Saturday, April 7, 2018

Entering Cold Water

We sat in Onset, Massachusetts for several days while we caught up from our travelling.  This means that we had a pile of dirty laundry and empty shelves in our cupboard that we wanted to remedy  before we left.  Onset has a comfortable anchorage and is a pleasant coastal town to spend some time to relax and explore.  We ended up meeting some friends we last saw in the Bahamas who gave us some great recommendations on travelling northward to Maine (thanks Joe and Barbara!).  The day we finally left, the conditions were nice and calm for both our canal transit and crossing the Cape Cod Bay.

The Cape Cod Canal has had an interesting history, once privately controlled, narrow, and crisscrossed with so many opening bridges that many commercial ships preferred the exposed trip around Cape Cod.  Now the canal has been deepened, widened, and bridges removed and replaced with two towering fixed bridges for road traffic and only one railroad bridge that stays open except when train traffic is present.  The reason for the bridges changes was due to the hazards they present to water traffic, where the current that runs through the canal can reach 5 knots, due to the tidal differences on either side of the canal.  For a boat that only runs about 5-6 knots, that much current can be very dangerous, or advantageous, depending on its direction.  Even large commercial traffic have difficulty maneuvering in this much current.  As we were approaching the open railroad bridge, below, they announced that the bridge would be closing for a train in 15 minutes.  We already had a 2 knot current pushing us through, so we made it through before the closing.



Shortly after we made it through, the bridge closed and water traffic had to stop.  As you can see, we were among a nice parade of boats transiting the canal this day.



Once through, we looked back at all the traffic that also passed through before the closing, along with the closed bridge in the distance.



Along the canal, they have many parks and a full length recreational paved trail.  There is also a campground and picnic areas along the way.  The banks are lined with fisherman hoping to land a striper.  As we passed by the breakwater on the east end of the canal, you could see the exposed low tide shoreline, showing that we were now in the land of 10+ tidal swings!



As I mentioned, the conditions were nice and benign.  Unfortunately, no sailing for our trip to Provincetown, but sometimes nice, calm days are pretty nice for a sailboat, too.  This was our first sighting of a gannet, and was just the beginning of all the new, cold water critters we would start seeing.



On our approach to Provincetown, or P-town, we had a nice view of the beach.



We only spent an afternoon in P-town, and while it was an unusual and interesting place to experience, we were ready to keep moving early the next day.

Straight north from Cape Cod, the Stellwagen Bank is an area of relatively shallow water that attracts fish and had a resident pod of humpback whales.  If you go whale watching and leave anywhere from Provincetown or Boston or Gloucester, they all go to this same area to see these whales.  We kept a safe distance, but enjoyed the sights as we passed this area on our way north to Gloucester.



We made our way north from Provincetown on Cape Cod straight to Gloucester on the south end of Cape Ann.  Gloucester is home to the well known fishing fleet on this section of coast, made famous by the Perfect Storm.  Here we found ourselves anchored in the center of the harbor, where it was fun just to watch all the commercial fishing boats go by.  Here is Tatiana at anchor in the harbor.



We made our way to the fisherman memorial.  Around this iconic statue, there are memorials for the the sailors from Gloucester who have been lost at sea.


We left Gloucester and headed around Cape Ann.  At the tip of the cape, there are two lighthouses  which are used to orient yourself with both the shore and a shoal just offshore. 


Our destination this day was Isles of Shoals, which mark the state line between New Hampshire and Maine.  They lie about 5 miles off the mainland coast.  Our first glimpse of the islands and of White Island Lighthouse was through the fog.


We got there early enough in the day to enjoy some exploring of the area.  All of the islands that make up the Isles of Shoals are privately owned, but there is one open to visiting, Smuttynose Island (how would you like that family name).  We enjoyed a few hours of exploring this pretty island.


We have never seen a trail sign like this before...


It wasn't far before the trail was covered with gulls.  Huge gulls.  Gulls that didn't just fly away as you walked by.



Then we found out why they weren't just flying away.  This island is a nesting ground and was covered in baby gulls, too! 


So, we made a quick retreat off the trail, and relaxed for a little while, soaking in the " Maine island life".


We were treated to some pretty light as the sun began to set. 



And a pretty sunset to boot.



We had finally arrived in Maine. 

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