Daily Archives: 1 9 July 14

Wednesday, 9 July

It’s always handy to have but sailing the Northeast would be a real challenge without a copy of Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book. One supposes it’s less critical with a motoryacht that just powers through an adverse current. But a vessel that does just five-plus knots at slack tide won’t make much way against a five-knot current.

So it was that Eldridge was consulted before leaving Marion to enter Hog Island Channel which feeds into the Cape Cod Canal. The wind still blowing out of the south would conspire with an ebb current from the Canal to build a nasty chop.

Bird Island, with its landmark light, is named not of #33 of the Celtics but for the terns that flock there.

So it was that Steadfast did not get underway ‘til nearly noon, motoring past Ram Island, then setting the genny for a brisk beat eastward before turning nor’east to a broad reach round Bird Island with its now abandoned landmark lighthouse.

The late start was not an issue this day, since the destination—Onset Bay—lay just a little more than nine nautical miles away. Entering Hog Island Channel, the genny was furled and Little Red took over for the remaining four-and-a-half NM, covered at a quick pace, thanks to the fair current.

Onset Bay is well-sheltered against the southerly that continued to blow through the day and night. There was time to go ashore and explore the village less than a mile from the dinghy dock at Onset Bay Marina. A Pink Floyd cover band was setting up for a concert in the park and added “Another Brick in the Wall” to dinner aboard.

Gingerbread of Victorian homes that rim Onset Bay bask in the golden glow of another sunset.

The principal entertainment for the evening, though, was another pastel sunset. To enjoy that, no reference book was needed.

Steadfast out.