Nantucket and Hyannisport
We spent five nights in Nantucket and two nights in Hyannis Port.
Sunday, August 20 was pouring rain in the morning so we decided to do laundry. Danielle and I ended up getting stuck at shore because Doug had a minor crisis at the boat and couldn’t come and pick us up. Doug thought we were sinking because the bilge pump kept cycling on and off. As it turned out, the water wasn’t going all the way out but kept going up the hose and down the hose. After tasting the bilge water to see if it was salty, he decided to sponge out the bilge. Miraculously, the problem was fixed! And Danielle and I were finally picked up from shore.
Monday, August 21 was spent touring the town, walking up and down the streets looking at houses and popping into boutiques. There is art everywhere! Stephen had quite a time rollerblading on the cobblestone roads. We went to the Coffin School, which is now a museum, and saw a show on the development of fishing on the island. (Coffin was one of the first white settlers on the island.)
Tuesday, August 22 - Danielle, Stephen and I went to the Nantucket Whaling Museum, a highlight of our trip. We saw a 48’ skeleton of a Sperm Whale – just a teenager! After visiting the museum, we headed to the Brant Lighthouse. We walked onto the Coast Guard complex in our search, and were very nicely escorted off the property. Oops! We were told where the lighthouse was and made our way there. Danielle and I checked out the shells on shore while Stephen watched guys fishing. One guy had a sand shark in his cooler! I chatted with a guy from Ontario who was working as a pilot. He had flown his client to Nantucket for business for a few days. What an interesting job he has! Doug picked us up from shore at the lighthouse around dinner time after having rebedded a chainplate and the bolts from the mast collar, two sources of water entry discovered during the rainfall from a few days previous.
Wed. Aug.23 was spent at the beach. Stephen met a friend, Harry, and spent the day catching jellyfish.
Thurs. Aug. 24 - Danielle and I went to shore to pick up a Nantucket basket and some cards from an art gallery. We headed out of Nantucket Harbour around noon. I decided to do a loop around some boats to let a giant ferry go past. We passed a very sad sight on our way in and out of the harbour – the mast of a sailboat. We think the boaters misread the markers and headed out to sea one marker early, hitting the breakwater, which is hidden at high tide. With 15 knot winds and fairly calm seas, we had a fantastic sail across to Hyannis. Our cruising guide described Hyannis and a great destination but we found no other boats anchored. We went to Hyannis Port where we anchored. A guy sailed by us and said, “Welcome to America!” He offered us a mooring at the Yacht Club, which we took advantage of for two stormy nights. Thanks to Max from Glide, we were safely moored, two boats away from Teddy Kennedy’s boat, and 400 or 500 yards away from the Kennedy compound!
Friday, Aug. 25 – We decided to go exploring. We walked around the neighbourhood until we found the Post Office and the General Store where we called a cab. What beautiful houses! We went into Hyannis and walked around the town. We stood under a beech tree planted in Hyannis in 1776.
Saturday, Aug. 26 - We decided to leave Hyannisport and head for Quisset. Doug carefully read the tide charts for Wood’s Hole and we planned to reach the cut at slack tide. It was blowing 20 knots and the seas were 3-4 feet and building. We tried to put up the main but were having difficulty. We forgot to consider the combination of the wind direction and current in Nantucket Sound. What we got was a rocky ride and an ill crew. To make matters worse, the motion of the boat stirred up sediment in the fuel tank and plugged the filters, causing the engine to quit. Ahhhh! We put up the genoa and sailed into Vineyard Haven, on Martha’s Vineyard, anchoring under sail. We looked like experts! Doug changed the fuel filters and cleaned out the raw water filter. We fired up the engine and moved behind the breakwater, taking a mooring.
Sunday, Aug. 27 – We ate breakfast at the BlackDog which was not an inexpensive venture. No surprise on Martha’s Vineyard! The kids and I toured the town while Doug worked on the boat.
Monday, Aug. 28 – We woke up to fog. We again calculated the best time to go through Wood’s Hole, deciding whether or not to travel with the reduced visibility. As we still could see about two to three nautical miles and most of the markers were spaced about a mile apart, we decided to go for it. It was flat calm as we motored to Wood’s Hole. We used our radar for the first time and it actually worked! There were very few boats around. What a different experience than the last time we went through Wood’s Hole. We sailed about halfway to Mattapoisett once the wind picked up.
Sunday, August 20 was pouring rain in the morning so we decided to do laundry. Danielle and I ended up getting stuck at shore because Doug had a minor crisis at the boat and couldn’t come and pick us up. Doug thought we were sinking because the bilge pump kept cycling on and off. As it turned out, the water wasn’t going all the way out but kept going up the hose and down the hose. After tasting the bilge water to see if it was salty, he decided to sponge out the bilge. Miraculously, the problem was fixed! And Danielle and I were finally picked up from shore.
Monday, August 21 was spent touring the town, walking up and down the streets looking at houses and popping into boutiques. There is art everywhere! Stephen had quite a time rollerblading on the cobblestone roads. We went to the Coffin School, which is now a museum, and saw a show on the development of fishing on the island. (Coffin was one of the first white settlers on the island.)
Tuesday, August 22 - Danielle, Stephen and I went to the Nantucket Whaling Museum, a highlight of our trip. We saw a 48’ skeleton of a Sperm Whale – just a teenager! After visiting the museum, we headed to the Brant Lighthouse. We walked onto the Coast Guard complex in our search, and were very nicely escorted off the property. Oops! We were told where the lighthouse was and made our way there. Danielle and I checked out the shells on shore while Stephen watched guys fishing. One guy had a sand shark in his cooler! I chatted with a guy from Ontario who was working as a pilot. He had flown his client to Nantucket for business for a few days. What an interesting job he has! Doug picked us up from shore at the lighthouse around dinner time after having rebedded a chainplate and the bolts from the mast collar, two sources of water entry discovered during the rainfall from a few days previous.
Wed. Aug.23 was spent at the beach. Stephen met a friend, Harry, and spent the day catching jellyfish.
Thurs. Aug. 24 - Danielle and I went to shore to pick up a Nantucket basket and some cards from an art gallery. We headed out of Nantucket Harbour around noon. I decided to do a loop around some boats to let a giant ferry go past. We passed a very sad sight on our way in and out of the harbour – the mast of a sailboat. We think the boaters misread the markers and headed out to sea one marker early, hitting the breakwater, which is hidden at high tide. With 15 knot winds and fairly calm seas, we had a fantastic sail across to Hyannis. Our cruising guide described Hyannis and a great destination but we found no other boats anchored. We went to Hyannis Port where we anchored. A guy sailed by us and said, “Welcome to America!” He offered us a mooring at the Yacht Club, which we took advantage of for two stormy nights. Thanks to Max from Glide, we were safely moored, two boats away from Teddy Kennedy’s boat, and 400 or 500 yards away from the Kennedy compound!
Friday, Aug. 25 – We decided to go exploring. We walked around the neighbourhood until we found the Post Office and the General Store where we called a cab. What beautiful houses! We went into Hyannis and walked around the town. We stood under a beech tree planted in Hyannis in 1776.
Saturday, Aug. 26 - We decided to leave Hyannisport and head for Quisset. Doug carefully read the tide charts for Wood’s Hole and we planned to reach the cut at slack tide. It was blowing 20 knots and the seas were 3-4 feet and building. We tried to put up the main but were having difficulty. We forgot to consider the combination of the wind direction and current in Nantucket Sound. What we got was a rocky ride and an ill crew. To make matters worse, the motion of the boat stirred up sediment in the fuel tank and plugged the filters, causing the engine to quit. Ahhhh! We put up the genoa and sailed into Vineyard Haven, on Martha’s Vineyard, anchoring under sail. We looked like experts! Doug changed the fuel filters and cleaned out the raw water filter. We fired up the engine and moved behind the breakwater, taking a mooring.
Sunday, Aug. 27 – We ate breakfast at the BlackDog which was not an inexpensive venture. No surprise on Martha’s Vineyard! The kids and I toured the town while Doug worked on the boat.
Monday, Aug. 28 – We woke up to fog. We again calculated the best time to go through Wood’s Hole, deciding whether or not to travel with the reduced visibility. As we still could see about two to three nautical miles and most of the markers were spaced about a mile apart, we decided to go for it. It was flat calm as we motored to Wood’s Hole. We used our radar for the first time and it actually worked! There were very few boats around. What a different experience than the last time we went through Wood’s Hole. We sailed about halfway to Mattapoisett once the wind picked up.
posted by The Maras at 2:08 p.m.
2 Comments:
You have done so much already and you are still in the North East. I think by the time you have been there and back again you will be able to write a book about all the things you will have done and seen.
Has Doug seen anything but the boat and his toolkit yet?
Hi Darlene,
Part of my first week of retirement activities is enjoying your blogs. It has been strange to loll around in the mornings and walk dogs and drink coffee and read to my hearts content , but somebody has to do it. I hope Doug gets to see the sights too once all the wrinkles are out of the boat. But maybe that just goes with the territory. Do the kids do journals on their sightseeing adventures?
Jane
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