A Summer Cruise on Weatherly - Part 2, July 2021

(Originally posted July 27, 2021)

New crew joined after July 4th, and the three of us set off from Weymouth Harbor on July 6 for Provincetown.

Days 1 & 2 - Provincetown

The sail started great - wind a little light after getting out of Boston’s outer harbor. Then it built, reaching what felt like 25+ knots out in Cape Cod Bay. The boat was overpowered with a reef in the main and the jib partly rolled in, but under control. It was definitely a rough first day for the new crew, but we got to Provincetown safely and on time.

The only casualty was the jib - it was an older laminate sail (technora, I think?), and repaired last winter from older damage. It furled up strange, so once we were at the mooring I tried re-rolling it, and saw three big tears. I’m not sure quite when it happened, but probably from sailing in strong wind with it partially furled, putting extra and probably uneven strain on the leech.

Oh well. Glad I had a backup aboard.

Provincetown was great. We touristed around the downtown strip, had some amazing seafood, and enjoyed the local library’s half-scale model of a race-winning schooner from way back when. I was watching the weather closely, though, as Tropical Storm Elsa was making its way up the coast and some forecasts had it heading our way.

After a third or fourth check of the weather forecasts and National Hurricane Center maps that night - showing Elsa’s track going directly over Provincetown, we made the call and decided to head out very early to get to New Bedford’s sheltered harbor.

Days 3 & 4 - Cape Cod Canal and New Bedford/Fairhaven

Getting up at 3:30am was not fun. Neither was motoring all day due to the damaged sail. But leaving at 4am as the fishing boats were on their way out for the day was great.

The conditions were gray and hazy, with some scattered squalls. I also mis-timed the tides, so we hit the canal with an opposing current. The early departure paid off, and once we were clear of the canal I snoozed a bit to recover. We pulled up to a dock in New Bedford by early afternoon, and tied Weatherly down securely.

The wind was pretty light once we were at the dock, so we took the opportunity to pull the damaged jib down. A closer look revealed two of the tears were near the leech, just forward of where the repair was made. The next day, while at the dock, I got some sail repair tape out and spent about 3 hours trying to fix a tear before realizing it was going to take more repair tape than I had, and I didn’t have any tape appropriate for this kind of sail material.

Crew spent the day working in cafes and exploring the New Bedford Whaling Museum, while I played sail doctor.

The storm coming through was dramatic even behind the shelter of New Bedford/Fairhaven’s hurricane barrier. But all our lines held, the fenders stayed in place, and the storm passed through pretty quickly.

After the storm passed, it was calm and sunny out, a perfect day after all that chaos. Got some nice dinner with the crew, and the next morning we hoisted the backup jib and packed away the damaged sail for storage.

Day 5 - Cuttyhunk Island

After loading up on ice, we had a short downwind sail to Cuttyhunk Island. The passage into Cuttyhunk Pond (the inner harbor, essentially) was very tight, but we got in okay, and found our way to a free mooring. Crew did an excellent job getting us onto the mooring in moderate winds and in a very, very crowded mooring field.

We got some dinner, and explored the island the next morning. What a neat place! On our walk up to the highest point of the island, we ran into the town doctor and had about an hour chatting with him, hearing various life stories about his medical adventures. It was a treat. After a bit more exploring the island, we set off for our next destination, Newport.

Days 6-8 - Newport, RI

The wind was a bit light, but it was a fairly short and pretty direct sail over to Newport. We managed to grab a mooring right off the downtown strip. We got in fairly late in the day though, so left exploring for the morning.

Both crew had to depart that evening - one back to work, and the other to finish up some grad school projects that were almost due. So we made the most of the day - did a mansion tour of The Breakers, an old Vanderbilt summer home built in the 1890s, and had some great meals ashore. I’ll confess it was nice to have some solo time aboard, after almost a month without alone time.

I stuck around in Newport for one extra day after crew left. Did some work, wandered over to the Sparkman & Stephens yard expecting to maybe find a museum or visitor center or something (there was none, but still got to ogle some cool boats, worth it.)

I got a shower ashore and stocked up on ice for the icebox aboard, with plans to set off the next morning.

Day 9 - Sachem Head

What a day. The wind in the morning was light, but just enough to motorsail at a decent pace. But as soon as I got out of Newport Harbor, the fog set in thick. It was down to maybe 500 feet of visibility before I rounded Point Judith, and the wind had died completely - good I guess, since the radar draws a lot of power.

Around Point Judith, the fog got even thicker as I got out into Block Island Sound. I was motoring basically blind, with a keen eye on the radar for approaching targets, and the airhorn in the cockpit ready to blast a warning.

Since it was so foggy and dead calm, I figured out a few bail-out stops along the route. New London was an easy trip, and there were a few spots between there and Sachem Head to stop. But the engine behaved well, and the fog lifted by mid-afternoon, so I carried on to Sachem Head.

I arrived just as their Wednesday night race was finishing, so I called to see which moorings might be free. The local yacht club was very helpful, and pointed me to one of their guest moorings (for free! amazing.) It was a long, stressful day, and I was glad to be somewhere calm before the sun set.

Day 10 - Thimble Islands

After a slow morning resting up, I motored the short distance over to the Thimble Islands. This had been on my itinerary list for the last two trips past this area, and each time it didn’t make sense to stop in there, so I was very excited to finally make it. I found an unused mooring in West Crib, and hunkered down there in hot, sunny, calm conditions.

The Thimble Islands were totally beautiful, and I spent a while just motoring around in the dinghy to sightsee. Though, almost none are open to the public, so it was more sightseeing than hiking around. I dashed ashore to Bramford, CT and got some pizza for dinner back aboard, and started figuring out my next day plan.

Day 11 - Oyster Bay

I checked the engine oil just before leaving, and while doing so discovered a tear in the alternator belt - luckily I had a spare aboard, and it wasn’t too hard to swap out.

Once underway, the wind was still pretty light, but I managed to sail most of the day. It was a medium-length trip over to Oyster Bay, which had the most happening marina I’ve stopped in yet. There was some kind of live music concert going on at the marina’s bar, so I wandered in and enjoyed the music for a while.

The next morning was flat calm and hot, so I went ashore again and wandered around Oyster Bay’s little downtown. It was nice, but almost too hot to enjoy. Errands done, and coffee and some food tucked away, I got back to the boat and headed out.

Day 12 - Port Washington

A friend who was just setting off on a similar cruise up north was heading over to Port Washington earlier in the day, so I arranged to meet there later. I was hoping for a nice, 3-4 hour sail over that way, but about 20 minutes after getting the sails up my radio blared a severe weather warning. And then another. And then another. All of them about a severe thunderstorm that was coming right up the East River and into Long Island Sound, right over where I was.

So I reluctantly pulled the sails back down. Better safe than sorry, especially sailing alone.

After that abundance of caution, the storm never arrived. I got some squally winds and maybe 10 minutes of rain, but that was it. It was an easy motor in to Port Washington, and I grabbed the last available town mooring. (They’re free for the first night, and there’s a great water taxi service that runs out to them and back)

I met up with my friend, and we had dinner and drinks talking long into the night aboard another friend’s boat at a dock in Port Washington. The friend and his husband were both old salts, and a great many sailing stories were shared all around. I ended up not seeing any of Port Washington, but it’s a short trip from City Island so I’ll have to go back soon.

Day 13 - Home Again

The next morning I got the boat ready, and motored the short hop across the channel back to City Island. It was a short, uneventful end to this long, fun cruise.

I’m very happy with how the boat, all the various crew, and I managed the trip - I learned a lot, saw some amazing sights, and had some unforgettable times along the way. Now it’s a bit of a break to get caught up on some overdue maintenance tasks, replace my spares, swap on the old dacron jib, and relax a bit before the next adventure.