We are now officially salty sailors, having made the leap from sweet water to the briny deep. That is, if you count the 65 foot depths or so of Nantucket Sound as the briny deep. Let me regale our tale. A few weeks ago we set out for Cape Cod to visit friends and family for a summer vacation, so naturally we had to fit in some sailing. The last time we visited the Cape we were not sailors, now we are, or at least we are trying to become sailors. After some searching on the web, I found a charter service that would fit the bill. Cape Cod Sailing Adventures offers a variety sailing options ranging from day sails to over night excursions, and pricing that is fair as well. Captain Bob Barker is the proprietor, as well as skipper of a 2002 Catalina 36 MKII, Bounder, which is well equipped and kept in fine sailing condition.
We made arrangements with Captain Bob to meet at his home in East Falmouth, MA, where he keeps his sailboat on a mooring right outside his back door. You could not ask for a prettier backyard, as a wildlife sanctuary is directly across the bay from his dock. After quick introductions, we got straight to the business at hand. We made our way to his dock, loaded our provisions for the day in his dingy and took the 75 foot ride to his sailboat. Captain Bob gave us a tour of his ship and went through the safety checklist with us and then we prepared to cast off the mooring. To say that my wife and I were excited for some Cape Cod sailing would be a bit of an understatement to say the least.
It was low tide, something that we had no experience with given that we are sweet water sailors, so threading our way out of the bay channel was a little like threading a needle. The boat needed to make two turns that were about 110 degree turns within it’s own length to stay between the buoys. Captain Bob did so flawlessly. Some day we hope to be so capable, as we are still trying to get the hang of getting our Precision 23 in and out of our slip without a lot of wild arm waving and loud shouting. Oh well, our marina neighbors probably like the entertainment. We’re working on that.
We made our way past the Menauhant Yacht Club to enter Nantucket Sound, and we are on the ocean! Our first time sailing on the ocean! The winds are fairly light at around 5 knots, but still we are able to make way towards our destination of Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. The winds for now were from the southwest so we were sailing on a beam reach at a nice leisurely pace. The temperature was cool out on the water, but comfortable enough for us in light jackets. However as we approached L’ Hommedieu Shoal, we found ourselves becalmed. At that point our skipper fired up the iron genny for some motor sailing. This was our first experience with motor sailing and I was surprised at how well it worked. Our Captain explained that the sails still contributed to our forward progress, which seemed counter-intuitive to me. In any case, the wind returned shortly and this time came back with gusto.
Now the winds switched from the southwest to the southeast and were registering around 20 knots on our anemometer. This was more fun to be sure. The Catalina 36 healed slightly and we were off on a very enjoyable ride. We spent the next hour or so looking out for lobster pots and enjoying the day immensely. I also learned that shoals could be spotted by noting the surface of the water. Looking ahead I noticed the wave patterns were quite different in one particular section of water. I thought that perhaps there was a current running contrary to the wind, but with a query of our captain, I found out that there was another shoal ahead. It was revealed by the stronger winds which were absent the last time we crossed a shoal.
We sailed for a while longer making our approach to Edgartown Harbor, following the buoys marking the channel. With the wind directly on Bounder’s nose it was time to fire up the diesel again. We furled the genoa, but left the main up for now as we would be heading directly into the wind to an awaiting mooring ball. I would be more comfortable dropping the main sail beforehand but all worked out fine. My next lesson for the day would now be picking up the mooring line as Captain Bob expertly put his boat in position. I grabbed the line with the boat hook and slipped the loop over the cleat. In retrospect, I should have used the cleat on the windward side as the mooring ball was forced under the boat, but it popped out on the other side with out a hitch. My wife and I helped drop and flake the main sail and then our Captain hailed the launch service to come over to get us. Another new experience for the two of us, they don’t have that back home in Minnesota.
Another thing they don’t have back home in Minnesota is fresh caught cod to make fish and chips at a beautiful restaurant sitting on a wharf on Martha’s Vineyard. Talk about feeling like one of the beautiful people! Our vacation was before high season on The Vineyard so we practically had the restaurant to ourselves, very nice indeed. We were more hungry than we thought and made short work of our lunch. We took a quick mini-tour of Edgartown, snapped some photos of the historic whaling captains homes and made our way back to the dock to catch a launch back to Bounder. After a short ride we found Captain Bob waiting for us and preparing for our sail back. On our way out we saw an older 12 meter racing sailboat on a mooring and a gorgeous old wooden yawl on a mooring as well.
By this time the wind had left us again so we decided in the interest of time we would motor back to our skippers home. About half way in it began to rain. Not hard, but steady, with no sign of letting up any time soon. The weather showed up about 12 hours early, but so is the nature of weather forecasts. We were well protected from the rain by the ships bimini, so we were not uncomfortable. My wife spent some time down below getting a feel for being in the saloon while under way. I had to smile as I watched her making her way from one area to the next. I’m so glad we both like to sail. I stayed up in the cockpit helping to spot the lobster pots that seemed to be in a direct line between us and our destination. It rained the entire way, letting up as we approached the home mooring, they say timing is everything, so we were glad the rain let up while we unloaded and completed our first day of sailing on Nantucket Sound. Ah to be alive, sailing on Nantucket Sound, I imagined what it would be like doing this all the time, what a day!