New Bedford/Fairhaven, MA to Stamford, CT (Sept 20-Sept 30)

After nearly 5 months of almost perfect conditions the weather gods have finally caught up with us.  We had planned to visit Menemsha on Martha’s Vineyard and Block Island after leaving Nantucket, but the forecast did not bode well so we went to New Bedford/Fairhaven for several days to wait out bad conditions.  This proved to be a very nice alternative as we got to spend some quality time with our new found friends that we met in Edgartown.  They own two restaurants in the area called Riccardi’s which are not to be missed if you are any where nearby.  They treated us to a very special lunch on the 22^nd with so much food the leftovers lasted for several days.  We very much enjoy their company and expect to see them again in Florida this winter.

Mike and Jean Riccardi
Riccardi's Restaurant, Fairhaven

Debby with Chef Mike

Jean and Mike with Receptionist

We stayed at a friendly club in Fairhaven across the river from New Bedford.  The city operates a launch service which we took to tour the downtown area.  The New Bedford Whaling Museum was outstanding.  The title is somewhat misleading as it displayed period furniture and art as well as maritime related artifacts.  It certainly show cased the wealth created by the whaling industry in the mid 1800s.

As is our habit we stopped at a waterfront bar prior to the return trip to the boat.  And once again we met an interesting local character.  Peter was a retired real estate investor who returned to his hometown after spending years in Kansas City and entertained us with his story thru several drinks.

Colorful Sunset over New Bedford 

We worked our way south over the next several days to arrive in Stamford on Friday the 25^th.  Stamford was to serve the dual purpose of allowing us to visit Betty Moran, our son-in-law Mike’s mother, and to serve as a jumping off point for the trip through NYC and down the Jersey coast to Cape May.  The Small Craft warnings off the coast have since turned to Gale Warnings and may turn to Hurricane Warnings by the end of this week!  So, Stamford will be home for the foreseeable future.  Fortunately, we are in a nice, well protected marina.  The famous sailing yacht, Ticonderoga, is docked here with us.  Jim first saw this vessel in Honolulu in 1965 as it was first across the line in the Transpac race.  He was visiting his sister at the time.

Ticonderoga built in 1936
Still beautiful

We have rented a car and are very close to downtown Stamford and only 6 miles from Betty’s place.  We have already spent several very enjoyable evenings with Betty, and expect to see much more of her over the next week.

Dinner at Innis Aeron Golf Club
Betty, Jim and Debby

Impromptu Dancing at Betty's

Martha’s Vineyard , Nantucket,(Sept 15-Sept 19)

While docked in Oak Bluffs we took the local bus to Edgartown for the day.  Just 6 miles away it had a totally different feel to it; much more upscale and pristine.  It is full of old whaling captains’ homes In perfect condition and shops that will quickly break the bank.  After an extended walking tour we stopped in a waterfront bar/restaurant for some refreshment as it was unusually warm.  Chatting with our stool mates at the bar we found that they were also our next door neighbors in the marina in Oak Bluffs.   They had just arrived from New Bedford and had ridden their bicycles over to Edgartown.  (Younger and more energetic than us).  We enjoyed each other’s company and ended up continuing the conversation on each other’s boats later that evening.

Mike and Jean Riccardi

On the 16^th we made the 24NM journey to Nantucket in perfect conditions.  Clear skies, 75 degrees and flat calm seas.   Nantucket is Edgartown on a larger scale.  The cobblestone streets give it more of earlier time feel.  The shops are full of elegant merchandise and there are many excellent restaurants to choose from albeit all very expensive.  We chose The Club Car for our night out because it had a piano bar.  It is based in an old narrow gauge rail car that once served the island.  Met some interesting folks who couldn’t stop telling us how rich they were.  Everyone joined in the singing though.

The Club Car
midday

Mural in the Club Car

Nantucket was the center of the whaling industry in the early 1800s.  Many of the remarkable homes in town were built by the ship captains of the era.  As the harbor silted in the industry moved to New Bedford, MA around 1850.  Today the island depends on tourism from the rich and famous.  It has a population of 10,500 that swells to 60,000 in July and August.  We took a tour of the island guided by a 6^th generation native women.   Strict building codes insure all homes have the same general character with grey cedar shingles and white trim giving the island the nick name of The Grey Lady.  The oldest house still standing was built in 1690 and a windmill for grinding grain with wooden gears is still operating.  It is a beautiful island with many great beaches.  On the eastern shore ersosion of the hundred foot cliffs is forcing the movement of cliff top homes inland as well as the Skanset Lighthouse.

Nantucket

Sunset, Nantucket Boat Basin

We could have easily spent more time in Nantucket as we both enjoyed it, but the forecast for deteriorating boating conditions necessitated we move on.  Strong winds and rough seas are predicted for the coming week, so we have decided to seek refuge in New Bedford/Fairhaven.

Underway from Nantucket

Provincetown, Cataumet, Oak Bluffs-Martha’s Vineyard (Sept 11-Sept 15)

I forgot to mention that on our way to Provincetown we had our first sighting of whales.  Whale watching is a big industry here.  P-town has a fleet of 4 large vessels that take people out twice a day to see them.  We got to see them “free”.  We enjoyed our stay in Provincetown even though it was a bit cool and rainy most of the time.  Debby had an exciting experience here.  She made an appointment for a “bikini” wax and it was done by a man!  (He said he was gay?)

P-Town with the Pilgrim Monument

The Lobster Pot restaurant is an institution here, so we decided to give it a try on our last night in town.  Jim had his first whole lobster of the trip and we had a good time with the bar tender.

Lobster Pot Restaurant

Great Bartender

The weather finally cleared on the fourth day and we had an enjoyable ride through Cape Cod Bay and the Cape Cod Canal.  We stopped at Kingman Yacht Center in a small town called Cataumet off Buzzards Bay.  For an out of the way place it had a surprisingly active restaurant/bar called the Chart Room.  During the afternoon it was packed inside and out and during the evening they had a great piano bar which Debby loved.

Piano Bar at Chart Room

On the 13^th we pressed on to Oak Bluffs-Martha’s Vineyard.  After passing through Woods Hole the seas became choppy and very uncomfortable.  Fortunately, we only had about 8 miles to go.  Oak Bluffs is another interesting  New England village.  In the 1850s Methodists came here for religious retreats and camped out during the summer.  In 1867 they started building permanent  cottages in a unique architectural style.

Carpenter Gothic Revival Cottages

An Extreme Example

Tomorrow we will go on to Nantucket.

Portsmouth, NH, Gloucester, Salem, and Provincetown, MA (Aug 31-Sept 10)

It is a rainy day in Provincetown.  A good day to get caught up on the blog.

The 58 NM run to Portsmouth on the 31^st was pleasant and uneventful in good weather.  To avoid high currents and rolly dockage downtown we stayed at the upscale Wentworth-by-the-Sea marina about 4 miles out of town.  This was probably the nicest marina since we began the trip.  It is on the property of an elegant old hotel built in the 1870s and now operated as a Marriott in a quiet basin.  They had a free courtesy car for our use that allowed us to do provisioning and drive in to town.

"Minefield" of lobster traps, Cundy Harbor, ME 

In retrospect we should have planned for more time in Portsmouth.  It is a larger city than we expected and had much to offer in the way of shops, water front restaurants and bars.  One unique feature of the downtown area was a huge mountain of what looked like sand right on the waterfront.  It turns out it was rock salt.  Portsmouth supplies the entire Northeast with the salt used to clear roads in the winter.  It is brought in on ships then distributed by truck and train.

On Sept 2 we moved on to Gloucester, MA.  Our friends, Bob and Liz James from Cardiff, were once again in the US.  This time they had their son, Will with them.  We had not seen Will, who is in his last year of apprenticeship with Roll Royce, since we were last in Wales in 2014.  Over the years we have spent many wonderful times with the James’ family and this was no exception.  After cocktails on the boat we had a great Asian style meal at Ohana’s in town.  The next day Will joined us for the short trip from Gloucester to Salem, MA while Mom and Dad drove down to meet us.  Knowing we had no juice on board they brought along the basics for Debby’s famous Rum Punch which we all enjoyed on the bridge before heading off to lunch at Finz and a walking tour of town.  We returned to the boat in late afternoon and enjoyed another round of Rum Punch and conversation on the bridge.  We were sorry to see them go, but Will was off to spend a few days in Boston and Bob and Liz were on their way to New York for a wedding at the Plaza.

Bob, Will, Liz James
Dinner at Ohana
Gloucester, MA

Debby and Will enroute to Salem

With Labor Day weekend being one of the busiest in this area for boating we arranged to stay in Salem for the entire time.  Unfortunately, Debby was totally unimpressed.  In fact she hated it there.  The typical tourists were scruffy and the town puts too much emphasis on its past involvement with witches.  One high note has been the Peabody Essex Museum, one of the finest art museums in New England.  Salem in the 18^th and early 19^th century was the wealthiest town in the US.  The ships from here traded all over the world with an emphasis on the Far East.  The museum has many of the treasures from this trade along with maritime artifacts.

TurnersSeafood best restaurant in Salem
Located in Lyceum Hall
Home of long distance telephone

On the 6^th we put the dinghy in the water and made an excursion to Marblehead, our favorite town.  After a nice lunch at the Barnacle we toured the harbor and stopped at the Corinthian Yacht Club which was founded in 1886.  Jim crewed on a racing boat from this club for several seasons in the mid 60s.  Although much expanded, most of the original club remains and is a reminder of what a “yacht club” should look like.  As with most clubs, pictures of Past Commodores line the walls.  Sure enough, Jim’s mentor in sailing rose to Commodore in 1987.

After a relaxing Labor Day it was time to move on to Provincetown.  Sitting at the very northern tip of Cape Cod, Provincetown is to Boston what Key West is to Miami.  It is a remote out of the way town with a large LGBT population, a thriving artist colony and dramatic sand dunes and beaches.  It also has numerous great restaurants.  What most people don’t realize is that the Pilgrims did not land first at Plymouth Rock.  They first landed at what is now Provincetown.  They spent 5 weeks here exploring the area only to find that there was no water and little arable land, so they moved on to the Plymouth location.

Appropriately named great restaurant in Provincetown

Our original plan was to be here 2 days, but the weather is not cooperating, and we are enjoying exploring the town so much we will stay longer.

Camden, Rockland, The Basin, ME (Aug 25-30)The Basin

The fog looked like it was going to clear when we departed Boothbay Harbor for the 44NM run to Camden.  Alas, that was not to be the case.  Visibility varied from ¼ mile to 1 mile all day.  Camden turned out to be one of the most picturesque towns of the trip with a water fall cascading down to the inner harbor filled with old time schooners .    The shops and restaurants were plentiful, but we were disappointed in the bars. The fog persisted for our full day tour of town, but the sun came out the next day for the short cruise to Rockland.

Camden Waterfall

Camden Schooners

Camden Schooner

Camden Inner Harbor

Camden Lighthouse

Rockland, about 8 miles south of Camden, is larger and more industrial.  The harbor is busy with ferries, a large Coast Guard station and an active fishing fleet.  During the day our boat rocked and rolled in its slip as a result.  Not to be missed in Rockland is the Lobster Club sandwich at the Brass Compass Cafe.  The chef there won an award for this from Bobby Flay. It is truly delicious.  Another great feature of the town is its art museum, The Farnsworth and the related Wyeth.  They feature Maine artists in a well designed building and setting.  The Wyeth family starting with the father N.C., and continuing with the son Andrew and grandson James spent their summers in Maine and generated many paintings from their time there.  James is still alive and still painting.

It is time to head south again.  The forecast is for favorable weather for the next week.  We have made arrangements to spend the Labor Day weekend in Salem, MA.  The first leg is a 60 NM trip off the coast to an anchorage off the New Meadow River.  It is called The Basin and is so pleasant we have decided to spend an extra day here to recharge our personal batteries.

Moon rise OverThe Basin

Portland, Freeport, Boothbay Harbor, ME (Aug 17-24)

The 35 NM trip to Portland from Kennebunkport was made interesting by the first sighting of seals and the numerous light houses along the way.  We spent two full days in Portland exploring the streets, shops and bars in the old town section.  Portland is Maine’s largest city, but very compact and easy to get around.  One of the things we have enjoyed most on this trip is stopping at the local watering holes.  One place we stopped in Portland was an imposing converted Methodist church called, appropriately, Grace.  It was very well done with a circular bar in the middle and dining on the sides and in a balcony area.  The kitchen was open in the area of the alter.  We also stopped in a waterfront joint called J’s Oyster where we met a pair of interesting travelers from Baltimore.  They were touring Maine with their daughters before they went off to college.  We shared a few laughs there.

New Found Friends at J's Oyster

Portland's 19th Century Architecture

 We moved on to Freeport on the 20^th.  We left at 11AM thinking the fog had lifted, but as we exited Portland harbor we got socked in with ¼ mile visibility.  It was that way for the whole trip which fortunately was only 13 NM .  Our long run of perfect weather officially ended on the 20^th with persistent fog and rain. Freeport is home to LL Bean and 130 other mostly outlet stores.  LL Bean is open 24/7/365.  Needless to say Debby was thrilled even in the rain although she was not too happy with her hair appointment there.  Next door to our marina was one of the more famous Maine Lobster shacks, so we had our first lobster roll.  As is our habit we made some new friends among the locals at Perillo’s.

Chatting Up the Locals at Perillo's

On the 22^nd, Jim’s birthday, we took advantage of a break in the weather to move on to Boothbay Harbor.  This picturesque village is a very popular tourist town.  Jim’s birthday celebration took place at The Boathouse Bistro.  Too much celebration made for a slow day on the 23^rd.  Fully recuperated on the 24^th we took the local trolley to reprovision and tour the area.  For Happy Hour we went to the “On the Rocks Bar” at the “Rocktide Inn” across the harbor from our boat.  It did not look like much from the outside, but was terrific on the inside with multiple dining rooms and lounges all dark paneled with fireplaces and a very large collection of exquisite shop models.  The picture below is only a small sample.

Ship Models at Rocktide

Boothbay Harbor looking West

Paradise in "Downtown" Boothbay Hbr

Aug 24 9AM

Aug 24 Noon

Aug 24 7PM

There is a foot bridge built in 1901 that connects the western shore of the harbor with the eastern shore. The man who built the bridge also built a house in the middle.  The house is now for sale for $650,000. 

Want a home in Boothbay Harbor?

Marblehead, Gloucester, Newburyport, Kennebunkport (August 10-17)

After topping off the fuel tanks in Boston with the cheapest diesel since 2009 ($2.46/gal) we proceeded north to Marblehead, MA; one of Jim’s favorite towns.  We picked up a mooring at Boston Yacht Club in the center of this very tight little harbor filled with sail boats.

Entry to Marblehead Harbor

Boston Yacht Club

This is an historic village known for its sailing tradition.  Jim learned to sail here in the mid 60s by crewing on racing sailboats.  Knowing it was going to rain on the 11th we found a thing of the past, a place to rent movies. 

August 11 was indeed a wash out.  It was the first truly rainy day we had since the trip began.  With wind gusts to 25 knots and near steady rain we vegged out on the boat all day.  Fortunately it was a passing front, so the next day was perfect for walking the town.  The old town section has been very well preserved with almost all houses and buildings sporting plaques showing they were built in the 1700s with a few older than that.  We had a great lunch at the Barnacle then spent some time in one of Jim’s old haunts and favorite bars.

Town Hall 1727

Maddie's Sail Loft
Home of many fond memories

On the 13^th we made the short trip up to Gloucester, MA for an overnight on our way to Newburyport.  The harbor in Gloucester was first charted by Samuel de Champlain in 1606.  

Entry to Gloucester

Note the house on the hill

The next day we moved on to Newburyport, MA which was founded in 1636.  Sitting on the Merrimac River it sees tidal currents of 4 knots which can make for sporty docking.  We planned our arrival near slack current to avoid the excitement.  Newburyport proved to be a very nice town.  It is filled with great shops, numerous  good restaurants and bars all very walkable.  The day of our departure was a nice farmers market next to the marina.

On the 16^th we finally made it to Maine with Kennebunkport, summer home to the Bush family, being our first stop.  Maine bills itself as “Vacation Land”.  Kennebunkport with its pristine homes, small shops and river filled with old schooners is almost Disneyesque in its appearance.  

River View, Kennebunkport

The marina here is outrageously expensive, but we had to see how the Bushes live.

The Bush Compound
Kennebunkport, ME