We’ve just returned home from our first week on the boat this year. Here’s how it went, and what we did:
Friday, 6-29-06. We spent Friday night on a mooring at Pepperell Cove, part of the Portsmouth Yacht Club in New Castle, NH. New Castle is a large island at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. Our new dog, Dixie is getting used to the motion of the waves and wearing a life jacket. She is not happy, and stands like a sad statue with all four legs straight out, and her head down.
Saturday 6-30-07. The boat rocked and rolled last night from the wind, the current in the river, and the tide. Dixie slept on the bed with us for the first time. She’s usually independent, like a cat, and isn’t a cuddler. But, I think the movement of the boat had her feeling like she needed a little more security.
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Moe looks like he is flying a plane.
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We left Pepperell Cove at about 11 am, and headed south towards Cape Ann, MA. Moe saw a whale but Lin missed it because she was snoozing. Who was it that said it would be hard to relax? We went down the narrow, extremely crowded Annisquam River. The Annisquam is a salt water estuary, and is open to the ocean on both ends. We had to pass through some small, low bridges which made our hair stand on end just a little bit. It looked like it would be a fabulous, interesting place to kayak. There were even little houses in the middle of the river in some places!
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Houses in the Annisquam River.
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The village of Annisquam, at the mouth of the Annisquam River, was settled in 1631. It has been a popular place for artists and writers such as Winslow Homer and Rudyard Kipling, and "The Sound of Music" is said to have been written here. The river was shallow and people had anchored boats everywhere, so it was like an obstacle course. Lin forgot her reading glasses, and hard time reading marker numbers on the chart. After passing under two very low, narrow bridges (thank goodness one of them could lift for us!), we arrived in Gloucester Harbor, and picked up a mooring next to a huge fishing boat that could have eaten us for breakfast. Gloucester was also settled in the early 1600s, and claims to be the oldest fishing port in the country.
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Our nearest neighbor in Gloucester.
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After we settled in a bit, Lin picked up and passed on phone messages from work. Moe took down the dinghy, and the three of us went in to shore. After a good long walk, we found a great place to eat, where we could sit outside under a canopy and have dinner. Dixie was welcomed by the restaurant staff at the Madfish Grill in Gloucester, and the dinner was delicious. I think we are definitely starting to relax now…. even Dixie.
Sunday, 7-1-07. Wow, July?!? How’d that happen? We had a peaceful night on the boat, no rollers this time. Dixie slept with us again, which Lin loves and Moe has no comment on. We got up at 6:30, and Moe and Dixie took a dinghy ride in to shore for a walk, since Dixie refuses to pee on the pee-pads we got her to have on the boat. I guess we did a good job with house-training her! The sky is clear and the sun is hot already. Clann an Drumma on the CD player made for nice early-morning background music (high energy bagpipes and tribal drums) while we had our coffee and Dixie snoozed on the couch.
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Moe and Dixie return from shore.
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We left Gloucester behind us at about 8:30 am, and headed south past Boston towards Scituate Harbor.
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Boston in the distance.
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We passed a ship with guns in the front and a gazebo in the back.
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We’ve traveled 58 nautical miles so far. We’re on a mooring here at Scituate Harbor Yacht Club, a really nice place with a huge pool, tennis courts, clubhouse with a kitchen, tv lounge, rest rooms and showers. The cost of staying in this pretty harbor is $35/night. We generate some of our own power with the solar panels, inverter and generator, so we don’t have any need to go to shore except if we want to, or to take Dixie in to pee. The three of us went in to explore the little town, which has very old houses with signs on them commemorating heroes and heroines of the war of 1812. We had lunch at a little outdoor café named Riva, which offers bowls of water and treats to dogs.
After relaxing on the boat for a while in the afternoon, Lin went back in to shore and did some work on her computer, while Moe and Dixie napped for a while. Later, we all went into town and had dinner at the same dog-friendly outdoor café. We were back to the boat in time to watch the sun set behind the houses at the edge of the water.
Moe at work on a beautiful day.
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This is really a wonderful place... pretty, quiet, scenic and friendly. Dixie is curled up in a ball down below, fast asleep. Tomorrow, we are going to Sandwich MA and will stay in a slip, because they don’t have moorings, and there are no other choices on the northeast side of the Cape Cod Canal. The plan is to meet our friends Fred and Becky, visit with them, and see their new house in Yarmouth.
Dixie.
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Monday, 7-2-2007: The water was much rougher and Dixie and Lin were sometimes uncomfortable. We traveled 31 miles in about 4 hours. We are just inside the mouth of the Cape Cod Canal, at the Sandwich Marina. There are very different boats here, mostly power boats, most of them are fishing or lobster boats. Smells like fish! This place is quite different than our last stop. A couple mega-yachts are here, too. We met up with our friends Fred and Becky for the late afternoon and a dinner at their house. Fred is a music director for MIT, and Becky works for Mass Audubon as a bird expert. Becky and Lin went out to Seagull Beach (an old teenage haunt of Lin's!) to check on some Piping Plover chicks that are almost ready to fly, and then headed to Fred and Becky’s new house for a cookout. Dixie is doing really well with her travel and boat skills! She was a good girl at Fred and Becky's, too. This socialization is really great for our puppy, who just turned one at the end of May.
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Moe and Dixie laughing together on board.
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Tuesday, 7-3-07: we left Sandwich Marina at about 8:30 am, and traveled through the Cape Cod Canal. Very interesting, with lots of sights to see.
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One of the bridges in the Cape Cod Canal.
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There are walkways along both sides of the canal, and lots of people were walking, jogging and taking their dogs out.
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Trails along the canal.
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Fisherman were busy along the shoreline. There were a few interesting bridges; the Sagamore, the Bourne, and a railroad bridge that was the most interesting of all.
The railroad bridge is lifted so boats can pass under.
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Look up!
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The Enterprise was docked at the Mass Maritime Academy, in the Cape Cod Canal.
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Bird Island in Buzzards Bay, near Marion MA.
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We traveled 106 total miles since we left Portsmouth, 18 miles today, and traveled for about 3 1/2 hours. We arrived in Marion Harbor around noontime, met up with Ted, a sailing acquaintance of Moe’s. Ted is letting us keep the boat on one of his moorings here at the Beverley Yacht Club for a couple of weeks. This will be our last stop of this trip, and we’ll find a way home in a day or two, go back to work for a couple weeks, and then come back here.
We took the launch in to shore with Dixie, and walked into town. There are some beautiful houses here, with gorgeous lawns and perennial gardens, and white picket fences covered with climbing roses. We stopped at the Marion General Store and bought sandwiches and juice, then ate it about a block away on a grassy park with a bandstand next to the water. Lin went to concerts there as a child with her parents, but doesn’t remember. Tonight Lin’s sister Marjorie is coming with her dog Lily, so Dixie will have a wild time. We plan to go to Ted’s house about a half-mile from here to watch the fireworks off of Silver Shell Beach, which coincidentally happens to be where Lin took swimming lessons many years ago. She remembers it as if it was a picture: cold water, lessons sometimes cancelled because of jellyfish, sometimes not cancelled and held in the rain. Silver Shell Beach just seems so much smaller now than it did back then!
We spent the evening with Ted, his wife Ann and son Pike. They had a bunch of friends over, and tons of food. The weather was perfect for fireworks! The fireworks were great for Lin and Moe, but scary for Dixie, who hid her face inside Lin's shoulder under Moe's jacket. We walked back to the yacht club in time to catch one of the last launches back to the boat, and settled in for the night.
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Wednesday, 7-4-07: Marjorie didn't make it yesterday, so she's came today! Lin and Moe were very much looking forward to seeing her, and Dixie patiently waited for Lily. We caught the launch in to shore mid-morning, and walked into town to watch the Fourth of July Parade. This great parade went on and on, and was full of fun and colorful floats from Rochester and Marion.
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Marjorie arrived just after the parade... or maybe she was in it. The wind had really picked up by then, so we weren't able to go for a boat ride, but we definitely made the most of our day. Other than the wind, the weather was gorgeous and it was nice to sit on the boat and relax, laugh, and eat! We knew we were just about to end our trip, and rather than have to pack up and carry everything in the refrigerator home, we tried to empty it by eating everything. It was great to have Marjorie and Lily with us for the day! Moe's friend Nick was in Marion for a sailboat race, so we were able to make arrangements for a ride home with him. Late in the afternoon, Lin, Moe, Marjorie, Dixie and Lily took the luanch in to shore, laden with bags and packages of supplies and food. We said goodby to Marjorie and Lily, and hopped in with Nick for the ride home.
In a few weeks, we'll head out again and continue our trip!