Cape Cod Canal

Thursday, 10 July

Cape Cod Bay is slick calm, barely a ripple scratching its dark mirror-like surface. The southerly that chopped up New England waters for a week or more finally blew itself out with overnight ostentation, a drip draining to downpour punctuated by jagged lasers and rumbles of timpani.

So Steadfast gets no boost from the wind today, no way. It’s all up to Little Red, turning her usual 2200 times a minute but with a big boost from a fair current.

The Army Corps of Engineers keeps a watchful eye on vessel traffic in the Cape Cod Canal.

After the requisite check with Eldridge confirmed the time of departure, Steadfast motored out of Onset Bay a bit after 1400, turning nor’east to head up Cape Cod Canal. What was less than a half-knot current at the start swelled quickly. As water speed slowed, speed over ground grew. Six, then seven-plus, and by the Sagamore Bridge more than eight-knots. Sweet.

One of three spans that cross the canal, the railroad bridge remains up except when trains approach.

Sandwich Town Marina—the preferred choice for the night—confirmed that no berth was available tonight nor through the weekend. But the always hospitable Harbormaster in Plymouth assured a town mooring would be there for the night. A bit of a stretch, committing to 28-plus-miles so late in the day, but

alternatives were few, as in none. So through the canal, she turned north and Little Red revved on.

As it turns out, the trip couldn’t be less eventful. The fair current continued up Cape Cod Bay and Steadfast is into Plymouth Harbor—within sight of the Mayflower II—before 1830, just four hours, 20-minutes after leaving Onset, average speed more than 6.6 knots!

Now in private hands, Duxbury Light still serves mariners, marking the channel into Plymouth Harbor.

Aboard under a nearly full moon, the night passes quietly, much like the waters of Plymouth Bay beyond the maze of beaches, shoals and dunes that protect the inner harbor. NOAA thinks it’ll be like this a couple of days, meaning not much sailing to be done on Cape Cod Bay. But that’s okay; there’s lots to see and do in Plymouth.

Steadfast out.