yelling at Hoolie for eating up his soft cover books. Then we had cereal for breakfast. Then I started the dink. we did laundry at a laundry mat. Then we came back to see almost every thing okay. Hoolie chewed on the date whats a ma call it. then we went to the Maritime Museum. After that we went to the farmers market. Then I made a good landing and found the cabin covered with onion peels. Ho got into the onions that were on the counter. After the catastrophe I drew. Write tomorrow.

As Matt mentioned, Hoolie misbehaved twice today when we was left alone on the boat. His weakness seems to be paper and things like paper (onion skins). We not quite sure what to do about that except lock him up in the head when we leave where he can't get into any trouble. Otherwise he's been great on the boat and much easier than Lance was. He goes twice a day without a problem and doesn't chew on anything else except paper. Perhaps he doesn't get enough exercise and has too much nervous energy, don't know.

Ann made a dynamite fish chowder to lunch today, both Matt and I had two helpings. Earlier that morning we found a Laundromat so we all have fresh clothes now, not a small thing on a boat. After lunch we visited the Maritime Museum that had lot of exhibits for kids to touch and handle. Ann tried her hand a plotting with a set of parallel rulers (see photo). Dinner followed on the boat with a band concert that night by the Museum, a nice day. Off to Portsmouth tomorrow!

Ahoy its me Matt. Today we had French toast far breakfast. Then we rode around the harbor and found a playground and it stunk but it was interesting Then we paid the Harbormaster. After that we went half way around the harbor to get fish for dinner. We got cod and sword fish. Then back on the boat we played Cosmic Wimpout. I watched Spirited Away again, its such a great movie. Well dinner is on the way, write tomorrow bye.

Today was a layover day, waiting for good weather to go north. We took a harbor tour, all around the perimeter looking for a fishmarket. Gloucester is a prime fishing port, full to the gills with fishing boats but strangely, there's not a lot of fish markets. In fact, we didn't see any and had to ask where one was. We finally found one (see photo) but it wasn't apparent as seen from the waterfront so we missed it on our harbor tour. We found fresh swordfish which we had for dinner and cod which Ann will make into fish chowder tomorrow. Matt and I enjoyed the swordfish and look forward to the chowder, we do have a great cook on board!

In the afternoon we had a game of Cosmic Wimpout, surely invented to confuse adults with its convoluted rules. Matt is the expert so we had to abide by his interpretations of the one page of rules which was grossly inadequate. Actually, I won the first game but I'm sure there will be many more if Matt has his way.

Meanwhile the weather continues to be miserable with the high today of 65 but at least there was almost no rain, just a few drops. We'll look again at the weather report tomorrow but we'll probably stick to our plan of sailing north on Friday. It looks like there will be a few good days for our journey to Boothbay.

Gloucester, MA - Downpours

Ahoy its Matt. I woke up and had cereal for breakfast. Then we left Scituate and we put the main sail up. For the part were it wasn't rough I stayed down below playing my DS and was reading. Soon the storm hit and I went up in the cockpit. When we got here I got the mooring after getting the guy who took it off. Then we had soup and I played double solitaire with Nana. Then played go fish and worked in the yellow bag of evil. After that I pumped out the dink. We took Hoolie ashore and here we are in Gloucester Mass. Write to you tomorrow

We headed north from Scituate as soon as the rains let up and made it into Gloucester before the severe storm warnings took effect. Then it just poured and poured, such rain. Luckily, the rains broke just enough for us to take Hoolie ashore. More storms are due tonight and tomorrow and ... With all the bad weather we decided to have two layover days in Gloucester before continuing onward to Portsmouth. We are in no hurry and when you're retired, weather is your friend - you have no schedule. We prefer to do our northing in good weather. There's an old saying in Maine that they celebrate summer in Maine provided it comes on a weekend! It feels that way now! We heard that New York is also having lots of rain and severe storms, hopefully it won't last all summer! Hoolie was so disgusted with the weather that he went forward and curled up on our bed, all tucked in. Gloucester is having a tall ships week and I snapped a photo on one heading out in the rain.

We plan on exploring Gloucester over the next few day, wish us luck in having at least a few good hours without rain!

Scituate - Rock Climbing

Ahoy its me Matt. Today I woke up and had cereal for breakfast. Then we left Sandwich and I was announced first mate. Then I watched Muppets Treasure Island. Then made lunch and drove the boat a little. After that I played my DS. Then I got the mooring for the second time. After that we went ashore. I climbed on the break water and swam in the water nearby. Then went swimming off the back of the boat and dived perfectly (Ed note: Nana gave lessons). Write to you tomorrow, bye.

For the last three days we've had great winds, 15 kts with gusts to 20 but today when we went to Scituate we had no wind at all, such is sailing. However, we had full sunshine, temperatures in the 70's and flat seas for motoring so it wasn't so bad. We had made a reservation with Situate Boat Club the day before and our mooring was waiting for us. Matthew once again snagged the mooring by himself on the first try, way to go Matt!

Scituate has a great breakwater just right for kids to climb all over and a sand beach to wade in. Since the beach is behind the breakwater, there's no wave action but it's perfect for floating. The water is relatively warm at 65F and Matthew stayed in the "bath water" (as he calls it) for over 2 hours. Even Hoolie got in the act by learning how to climb the rocks of the breakwater. He hesitated at first but then got with the program and was running back and forth on the rocks with me in tow.

What I've noticed all over the Sound and points east is that the yacht clubs all seem to have an active youth sailing group. In every harbor we've been in, we've seen sailing dinghies of all sizes and sailors of all age groups out in the evening. Scituate was no different. We went through a throng of small sailboats on the way in and saw more once in the harbor itself. They are ensuring their future by training their kids, a good lesson to be learned by PYC I would think.

Tomorrow it's on to Gloucester and a town mooring but it sounds like another motoring day.

Last Day at Sandwich - Provisioning and Goodbyes

Ahoy its Matt. On Friday my family came for a visit. They got a room at a motel. We stayed on the boat. After that we went to the playground and we had fish and chicken for dinner. Then I played my DS (Ed: Gameboy). Mom and the girls went to the motel and the motel gave their room away. So they gave them a huge room with two bedrooms and a kitchen. Yesterday I woke up and had pancakes and sausage. Then we went out for a day sail and I made lunch for every one. After that we went to the motel and swam in the murkiest pool I had ever swam in. Then we went to Seafood Sam's and I had full belly clams. Osh had chicken Parmesan. Then saw fire works at 10:00. Today we went to the kid museum. Then in the gift shop I got a boatswain's whistle. Then we had sandwich's and Buffalo wings. Then the family left after 20 hugs. Then I watched some of Spirited Away and went to the beach. I cut a finger (Ed note for mother: finger is fine, just a scrape). Then we returned to see a sail boat T boning are side of the dock. Then everything was okay. Write to you tomorrow

This is a tightly packed marina with not much room for maneuvering. We returned from a walk from the beach to see a sailboat about our size T-boned against the dock right next to us and swinging towards our aft section. I handed Hoolie off to Ann and hurried to my dock to "help out" with both the intention to help and to also prevent damage to Fleetwing. They had been caught by the 15 kts winds and lost control. With all of us pushing, he finally got off the dock without damage to anyone. They continued on to the slip next to us but looked a little flustered. As they approached the dock, there was no aft line, it was tied to the other side of the boat. The helmsman eventually received it and handed me the line, the only trouble was it was loose. It wasn't attached to anything. The guy at the helm finally picked up the other end and we looked at each other for awhile ("you want me to cleat this and you pull or you cleat and I pull...") Finally, I cleated it and he started pulling. Somehow, someway he avoided hitting the other boat in the slip. We returned to our 5:00 wine.

All weekend we had been enjoyed the comings and goings of the boat launch. They have two lanes, one for outgoing boats and one for incoming boats. Generally, the drivers were surprisingly good at backing down the steep ramp. What is even more surprising are the sizes of the boats. We've seen 32 foot cabin cruisers hauled routinely and today a large super speedboat, amazing. With a three year waiting list, I guess it's the only game in town. It does make for a noisy marina with all the traffic, especially in the early morning when the fishing boats leave. However, there are compensations that include the $2.00/ft dock fee, Joe's Lobster Market which has the best spread of fresh fish I've ever seen, hurricane hole level protection from the elements, a Super Stop and Shop within walking distance, two wine stores and a reasonable fried seafood place - Seafood Sam's.

So we ended our stay at Sandwich Marina with a walk along the canal to watch the sunset. Off to Scituate tomorrow.

Sandwich - A Sail and Dinner at Seafood Sam's

First things first, we made a trip to the honey dock (they do not have a honey boat) to make our boat fully functional again. All of Buzzard's Bay and Cape Cod Bay are no discharge areas but they do not have many pump out locations. Once past that unpleasant business, we saw the day turn sunny and warm without any storms predicted. The wind came up in the afternoon and we all went for a sail in Cape Cod Bay. The winds piped up to over 20kts and we hit hull speed with a double reefed jib and a reefed main. Full sun, good wind, very little wave action with the wind off the land, just a perfect sail.

Returning to the dock, the crew went for a swim at a local motel while the captain and admiral relaxed in the cockpit. With everybody returning around 6:30 we were off to Seafood Sam's for dinner, a great place for a large crowd but the place was almost deserted. One thing that did seem to be crowded was the boat launch at the marina. It was in constant use all the time we were there. I heard that there's a three year waiting list and they are not adding to the list even though there's a demand for slips beyond the three year limit. I can understand the attraction since the marina is so convenient to the bay and well protected.

Tomorrow is another day of exploring before Matthew's family leaves for home (Matthew is staying with us!)

Sandwich - The Invasion Starts

We met a couple yesterday that planned on an over-nighter starting this morning and we saw them depart around 6:00 am in the fog. Seemed a little early given how long it takes to reach Maine since you don't want to arrive in the dark. At any rate, they're off now. We awaited the arrival of Matthew's family but they were delayed by the heavy, holiday traffic with two bridges to Cape Cod Canal backed up for 2 hours.

Everybody arrived around 4:00 and we had a great dinner of cod we bought at Joe's Lobster Market which we recommend highly! We plan on taking advantage of the market all this week! I never realized that the Beneteau 423 can be just a jungle jim for kids! They love to climb all over the boat, such fun.

Matthew is occupied with his little sisters and is unavailable for tonight's blog, maybe tomorrow.