2009-2010 Caribbean / Bahamas Trip
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Tuesday, June 15th, Newburyport, MA
On Monday June 7th Shango headed out of Newport Harbor at eight a.m. The plan was to get as far as Onset, MA, 45ish miles away, and continue on to Provincetown the following day. We knew we had the tides and currents in our favor but hadn't anticipated quite how good our time would be. We arrived at the southwestern end of the Cape Cod Canal by mid-afternoon. Given that the days in June are long and that the Canal current was still in our favor we decided that we could make Provincetown before seven. On we went. In the Canal we clocked a speed of 10.8 at one point. The transit took all of one hour and we quickly found ourselves headed north in Cape Cod Bay. The wind, though favorable in direction had been slowly dying all day. By this time it had completely gone. We were chugging along under power once again. I had time to make dinner and water before we looped our way into Provincetown Harbor three hours later.
Provincetown is one of our favorite spots and we're always happy to arrive. The harbor was still pretty quiet since it was still early in June. There was only one other boat at anchor in the west end. Dyad, our neighbor, is a big power cat that we often hear on the Cruiseheimers Net when we listen. She's a very eye catching boat and the last time we found ourselves anchored nearby (also in Provincetown) we we noted that she drew curious passers-by. This time was no different. Kayakers, fishermen and little daysailers all diverted from their path to stare. We enjoyed looking as well. The forecast for the next several days suggested a Friday departure for the one day trip home. This left us with three days to explore and eat our way through town. Tuesday and Wednesday were sunny and surprisingly busy with tourists filling the streets . Thursday was rainy but not bad enough to prevent us from making the trip in to eat yet another great lunch. By Thursday afternoon we were getting anxious to head home.
Bright and early Friday morning we pulled up the anchor and headed out around Long Point...and Wood End, and Race Point, finally freeing ourselves from the circular tip of Cape Cod. Once again there was no wind but we were eager to get home to friends and family so we made our peace with the hum of the engine and off we went. By five p.m. we had made it to our destination. We threaded our way through the somewhat bumpy entrance to the Merrimac River (a Coast Guard cutter was standing by in case any of the local fishermen got their small runabouts pooped) and under the Gillis Bridge to Merri-Mar Yacht Basin where we'll spend the Summer working on the boat before our next adventure. We had had a wonderful trip but it is always nice to come home.