For the fourth time in seven years, a group of like-minded friends rallied their boats and cruised out of Annapolis to the Long Island Sound and, this time, far beyond. What has become a band of mostly downeast boats with flag-blue hulls resembling an invading navy to the unsuspecting dockmasters took off again in early July. We are a very inclusive group, of course, so a white-hulled downeaster, a trawler and an outboard express cruiser were welcomed along. This trip included Buzzards Bay, the Cape Cod Canal, Cape Cod Bay, and the Gulf of Maine up to Boston, making it the longest summer cruise we have done as a group.
With a cruise of this length, any number of predicaments are likely, and we had our share. Weather challenges and mechanical hiccups were addressed by several of us pitching in to solve the issue, lessening the frustration and likely making travel overall safer.
So, what happened over these three weeks that turned out to be an adventure for all?
The Journey to New York
Cruising from Annapolis to New York involves transiting the Atlantic coast off New Jersey. The cruisers gathered in Cape May for the sometimes harrowing trip up the coast, set for July 7 or 8. We plan two days in Cape May when headed north, giving us a better chance of a good passage. With several wind and wave apps in use, the team determined that there was no good day to go. It was a question of the least bad day.
The first example of the comfort and camaraderie of cruising in company presented itself. The smartphones came in handy. A group text shared forecasts and ideas about when and how to go, with the goal being at least Sandy Hook if not New York Harbor. In the end, some boats left Monday, some waited until Tuesday, and at least one even tried the poorly maintained ICW through New Jersey. While making our way, reporting back to the group via text or email, we all had firsthand information on conditions, which turned out to be not so bad after all. By Wednesday or early Thursday, all of us were on moorings in Oyster Bay, NY, home of Teddy Roosevelt, Billy Joel, and the beautiful Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. How is that for diversity?
Next, we took a relatively easy cruise through Plum Gut into Gardiner’s Bay and Shelter Island, NY. The town of Greenport, across the bay from Shelter Island, is another charming Long Island shopping and restaurant mecca. A stop in the local microbrewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing, reconfirmed this for us. In fact, while cruising the best ports on Long Island and in New England, it is very possible to overdose on charm—something to watch out for.
Our relatively short transits from port to port are just right for the point-to-point use of autopilot, and some of us did make use of it. It is a rule when using autopilot that no matter where, when, or how carefully you draw your route, there will be center consoles and skiffs fishing or a lumbering tug directly in your path at several points along the way. It is not a matter of if.
Newport and Martha’s Vineyard
So it was that after much team discussion about the cheapest source of fuel, we embarked on the trip northeast to Newport, RI.
Fuel and marina stops are the hotel bills of a cruising vacation. Sometimes they equal a roadside motel. Other times, they are more like a five-star Paris suite. Finding the cheapest source of fuel along the way to your next stop becomes a grail of sorts.
If, like most of us, you think Annapolis Harbor is crowded and busy, you should experience Newport on your boat. Charming ports on a cruise come in various sizes and activity levels. Newport in July is bustling with activity. The streets along the water are filled with vacationers strolling among the overflowing bars and restaurants. Our stay included a group gathering at the Newport Yacht Club. Positioned across from Goat Island in one of the busiest parts of the inner harbor, this is the yacht club for everyman. Some members of our group took a bus to Battleship Cove on Fall River to tour the US Navy ships exhibited there. Walking through a Navy destroyer or submarine is a great way to bump your head several times.
From Newport to Martha’s Vineyard, in patchy but fairly dense fog, most of us traversed Woods Hole. The benefit of limiting the distance between stops becomes clear when fog or rough seas slow the cruisers down. Most cruisers took a mooring ball in Edgartown, while, for your future reference, a few members of the group were quite disappointed with Oak Bluffs Marina. The Vineyard is always a favorite stop, and it was this trip as well, but it was also a launching point for our venture through the canal and on to Boston Harbor.
On to Boston
After two enjoyable and relaxed nights on the Vineyard, we set out for Buzzards Bay, another passage through Woods Hole to the Cape Cod Canal. The canal has a speed limit of 10 mph, “no wake,” which is apparently seen only as a suggestion by commercial and recreational boaters alike. There was a team text discussion about the Massachusetts Environmental Police (MEP) shutting down the canal due to fog on the morning we left, but as the day went on, things improved. This was a slog until we exited the canal into the Atlantic. Frankly, it is tedious and slow, but it passes soon enough.
An intermediate stop in Plymouth on our way to Boston gave us some relief from the bumpy, boring canal passage. Plymouth is, of course, the supposed landing place of the Mayflower in 1620, marked by Plymouth Rock. In our research we came across this humorous quote: “Two words inevitably cross the lips of first-time visitors to Plymouth Rock: ‘That’s it?” (history.com).
Boating into Boston Harbor requires careful attention to the charts and markers along the way. There are several navigable branches off the main channel. Our marina, Boston Waterboat Marina (yes, that is the name), is well located for roaming around historic Boston. The site has been in the Cannon family since 1864. Originally, they supplied potable water to commercial vessels in the harbor. Thus, the name Boston Waterboat. Within easy walking distance, you will find the Freedom Trail, Faneuil Hall, and Boston Common. Every bit as important are the excellent Italian restaurants in the North End.
There is something about arriving on your boat and walking around a city that enhances the experience. Some of our cruisers had been to Boston recently but found things they had never seen or paid attention to on those trips. Perhaps the most interesting of our visits was to the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides), a three-masted warship launched in 1797 and kept in operating condition by the Navy. Heading off on our individual or small group impromptu tours each day, followed by cocktails and dinner together at some impossibly charming venue, is how our time in Boston passed.
The Home Legs
We planned to cruise southeast to Provincetown on Cape Cod to begin the home legs. This plan was put in question over the weekend while we deliberated over sea conditions. Once again, we left Monday morning as planned and found a reasonable sea state on the trip.
Whale watching is big in these waters. Off Stellwagen’s Bank, a marine sanctuary, some of our cruisers saw humpbacks; however, the North Atlantic right whales were still farther south at this time of year, so we had no observations of them. We were careful to stay east of the charted sanctuary, regardless.
Our one-night stay in Provincetown proved to be colorful and interesting. The shopping district we walked through to our reception at a friend’s home was so crowded that cars and even bicycles could not get through the street. A genuinely friendly town and a warm reception with our local member and his neighbors greeted us in P-Town.
Back through the boring, bumpy canal to our next port, New Bedford, MA, which was a stark contrast to the places we had visited. New Bedford was the whaling capital of the world at one time. After whaling lost all importance, the town built a thriving textile industry. It is now building windmills for electric generation, which are under fire as well. What else can this be chalked up to but bad luck? We spent an all-too-brief time touring the excellent whaling museum and learning several facts about whaling none of us knew.
But the real drama was just beginning. We made our last stop, Essex, CT, and enjoyed a pleasant evening at the group’s favorite, Griswold Inn. Looking ahead to the trip through New York and down the Atlantic coast, it became clear sea conditions were going to be more challenging than anything we had been through so far.
Once again, teaming up to assess the possibilities revealed a clear decision. We would have to lay over an extra day somewhere before transiting the coast.
Having spent an extra day in New York or Sandy Hook, our luck ran out on the next-to-last leg back down the coast. We faced three- to four-foot seas and 15-mph winds, both out of the northeast. It was a rough, long day. The payoff was the next day; heading up Delaware Bay was calm and relatively flat most of the way. That changed for most of us when we ran smack into a fast-moving, violent thunderstorm going down the Chesapeake. In conditions like those, a solid, fully enclosed boat makes your buying decision look very smart.
All in all, our three-week cruise ended with no injuries, a couple of minor hull scratches, a few nerve-racking sea conditions, and a lot of lasting memories.
The consensus of the group after it was over was, “Where do we go next summer?”
By Alan Shearer