7.14.2013

I've gotten a little flack lately for not updating the blog. OK, I've gotten LOTS of flack and even a few hand grenades. but we were having so much fun at Gary and Alex's dock, time flew. We've been back in the US for about 6 weeks after our winter season in the VI's.  It's been great to use the phone and internet whenever I want, go to the grocery and find all the things on my list. Whaa hooo! It's the little things in life that are the most fun!

So we got pretty spoiled staying at a dock for a month. A dock with great friends and their great neighbors, unlimited access to a fabulous garden, gluten free bagel Sundays and use of a car. It was hard to leave. We actually stayed longer than planned because I needed a rather extensive physical and had the chance to do it all while we were there. Again, Alex, thanks a million for the use of your car.
We've been reacquainting ourselves with sailing in this part of the world. As Florida sailors we rarely had to deal with currents, tides were less than 2 feet and we seldom had fog. In New England the currents can run 4 knots, the tides rise and fall 8-10 feet twice a day (thus creating the current) and the fog just hangs around whenever it bloody well feels like it. It makes entering and exiting ports and canals a challenge: trying to figure out if we should go into a river with the current but against the wind, or against the current and with the wind, or wait for slack and motor like crazy.



Celebration on the dock behind Gary and Alex's house. We started out on a mooring ball, but the currents in the river were so strong and squirly, that we were doing wild loopdie loops around the ball. I think some of the neighbors complained that it was making them seasick to watch us, so we moved to the dock. The tide here is about 8 feet and combined with the strong river flow it makes for some serious eddies. This picture is at high tide, you can see the bridge to the dock is level.



                                                      Low tide and we all but disappeared.




           Fog in the Cape Cod canal, odd to be going under a bridge and not really be able to see it.

2 comments:

G and G said...

What a way cool trip and thanks for sharing! We didn't REALLY think you sailed off the end of the earth...but one starts to wonder after awhile. :-)

Janice & Bob said...

Great blog entry - yes, isn't it fun dealing with current, tides, fog, and wondering when the best time to leave is to catch it all right. Guess Caribbean sailing just didn't give us all enough of a challenge. Luckily we are catching on to it quickly as well- you really have to learn quick or you just might go backwards with the strength of some of these currents. We are doing day hops (well of course sometimes that means leaving in the middle of the night due to the tides) to catch the currents to the next time. Nice of them to have towns the right distance apart to do that! Best wishes to you both - Janice & Bob