Provincetown

Hi everyone,

We spent four nights anchored off Provincetown.  The eastern anchorage has very good holding over sand, but is open to the SE.  We had one uncomfortable night but otherwise winds were either light or from other directions.  Dinghying ashore we found a friendly town with lots to see.

Pride!

Provincetown is famous for its arty scene, sandy beaches, walks and the Pilgrim Memorial.  The Harbormasters came out to visit us and directed us to a dock between the main jetties.  It has a 20 minute limit - not very useful!  There's a free dinghy dock on then NW end of the marina on the NE side of the two main jetties.

Free dinghy dock

Sandy beaches

From the dinghy dock the jetty takes you ashore into the centre of town.  Lots of interesting shops to the SW, and many art galleries to the NE.

Colourful Shops

Town Hall

On the jetty there's the AWSC Shark Center.  The Center tags and tracks Great White Sharks.

 JAWS Territory!

Interesting Displays

The Pilgrim Memorial commemorates Cape Cod being the first place the Mayflower dropped anchor in the New World.  That was in 1620 after a 60+ day passage from (the real) Plymouth.  The Pilgrims signed their famous agreement here - later known as the Mayflower Compact.

Funicular Railway up to the Monument

Pilgrim Monument

Great view over the harbour

Quick Way Down

And the original established millennia prior!

Monument History

Interesting museum alongside the Monument

Provincetown was originally a fishing and whaling centre.  The whaling ships ranged far and wide, including to the Azores.  This led to Provincetown having strong Portuguese connections.  There are Portuguese flags flying around the town and it has a Portuguese Bakery.

Portuguese Bakery!

Pasteis de Nata!

One day we walked S out of the town to the long stone causeway connecting the mainland to Long Point.  Many attractive properties on the way out of town, many of which are rentals.

Posh Cottage

And another

Causeway

Back in town we had lunch at the Brew House.  Highly recommended.

Excellent craft beer at the Brew House

Another day we walked NE out of town to a nature walk.  Wide variety of trees, flowers and biting insects.  The later unsurprising since its a wetland.

Nature Pathway

Wetland

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Provincetown.  We stayed for an extended period due to light winds.  Eventually a weather window with at least 18 hours of sailing wind appeared so it was time to depart towards Maine.

Zen Again in the background

Zen Again in the foreground

Trust all's well where you are.

Woods Hole to Provincetown

Hi everyone,

Yesterday we motored from Woods Hole to Provincetown via the Cape Cod Canal.  Winds were very light and the outlook was for more of the same.  So we 'bit the bullet' and motored.

Woods Hole Passage

Here are the usual plots...

Track

Arrival

Graphs

The graphs show we had more than 4 knots of current with us through the Cape Cod Canal at times.  Plenty of whirlpools and overfalls in there!

Escaping Eel Pond proved a little more difficult than expected.  When we called the operator we were told the bridge was out of order.  After putting a bottle of Aussie red aboard sv Apogee as 'ransom' the bridge magically returned to operation.  Just a coincidence (we think)!

'Ransom' Paid

We went through Woods Hole Passage with the current and had about 2 knots with us.  At its peak it can reach 5 knots so care is required.  High speed ferries charge through on their way to and from Martha's Vineyard which adds to the fun.

High Speed Ferry

Just a little current

It was a mind-numbing motor to the Cape Cod Canal but at least it was sunny.  We entered the canal just as the current was turning E and rode it all the way through.  It rose from 0.5kt to 3kt+ within 20 minutes.  There are three bridges along the canal, each with over 130' clearance.

Lovely Schooner in the canal

Railway Bridge

One of two Road Bridges

Being 'flushed out' into Cape Cod Bay

The calm and sun continued as we motored across Cape Cod Bay.  The sea was glassed out for much of the time.

We followed OCC sv Morgane of Sark for much of the passage.  We last met them in the Caribbean in 2022.  It was good to have our paths cross here in Provincetown.

OCC sv Morgane of Sark

Sun setting over Provincetown

It appears winds will remain calm for several days, giving us plenty of time to explore the town.   One obvious attraction (visible above) is the 252' tall Pilgrim Monument granite tower.  It commemorates the first landing in the New World of the Mayflower Pilgrims.  And I'm sure there are pubs.

Trust all's well where you are.

Woods Hole

Hi everyone,

We spent five nights in the Woods Hole area - one anchored and two moored at Hadley Harbor, then two rafted on a mooring at Eel Pond.  The latter put us right in the centre of Woods Hole allowing us to explore the village.

Inside Eel Pond at Woods Hole

Our second night at Hadley Harbor saw nasty weather coming through with the weather radar showing the prospect of intense rain and lightning.  We moved onto a free mooring further in the harbor.  It appeared they'd been recently serviced, being very clean and tidy.  We had winds gusting to 27 and a lot of rain. The following morning was foggy.

Hadley Harbor mooring

We spent the following night on the mooring and awoke to a lovely sunny day.  We had arranged to raft up to an OCC boat in Eel Pond, so we motored the 1.5nm through the Woods Hole Passage and into the Pond.  We went through the passage at slack tide but it turns rapidly and there were a few whirlpools in the channel.

In the sun

Woods Hole Passage at slack tide

We timed our run well, arriving at the bridge just in time for its 1000 opening.  It was low water but we found a minimum of 2.1m.  Navionic's SonarCharts show a lot less at the bridge but we were assured there was at least 2m - exactly what we need.

Approaching Eel Pond Bridge (aka "the drawbridge")

That afternoon we dinghied ashore to the Town Dock and walked around the village.  It has a real University campus feel to it - not surprising since that's basically what it is!  The famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the University of Chicago's Marine Biological Laboratory dominate the village.  'Tis a cool place.

Rafted-up with sv Apogee

On the drawbridge

WHOI's Research Vessel Neil Armstrong

We visited the WHOI Discovery Center which is small and a bit of a labyrinth but packed with interesting displays.

WHOI Discovery Center

WHOI's Alvin submersible interior

WHOI Ice Tethered Profiler research system

WHOI Shark Research AUV

There are at least a couple of good pubs in Woods Hole - the Leeside and the Captain Kidd.  We had a good lunch at the former, adjacent to the Ferry Docks.  And we had very nice round of beers at the latter which overlooks the Pond.

Leeside Pub

Captain Kidd's 1865 40' Mahogany Bar

Thanks for OCC PO Bob for making us so welcome in Woods Hole!

Trust all's well where you are.