We left the canal on a very calm morning, Tuesday Aug 3, for a short ride to Sesuit Harbor, MA where we would meet up with Carl Pierleoni, the best man from our wedding.

Ten minutes into Cape Cod Bay we saw a whale spouting in the distance.
radio notified us of several right whales in our area and we were cautious.
ago the same thing happened but then the whale was right next to our boat.
common in this area but I don’t necessarily like fifty foot whales near my yacht. This whale kept his distance and I was glad, but no photos.

Sesuit Municipal Marina was quiet and quaint. We had a slip right near the exit door and spent most of our time with Carl and his family sharing meals and stories. The weather was pretty bad, raining and cold, but their cute Cape Cod house gave us the comfort we needed. We had three lovely rainy days on the Cape. Finally the sun came out and off we went to find the Duxbury mile we have been talking about for many years.

Forty years ago we went on a shakedown cruise to this area with Entr’acte and a one cylinder eight horse engine. Today, two cylinders and twenty horses, the engine made a difference in Duxbury. On our shakedown it took us forever to get into this harbor against the strong current and the long long channel. We also didn’t have the aids to navigation we have now and weren’t sure exactly where we were. The channel was so long and we assumed the anchorage was in another mile – a Duxbury mile – which took a long time. Whenever we seemed to be not making it we always say, oh it’s just another Duxbury and we are there. The difference betweeen one and two cylinders shortened our Duxbury mile. We really needed to go to Duxbury to put this Duxbury mile to rest.

For me the trip almost ended in Sesuit as the engine wouldn’t start when we were ready to leave our slip. We were blowing fuses and the engine seemed pretty unreliable. I was ready to abort the trip and head for the barn on an overnight passage. We were only 87 miles from our last destination . Ed has planned some great stops to make in between which we didn’t want to miss. Ed, the ever calm mechanic, told me not to worry. Well, worry is my middle name and I was beside myself because I just couldn’t understand why our engine wouldn’t start. He said it is a simple electrical connection because of all the damp weather we had in the slip. Sounded like a reasonalble answer and I went along with the man. He got the engine going and we changed course to Duxbury. Our big engine took us quickly into Duxbury. It is great to be married to a mechanic who has the patience of a saint and so much knowledge. An overnight sail in these cold conditions would have been unpleasant and we really aren’t up for it. I really have to work on trust.

Today I don’t have to work on trust anymore because Ed changed the fuse holder and the problem is solved. I guess we had this problem for the entire summer. We motored out of Duxbury against the current and pushed against the “Duxbury Mile”. It took one and a half hours to get out of the harbor. The wind started out real nice but went around on the nose so the motor started and soon we were on HarborMaster 1 mooring in Scituate, MA at 1:30 PM. Off early tomorrow for a quaint little town of Rockport, Ma home to many artists for the scenery.

The weather Forty years Whales are

The sail to Rockport, Monday Aug 9th, was wind and tide on the nose. The fuse holder did not let us go on this trip. Ed shut down the motor so we could sail the last five miles into the harbor. When we entered the channel – guess what – engine wouldn’t start when we really needed it to. Forget about trust. He had to tear everything apart again and wiggle the wires as I tried the starter while trying not to run anyone down in the local yacht club’s children’s sailboat race taking place in the channel. Of course he got it going and we made it to our very quiet spot. It was a long long day but Rockport is incredible with so much Portuguese influence. I feel like I am in a little harbor in Europe. We are tied to a little floating dock which also reminds us of the Costa Rica Yacht Club. We haven’t gone to town yet but did have a Dark and Stormy to celebrate our arrival. We are now 27 miles from our haul out location. Tomorrow we will exlore Rockport and leave Wednesday for Kittery, Maine where we will haul out.

Time for a shower, pay for the mooring and or course – dump the garbage. I have some cold Pinot Gregio in the fridge for our dinner of spaghetti and clam sauce. I am sure it will be early to bed tonight. We almost repeated forty years ago with the fog rolling in as we entered the channel. Just made it with visibility.

Rockport is a quaint New England town with so many shops. We had some more New England clam chowder and fishcakes. We were invited to a cruising club party on the dock where I picked up some good appetizer ideas. We had a beautiful power boat on the dock with us and we had a nice visit with them – mainly about the troubles of Covid across the country. It is refreshing that everyone seems to share the same opinion – get vaccinated and don’t get it.

Our beautiful last sail turned into a bust and we had to motor again. This time Ed’s repair held. He discovered a wire connection that needed replacing and that had been the trouble all along – not the fuse holder. TRUST??? We tried to sail with the spinaker but no luck so the mechanical sail had to do and we arrived in beautiful Pepperell anchorage around 3 PM. The marina has notified us about arrival time tomorrow. We went up the river with the tide. Diane should pick us up tomorrow and we will go to Bristol, New Hampshire to retrieve the truck and trailer. Thus ends another voyage of the little ship “Entr’acte” on Friday the 13th……..