JULY 19-31, 2023

Wed 7/19 No signal plus company! at Cuttyhunk so this post us up a day late.

Up at 0730 with the thought of Aldo's pastry boat. Hailed them on the VHF 71 to give them our mooring number #255.

View of the mooring field at 0750 while awaiting Aldo's. Not as foggy as yesterday but still pretty foggy.

Got a great picture of Aldo’s launch at our neighbor's boat Gnarwal out of SLO, although they live in WY now and are taking off for the Bahamas in November. Emailed pix, mom is Karen Vaughan. Even the dog wanted to jump on the Aldo's launch! We got two breakfast sammies, one bacon egg cheese, the other sausage egg cheese on croissant. Also picked up a corn muffin and a cinnamon twist. And coffee. Tasty coffee. After breakfast went to Champlain's for pumpout and fuel. Apparently our engine is more efficient than we realized as we guessed 15 gallons and it was 10.22= 0.51 gallons/hour. Unfortunately some spilled out which we tried to mop up. Did not realize that there is no pumpout at dock, only the pumpout boat. We shifted to a dock on the North side until we could get pumped out. Laz got soap and water to clean off the diesel left on the boat and lines. The dock we were at had a hose and sprayer which we used. A few ducks came to say hi, and we threw them some of the stale bread. Then of course there were many, many more ducks. Finally cleaned up and off the dock at 10:30am heading for Cuttyhunk.

Block Island light. Wind was from the SW with waves from due S. Initially 7 kts then built to 10 when we put up sail. Downwind tacking. Built to 12 then 15 and there were gusts to 18-21 , and at one point steadily 18. Frog in a pot. Finally furled the code-0 and put the engine on for stability. Probably should have reefed a while ago. nb since we were in open waters with it blowing we did put our life vests on

Surf over the rocks at one finger coming out of Block Island.

Cruise ship *American Star* sighted. I googled them, not great reviews.

A prettier image, *CGA1*, a Coast Guard Academy training vessel. Everyone we passed going up wind was hauling

And then you have *For Pete's Sake* going wing behind us. She managed to keep it steady with the wake and waves so I am guessing she is a larger vessel than ours.

The captain of *Sea Quest*, a fishing boat, was nice enough to hail us as we were on a putative collision course. I slowed to let him pass, at that point motorsailing but the wind was strong enough I was still doing over 5 kts. He passed safely ahead.

I could hear the bullfrogs in Frog Pond but I only saw this one

Are at Soprano's pizza, had a Chairman of the Board. White pizza with scallops and bacon. Yum! Also a salad. Decided not to have the ice cream offerings on the island. *Boji* is a wonderful addition to our fleet. There is never any trouble finding her at the dinghy dock! Decided to dinghy out to *Madam Geneva*, a Dufour 500 owned by Justin and Kelly. Dan has been communicating with them on FB.. As we headed out the channel, the dinghy we saw land at *Madam Geneva* came flying back. Turns out to be Justin, who has forgot the wine as Cuttyhunk is a dry island. We agreed to meet up later.

Caught a pair of great blue heron flying by as we headed back to *baji-naji* in the canal

Crowded mooring field. We are just to the left of the mark

View from our cockpit.
Justin and Kelly came by around 8:45 and we had a great time swapping stories. I offered some Bomboy’s chocolate as a dessert. They left around 10pm as they have 3 teens aboard and Starlink, which means someone is up playing video games, lol.
Showers then bed. Off to Onset tomorrow!

Thu 7/20 Women's World Cup starts today in NZ and Australia

Slept in til 0830. Breakfast included some of the breakfast pastries I've accumulated, an apple turnover and a raspberry lemon poppyseed muffin as well as my usual yogurt and blueberries. Had the Waterman's Blend coffee today. I will need to find more coffee in the next few weeks. Lots of excitement at the ferry dock where a barge came in and unloaded lots of things.

Off the mooring at 10:15 with a view back at Cuttyhunk. It is very pretty.

Moorings had cleared out by 10a and *Madam Geneva* also had left

A Canadian flag for our friend Christiane

A gorgeous day. The humidity had dropped and we had great wind 8-10kts with gusts up to 12, of course from the NE where we were trying to go. Tacked a few times and sailed a while but then the wind dropped to 3 kts and stayed there. Furled the jib and motor sailed a bit. Took down the main finally when it seemed it was not coming back. Of course it picked up as we got closer to the Cape Cod Canal but we didn't want to be late for the marina.

New Bedford, MA. Could have had a job there straight out of fellowship but decided not to stay in MA/RI

*Captain Les Eldridge, a* wind farm support boat. Cool!

Arrived at Safe Harbor Onset at 3:45 pm. The current was strongly against us for the last 3 miles, up to 2 knots. We'd hoped to be earlier. Finally met the couple who own Noeta, who we have seen on AIS ahead of us for the last few days. Noeta is a 50’ Fontaine Pajot catamaran which they bought new in 2018. They are David Williams and Cate Hlavac Williams who are from New Zealand. They were in their dinghy looking for fuel (Safe Harbor’s fuel pumps are not yet working). We put two and two together when we saw them motoring around in their dinghy while we were in Boji and had headed over to say hello. Ended up having dinner with them at Quahog Republic.

Ominous cell as we went to dinner so we closed up the cabin and put the air con on.

Both couples ended with the same meal, the Captain Tom's Spread. Seared tuna, 1/4 lb lobster, 1/4 lb crab, seaweed salad, wonton skins and brioche toasts. Wasabi crema and pickled ginger included as well as melted butter for the lobster and crab and a ginger soy sauce for the seared tuna. Delicious! Laz and I also ordered a tropical salad with greens, cucumber, mango with a citrusy dressing. Had a wonderful time talking with Cate and David.

Lovely sunset after dinner on our way to Noeta. We did tours of each boat and ended up talking til 11:15pm on baji-naji . Noeta is exactly what I thought: No ETA. Perfect for sailing. Cate was thrilled that I sussed that our. Plugged Boji’s engine in and off to bed. Lay day tomorrow to do laundry, clean the interior of baji-naji and replace the main cabin fan which stopped working. Other chores which will be obvious in the morning

Fri 7/21 Both of us slept in until around 0900. A lovely night with weather cooling nicely in the evening. Walked into town for breakfast, to Pier View Restaurant, recommended by our young dock hand Tom

Cash only, reminded me of Hank's, down to our waitress who could be Vicky's sister. Ordered what I always do, homemade corned beef hash, two over easy, rye, home fries crispy. It was delicious!!! Laz had a sausage cheddar and onion omelette. Coffee was OK not great so walked over to Guido’s for the Hawaiian Bad Ass coffee. Got an iced decaf, since I already had a cup of regular.

Walked back with 1/2 my breakfast, just like after Hank's. Did laundry. Unfortunately my new red Block Island shirt colored a few white/light items with a pink tinge as I only did one mixed load. $1.50 a wash or dry which is a decent price. Good commercial machines that held everything I wanted to wash and dry. Also vacuumed the entire interior and wiped down the galley with a Clorox wipe. I had cleaned the head, shower and sink the other day. I love my Method glass cleaner, keeps the sink and mirrors shiny. I talked to Tim Disparte re: business and he asked me to text pictures of our trip.

Laz cleaned out both air conditioner filters and put a little bleach in the aft AC which doesn't not drain as well as the main one. Also a splash of bleach in the bilge as it was smelly despite bilge cleaner. He also replaced the main cabin fan with the one from the V. With chores done, we looked at the next few days. Plan to go through the Cape Cod Canal tomorrow and get to Plymouth. Heading to Scituate the following day and to Boston on Monday. Booked moorings for the next two nights and Charlestown Marina in Boston. Hoping to see our nephew Brian and my college roommate Lydia while there, as well as any random Exonian as Laz put out an all call on FB

Overcast so not much of a sunset, but a gorgeous view from *baji-naji* nonetheless. The 30’ sailboat due at 5p came in at 7p helped by Towboat US. Engine died. Laz helped tie her to the dock. I was minding the pizza in the oven as well as the sweet corn in the pan.

Leftover scallop and bacon pizza with leftover street corn for dinner. Had a nice conversation with Rudy, on a different ~30’ sailboat that came in earlier today. He has sailed all over, grew up sailing the Hudson and is considering the Chesapeake as he lives in Narvon, just up from Honeybrook. Chatted with the guy who came in late on his friend's boat, new to them, which had a clogged fuel filter. Chatted with my parents then in the cabin to listen to the Women's World Cup with USA v Vietnam. Nice win! After the game was over, past 11pm, a power boat kept making circles outside our dock, then went into the docks on our starboard side. Laz went off to help him and I joined shortly after. He normally is on a mooring and was trying to tie up to the face dock to load on provisions and his family for a trip to Martha's Vineyard. Finally got into the bunk at MN.

Sat 7/22 Loud rainstorm overnight has us scrambling to close hatches at 0300. Slept in til 0820 and woke with a start as we wanted to be off the docks by 0900 to catch the current through the Cape Cod Canal. Laz put away the dinner dishes, went to the shore head, I made coffee and yogurt with blueberries and honey, and we were off the docks at 0905. Not bad. Got through the tricky current which really tugs at the intersection of the channel into/out of Onset Bay and the CCC. Headed down the canal with +3-4 kts when we noticed the RR bridge was down!!! Only 10 min 9:20-9:30 but we were booking along ar 10 kts over ground. Tucked into a little mooring field on the right where a catamaran had picked up a ball and came back out after we heard the train go by and the chatter on 13 that the bridge was on its way up. Getting back into the canal had a bit of a tide rip as well.

Sagamore Bridge. At one point current was +5 so we were doing nearly 11 over ground. Whee! Lots of people fishing on the banks and we saw a guy catch and release as well as a guy haul up a fairly big one

No wake. Hahaha as all the power boats coming West left plenty of wake

There were standing waves as the wind was on our nose and 10+kts

Standing waves and the rip as we came out of the dug part of the canal at 10:20a

Towboat US standing by to offer assistance if needed

*Intrepid* a 72’ sloop with 100ft mast who followed us in the CCC

That's not a blurry photo, that's the mist and fog over Sagamore Beach

We put up sail as soon as we passed the last green for the CCC. Light winds ~5kts from the NE but always good to sail. Serenity and Freya both hailed is looking for advice on sailing since they saw we were moving nicely with good sail trim

Wind shifted E enough to pull out the code-0. Running with 3 sails for a while, then I wondered if the jib was blocking the code-0. Decided to furl the jib, challenging Laz to figure out how to do that as we use the same winch for jib and code-0.

Challenge accepted and successfully done. Plymouth is ~ 20 nautical miles from the end of the CCC. A lovely sail especially as the wind built a little for a while before it slowed down again. Lots of lobster pots to dodge.

Gurnet light, the 102’ oldest freestanding wooden lighthouse

Paddle wheel in Plymouth Harbor. Hailed Plymouth Yacht Club PYC on VHF 8 and they took us too our mooring. Some confusion as they couldn't find it so I had to maneuver around in a very crowded mooring field, but we got there eventually. Odd set up for the lines to the mooring ball so on advice of PYC we used our own line. Laz had an oops when he mistook one of our black lines for the chafing protector on the mooring lines and threw our line in the drink, thinking it was the mooring line. We are down to 5 dock lines.

PYC launch took us to the *Mayflower ll* dinghy dock and we took the tour ($18 each). She was just refinished in Mystic in 2015. With her bright paint she looked a bit like a Lego ship

A view of *baji-naji* from *Mayflower ll* . We are the one with the bright orange dinghy

Looking up from the bow. They have not been able to sail her for 3 years, even though she is seaworthy. Partly due to the pandemic and partly because it is expensive to sail her. The Captain would love to have her out again, as would the docents, many of whom have not sailed on her.

Found this friend walking along the waterfront. Her name is Stella and the other one is Astra

It is the summer of Tall ships for us. Also in Plymouth Harbor is the Nao Trinidad, a Spanish ship, built as a replica. She sailed from Spain in 2018 and is doing her US tour

No, we have not traded *baji-naji* for a wooden replica. Although her hull is steel with fiberglass then covered with wood.

View from *Nao Trinidad* showing the bridge between breakwaters

Had dinner at East Bay Grill. I enjoyed a summer strawberry salad with shrimp and Laz had swordfish. Generous portions so took some home. Seriously, the crab and lobster rangoon were huge.

Walked to find a Bank of America ATM, then to PYC. It's a hopping town on Saturday night. Apparently one of the first nice nights in a while.

The PYC launch that took us back to *baji-naji* . Off to Scituate tomorrow.

Sun 7/23 Slept in until 0830. Yogurt and berries with honey and my banana nut chocolate chip bread plus 1/2 of Aldo's corn muffin to share. Underway off the mooring before 10am. It is a long way through the channel, like HdG. Everyone out today, apparently it's the first nice weekend of the summer here. No wind to start so we motored to Gurnet light and put up the main. Motored out into the ocean and tried putting up the jib but not a lot of wind so we furled the jib again and motored on. Poor Boji got swamped as she was not tied in tight. Oops!

Not sure where the *Nieta* went around so I took two photos (it's a long beach) of the scene of the crime. The wind picked up ton5-6 kts and has switches to E and ESE so we pulled out the code-0 and had a lovely sail when we were about 6 or 7 miles from Scituate Harbor. It's always nice to sail.

Saw another boat with a bright orange dinghy but it is not a Takacat. Headed into Scituate Harbor and hailed on VHF 9. Apparently it's the town that manages all the moorings and everyone uses 9. Had to wander a bit then they showed us to our mooring. Settled by 2:30p. It's a very busy day for them today. Called for pumpout (also on 9). Glad we did as he is done at 3:30p. Pumped out by 3pm and asked the launch to pick us up so we could get provisions. Brought our cold pack and grocery bags this time. Went to Nona’s ice cream for a kiddie cone, black raspberry chocolate for Laz and Coconut Almond chocolate for me. Village Market is up another block and across the street. Loaded up on sodas as we were almost out and Dan was out of Diet Coke. Stopped at CVS for meclazine (only CVS brand available) and cortisone cream for bug bites. I decided we would take the grocery cart to the dock and one of us could walk it back

All neatly stacked awaing the launch boat. Libby came by with a full load of passengers just as Laz got back from returning the grocery cart. We loaded the groceries on, the little boy waiting with us was happy to get on so he could go to his boat and swim. A few more passengers from the inner harbor to drop at the dock and then we were off to *baji-naji.* Got everything stowed and started dinner.

I bought a Rigatoni Bolognese from Alfredo Aiello Italian Foods in Quincy, which baked for 45 min. I added extra cheese.

Scituate light looks a bit like a castle from a chess set

Our mooring by the channel gives us a great view of everything coming and going. A NOAA ship went past.

Mon 7/24. Up at 0800, put up the mainsail while still on the mooring. Off the mooring at 0840. Coffee and shared a chocolate croissant from Zest as well as my usual yogurt and blueberries. Tried a new granola from the Village Market, coconut, almonds and oats. Pretty good. Not much wind so we motored a way. Tried unfurling the code-0 but there wasn't enough wind to keep it full.

Passed Minot's light to starboard. Lots of rocks here in New England so lots of lighthouses and marks

Wave on yet another rock, with Boston in the background.

Boston Light to starboard. As Laz puts it, with an in-law apartment

Finally able to sail as wind picked up a bit

Passed a dozen eggs on Duck Island with one acorn. Just kidding, it is a wastewater treatment plant

Wing on wing in Boston Harbor. Because we can

Our Kiwi friends on Noeta, port side broadsides. They had a marvelous time in Boston and are headed North

The *Constitution* and Bunker Hill Monument. Awesome to see from the water

Beautiful yellow hibiscus, don't see that color often

This lovely planter was along the Harborview walk

Pier 6 tuna tartare for dinner with my college roommate Lydia, her husband David and her mom BarB. So good to catch up.

Boston sunset from the rooftop of Pier 6

Back on *baji-naji* with Lydia and David. BarB took the photo. It was a wonderful evening with dear friends from, gasp, 46 years ago. Love that BarB was walking so far and well after hip surgery last month.
Off for whale watching and the aquarium tomorrow and dinner with our nephew Brian.

Tue 7/25

Up by 0800 to catch the free launch to near New England Aquarium. We went in Sanctuary, one of the aquarium whale watching vessels. Went to Stellwagen Bank Marine sancutary on this fast ferry like catamaran. Interesting we had many international tourists on our boat. I heard French, Cantonese, Mandarin, a Slavic language I was unsure of. Nifty to have all the visitors to Boston

Look carefully you will see a little splash and blow

The humpback whale calf that came around the boat multiple times

Another sighting of the youngling. We saw two adults, one male, one female named Dross and her calf. So amazing. I didn't take many pictures as I didn't want to miss any of the sightings. On our way back into Boston Harbor we had a grey harbor seal swim right up along us, stare at us briefly then swam off. Had a quick lunch at the Dockside cafe. Note; the Polar brand diet cola was pretty good as per Laz. Better than Diet Pepsi for the Coke fan.

Went into the aquarium after lunch. So many great exhibits

It was raining when we left the Aquarium and we walked to Fan Pier to get picked up by the launch. We got completely soaked waiting for the launch, I was wringing water out of my top. Crazy thunderstorm and so the launch captain decided to wait out the storm before picking us up. We found an overhang to stay under and avoid more drenching or getting chilled in an air conditioned restaurant. Launch finally came and we found out the East Boston food event with 40+ restaurants at the Tall Ship venue was cancelled. Got back around 6p and dried off. Our nephew Brian Reid came by to see baji-naji and to have dinner with us.

Found a great restaurant, Dovetail, not far from our marina. The food was outstanding and the company even better. So good to catch up with Brian.

Hand made spaghetti with lobster and miso butter for me

Paccheri with pesto, feta, corn, tomato for Brian

The mini focaccia we shared was fantastic. No dessert there so we walked a mile to the North End to pick up cannolis at Mike's. Walked back to *baji-naji* to enjoy them. A wonderful and full day

Wed July 26 Had a rough night. Not sure if I ate too much, as I usually do not eat a whole meal, but it was so good! Nauseous with bloated tummy for much of the night. Slept in until 0830 as I finally fell asleep in the wee hours. Needed to fill the forward water tank and waited for pumpout, which should have been done the previous day. Not sure why not, unless it was the storm. Filled the gallon jug in the office from their bubbler. They are hoping to have a water filling station. Off the dock just before 10:30. A long motor out of Boston Harbor. Took the North Channel as we were headed North. Light wind 5-6kts from the S, so we put out the code-0. Wind built nicely throughout the day and we had 12-13kts with full sails.

Eastern Point Lighthouse in Gloucester Harbor

Beautiful schooner sailing past just before we got into the harbor. Found our assigned mooring, 14, and were hooked and settled as of 4:15p. Harbormaster launch came by at our request and gave us a packet on Gloucester. Fun fact: Gloucester is celebrating 400 years, founded in 1623. Wow. We took the harbor launch, the *Gloucesterman,* to the Solomon Jacob dock. Nice lounge and facilities for transients maintained by the town. The info packet had a map with shops and restaurants listed. We went into a wonderful shoe shop, Mark Adrian Shoes, where I got an Olukai replacement for my now slippery Sperry's. Laz got the sheepskin lined Olukai slippers that I have. Size 13 in slippers!

Went to dinner at Passport at the recommendation of the folks at Mark Adrian. They were totally booked but gave us seats at the bar. They serve hot popovers instead of bread. Scrumptious!

I had the seared tuna in an Asian stir fry. We got the peach raspberry bread pudding with butterscotch sauce for dessert. Tasty but too heavy for me. Watched Women's World Cup highlights as we were sitting at the bar in front of the TV. Took the launch back. It was still light out so we were able to fix the batten that was out of place a screw had fallen out at some point, Laz had to work to find the right size replacement, but he did and we secured the batten in place.

Looking forward to another day in Gloucester tomorrow.

Thu July 27 Tried to watch the Women's World Cup USA v Netherlands last night but the Fox app kept freezing. Gave up and listened to it on SiriusXM. Past 11p when it was finished and we read past MN just to get over the crazy nerves these games create. The seagulls screaming as the fishing and lobster boats left at 0500 woke me up but I managed to go back to sleep. When I got up at 0900, I found out we would need to leave our mooring ball and move to Stage Head in the Western Bay, which would leave us exposed to the South for the incoming storm. Laz called the Harbormaster’s office and they were gracious enough to change our mooring to Ten Pound (TP 2). A Corinthians Cruise was incoming so we moved off the mooring ball right away. I was sad to find my corned beef leftovers smelled funny, I was looking forward to cooking them up again. Made zucchini garlic cheddar scrambled eggs and toast with the lovely raspberry jam I got in Stonington for brunch at 10:30. Had my teleheath appt with Jolene Lowery at 11, she was running 40 min late so answered texts from Sharon Smith, who is watching over the house, plants and mail and will be gone for a month starting this weekend. We have set up folks to take over for her. Garage door got fixed (the wheel fell off again!). Also texted Kathy and Nick the Lasley Guesthouse details. Good appt, got to show Jolene the view and some of baji-naji. Laz tried to get us a place in Newburyport but despite an early conversation where they thought they could accommodate us, there is no room. Portsmouth is booked up due to the Tall Ships festival. We are there Sun-Tue but nothing available before then. Took the launch to town and spoke with Leslie in the Harbormaster's office to see if they could accommodate us for the next 2 nights. There is rain expected on Saturday. She was able to put us back in Inner Harbor on IH 15 for those nights, yay! Walked up to Turtle Alley, a homemade chocolate shop and bought $50 worth of chocolate. Then to Virgilio’s for an Italian sub, genoa salami, capicolla and sharp provolone on an Italian sub with sesame seeds. Got an elephant ear and some turnovers as well. Then stopped at Cake Ann and got two beef empanadas, two apple cherry galette and a couple of individual bacon and veggie quiches. Back to baji-naji to have lunch. Yummy Italian sub. Galette was nice too, but the chocolate was outstanding!

An assortment of dark chocolate. The lemon caramel was surprisingly delicious. Their dark chocolate is excellent.

Our new view of a different part of Gloucester

Looking back towards town. The boat wake at this location is more pronounced, as the No Wake sign is just about even with our stern. It was rocky enough to tip over my water bottle and anything not secured. Glad we are going back to Inner Harbor tomorrow night.

Bright orange sailboat is very cheerful sight

Adorable husky leapt on board a ketch in front of us from the launch boat

One of the lobstermen picking up pots quite close to our mooring. The seagulls were circling with loud commentary

Storm clouds rolling in. The pumpout boat came out to us around 5:30p, before the weather was due to turn.

Lots of rain, needed to put the dodger up. Heard distant thunder a few times.

Warmed up the quiches in the oven for dinner during the worst of the thunderstorm. Belatedly realized I could no longer use the oven as my Faraday cage for the cellphones. Oops! Luckily did not need to.

Stunning sunset over town after the storm blew through

Fri July 28 Tough getting rest last night with the wake and waves although it did settle late. Ran the generator an hour between 7:30 and 8:30p and then again from 11:30p to 12:30am as the meter was reading 12.3. Slept in until 0900, enjoyed pastries from Virgilio's and the cinnamon twist from Mike's in Boston as well as a yogurt and cinnamon coffee. Relaxed and read, batteries beeped at 10:30 and we put in the generator. Got off the mooring for a day sail at 11:30. What a gorgeous day! So many sailboats out! Started to go around Cape Ann, but tide was against us so decided to sail towards Marblehead.

Spinnakers out. Wind started soft 5-7 kts from S to SSE then built to 10kts.

I thought this was a lighthouse but apparently it is a home with a WW II watchtower converted to living space. Last sold for 9.5 million in 2020. Thanks Redfin for all the info!

This is a real lighthouse on Bakers Island

Took *Boji* out and caught a lobster! Just kidding, met a sport fisherman who caught one in his lobster trap.

Too small so I got to throw it back and watch it swim off.

Inner Harbor mooring field. *baji-naji* is the one with the swim platform down.

Egg salad over spinach and iceberg with grape tomatoes. Garnished with fresh ground black pepper and smoked sea salt

Absolutely gorgeous day. Supposed to rain tomorrow. We will still be in Gloucester as there are no spots available further north. Have reservations for dinner at Passports again 😍

Sat July 29. Entertaining (not) when the 47 ‘ Beneteau Dulcinea, with her tender on davits aft, swung close enough to our stern to need fending last evening. Slack tide, no wind and we were just a little too close. We let the Harbormaster know when we saw him today. Woke up a few times overnight to check for position and did not happen again. She was off the mooring first thing this am. Slept in til 9:30 after that. Made French toast and bacon with a clementine for fruit, plus coffee. With this lay day, I googled the nearest theatre and found one 1.4 miles from the dock.

Admiral Barbie ready for the movies! Barbie was quite good, somewhat emotional movie for me. Also very funny. A nice way to spend the afternoon. On our walk back we stopped again at Turtle Alley to pick up a few more lemon caramels. They are scrumptious!

Sitting in the cockpit after we got pumpout and this beauty sailed by

The *Gloucesterman* launch next to one of the other schooners, *Adventure.*

Headed into town on the launch to eat at Passports again. I did not notice the beautiful stained glass until we were seated

Their delicious popovers with a hole for butter,

I had the Cod Piccata, fresh caught and delicious with linguine, tomatoes, fresh chopped basil and garlic bread. I took home over 1/2 of it…generous portions.

Laz had the Mediterranean swordfish with sundried tomatoes and artichokes

Lemon ricotta cake to share for dessert. The cake was very light and the ricotta filling nicely lemon. Raspberry coulis was lovely as well.
Walked a different way home in the light rain, and stopped at Walgreens to get more Bonine for me. Trying the non drowsy ginger as well. I've been doing fine this trip so far, but tomorrow may have bigger seas due to the storm

Home before it really started to pour with thunder and lightning. Hatches battened down except the main one since we put the dodger up. Settling in to read and relax. Feels cooler already. Heading to Portsmouth tomorrow.

Sun 7/30 Up at 0720 as we are heading to Portsmouth. Off the mooring by 8:10am. Breakfast of a apple cinnamon muffin from Zest that was stashed in the fridge as well as yogurt, blueberries and granola. Good breeze as we came out of Gloucester Harbor so we raised the main before we left the breakwater where the yacht club is. Wind was from NNW at 8-10kts. Sailed out a bit to avoid the rocks that come out aways.

Passed by Thatcher Island with the two lighthouses, off the Easternmost part of Cape Ann

You can tour and climb the lighthouses, and there is a campground on the island as well.

The lighthouses are not as close together as they seemed when we first saw them. We continue to sail around Cape Ann and saw Rockport Harbor then Ipswich Bay. At some point the wind softened to less than 5 kts moving W, so we decided to motor sail. I took a long nap in the choppy seas. Between the storm and all the fishing boats, lobster boats and whale watching boats there were waves all over the place. When I woke at 1:30p, I made us egg salad sandwiches, adding chopped celery to the egg salad we bought. Enjoyed some mandarin oranges after lunch. Wind started to pick up, or at least we could see other sailboats moving well when we were nearing Isle of Shoals. Decided to put our sails out again and had a lovely sail into the Piscataqua River. Took our sails down just outside the turn into Safe Harbor Wentworth and docked by 4pm. Borrowed a courtesy car to go to Market Basket for milk, OJ, seltzers, Diet Coke, spinach, lettuce and yogurt.

Summer sausage, Double Gloucester with chive, carrots and hummus for an appetizer dinner

Mon 7/31 Up early to meet our friend Michael Claus for breakfast at 0800 at Island Cafe just a few minutes away. Had a lovely breakfast (breakfast sandwich on biscuit is as good as advertised, crullers are even better) and mocha and then off to show off baji-naji. Michael is a lifelong sailor. Unfortunately schedules for him and his wife Sarah conflicted with our time in Portsmouth so we were unable to take him out for a day sail. We used the courtesy car to take Laz for a haircut, stop at Westmarine for charts and a better guidebook of the New England Coast. Got a new fan just in case either of the current ones fail, and some Starbrite non-skid cleaner and protector. Stopped at La Mulita for me to get coffee, medium roast and decaf as my Waterman's Blend is nearly gone. Back to baji-naji where we did 2 loads of laundry (had to download and app and left $ on the app). Laz cleaned Boji's bottom and scraped all the baby barnacles off. We then cleaned the deck with the Starbrite. Pretty sure I didn't do it as the directions said but it was done. Our friends Bill and Susan McClure, who live in Portsmouth, were returning home from Cape Cod and came over around 3p and were thrilled to go for a daysail. Bill has sailed, Susan has not. We had a great sail, with everything from minimal breeze of 3-4 kts, an awesome 15 kts where we were going nearly 7kts, up to gusts of 20kts as a cell moved in with some sprinkles of rain, all in 2 1/2 hours.

August 2023

JULY 2-18, 2023