Sailing away from it all, ( Boston in " A Lady)
A Lady
Stephen Hyde
Thu 8 Sep 2011 14:26
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TUESDAY 6th SEPTEMBER
2011
(
Barometer 1006 )
It was a dull and wet morning with plenty of
rain during the night, however, no leaks,
Skipper caught up with emails and boat things whilw
the Second Officer took off to the Library,
Boston has a great collections of Museums,
galleries, Aquarium, and a fantastic Library , The place is full of history
and was involved in all aspects of American
history, from boat building to revolutions, from politics to religion,
Did you know that a " Mary Dyer" ( Quaker)
who fled religious persecution under Cromwell in England and sailed to
America
where she was eventually hanged in Boston for
her religious beliefs. just a usless bit of history.
We also bought some food where " Julia Childs"
( of "Julia & Julie" film fame ) used to purchase her
groceries....
Later, the second officer paid a visit to the "
Childrens Museum " and following that both skipper and the second
officer
took a cab over to Copley Place, where the "
Prudential Buildings " are located.. A place we remember well from
the time
of Paul & Christines wedding,
It was still raining as we browsed around the Malls and shops and admire the
" Hancock Tower "
We then walked in the rain to
the Parker House Hotel where John F. Kennedy
proposed to Jackie Bouvier, had to sit at
table 40 where the proposal was made and had
dinner, when finished a good meal, we had hopped in a cab and went back to
" A Lady" for a quiet night..
WEDNESDAY 7th September
2011
( Barometer 1007 )
Another dull and wet morning and it looks as if the
rest of the week will be the same,
We went to the Marina office and sorted out the
charges with the Marina Girl, Megan Harrington, ( I wonder where her
relations come from ! )................. we
know lots of Harringtons back home,
09.45hrs, having showered and all that in the great
facilities at the marina, some of which include , Toilets, showers, laundry
and drying facilities, a work shop, TV rooms, a
gym, a restaurant, bedrooms, free computers and Wifi.....plus free
coffee
and tea making facilities and all the american
newspapers, all in plush surroundings with panoramic views of the
harbor
and a magnificant set of binoculars on a tripod (
just in case the eye sight is not what it used to be. )
We slipped our lines and motored the ten miles or
so down the harbor to the open sea,
The wind was ESE and just about 22 knots, so we had
a great sail for the day,
however the FOG filled in , so we were sailing in
the blind once more, visability was down to about 100yards,
This time , skipper tried out the inbuilt fog horn
on the mast, Ohhh, what a great bit of equipment, it gave out 1 long
blast
and 2 short blasts every 2 minutes. a very
comforting sound,
We had decided we would try and get through
the "Cape Cod Canal" tonight and then drop anchor in Poccassit harbor , just
about 3 miles
on the southern side
of the canal,
At times we had very heavy rain, but it was the
best sail we had in months, skipping along at 7 to 8 knots,
We arrived at the Canal about an hour early for the
tide, ( they suggest going through the canal when the current is flowing in the
direction
you are travelling ) but it was going to
get dark early , not to mention the fog, the blooming fog was still thick so we
had to rely
on the Chart plotter and Radar to navigate the 7
mile long Canal,
The current against us was about 2 knots, we
had no problem with this, crips , we often had worse against us out at
sea,
We passed under 3 bridges, all with a 135 foot
clearance, so our 82 foot mast was safe and sound, the last bridge
was a
railway bridge which was lifted as we approached to
allow us pass under, this bridge was an amazing bit of engineering with
huge
balancing weights on both ends to help lift
and lower the span as required,
As we passed the Massachusetts maritime college (
Its ship called Kennedy ) the rain and fog lifted so we were able to see
our surroundings for the first time
today.
We made our way down the southern canal cutting to
our destination, nibbled our way into the tiny little harbor and dropped
anchor in the dark,
A large G& T , followed by a dinner that was
cooking all day while we were sailing and then the scratchers to look and listen
at the Thunder & Lightning, and more rain for
the night,,
Thats all ,
Signed :- Stepehn
Hyde ( Skipper )
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