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| West End Light is the Target we shoot for when going to Bassets Island |
Ellen and I had actually planned on leaving on July 4 for Bassets, but because of a high wind forecast, and because we are both retired now, we decided to leave on Sunday for our first overnight cruise. Sunday morning Ellen, I And Neilli went out to the boat about 11 am but the wind was blowing 15 with gusts to over 20 mph so we stayed on the mooring, read and straightened up the boat. About 2:30 the wind seemed to have calmed down a bit so I took a reef in the main and we cast off. We were moving along OK and the wind did not seem too bad, so I pulled the jib all the way out and we picked up some speed. As we got into the Bay the seas became bumpy and mixed in their direction and after we cleared Bird Island light the wind all of a sudden picked up in intensity. In hindsight I probably should have pulled the jib back in but I had enough to do just trying to keep the boat on course. We made record time over to the entrance and doused sail behind Scraggy Neck. Then we had a nice motoring to the anchorage. Ellen put us on the spot, the anchor went over and grabbed quickly. The wind was still up around 20 but we were in the lee and so somewhat protected. No big seas, but lots of wind. I did not attempt to take Nell ashore, because there have been issues in the past of getting the outboard to start and I did not want to get blown across the harbor. The inflatable does not track well when attempting to row in a high wind.
We had fresh grilled Swordfish, asparagus and Couscous for dinner. The wind came down and I was able to get Nell ashore so she could do her thing. The Seagull started right up and ran perfectly. Nell will not "go" on the boat which means I always have to get her ashore. Upon return we had carrot cake for desert. Spent the evening reading & knitting and retired early.( Really sound like Old Farts here, but after the harrowing ride across we were both quiet tired.) Monday dawned warm, sunny and flat calm. There were only about 4 of us left anchored, where the night before there were at least 15 boats. Because there was no wind we motored out of the harbor and as we cleared West End Light we saw the Sailing Ship Kruzenshtern motoring out of the Cape Cod Canal.
So we headed over and took some pictures. When she was coming from Bermuda to Charleston in June, she ran into a squall which blew out the fore topmast. No one was hurt and when they got to Charleston they had that section removed, and they are taking it home to Russia to be repaired.
I have posted more pictures on the web album which you can find filed under "stuff to look at" on the right had side of my blog. In the last picture in that series there is a 3 masted schooner in the far right of the picture. Barely discernible, and it was headed to Boston for the Tall Ships, and although we passed close aboard I must have been doing something important because we do not have a good picture. In any case she is the Annabelle, out of Newport, RI and she is available for charter for around 2 grand a week per person. We are going to try to head off to Woods Hole and the Islands next week so I will keep you posted.
