Bristol arrival

Bob and Phil's adventure to Bristol RI is complete. I will write short note here but provide a link to Bob's Fujin sailing blog for you to get more details. We set sail in Fujin at 12:20am Saturday morning and had a great sail down to the Cape Cod canal. We were on a beam reach for most of the way making an average of about 6 knots. Despite layer upon layer of clothing it got quite chilly. As we turned to head west through the canal and the Buzzards Bay we had great winds, but from the wrong direction. As a consequence we had to motor for about 11 hours until our arrival at Newport, except for a couple of attempts to sail. When we arrived at Newport we were met by friends who put us up for the night - and I thought I would be sleeping on a boat and getting cold again. On arrival beer and burgers were awaiting us. What a great welcome. Sunday morning, following a great breakfast (I leave the discussion of meals to Bob's blog), we sailed north to Bristol RI. Winds were predicted to be very low, but as our destination was in sight they picked up and we had a delightful sail at speeds up to 7 knots into the marina. Wee left Fujin there for the winter. Importantly, this is where Fujin was built, and there is a story there. Check out Bob's blog site for more details

Left boston at half past midnight. Entered cape cod canal at 8:30am

Overnight Trip this weekend

Friday night Phil will make an overnight trip from Boston to Newport, RI sailing with a friend to take their boat down to RI for the winter. There is projected to be a low in the mid 40s with good winds and seas of about 5 feet. Should be a fun trip. During this time Phil will take Spot tracker with him, although Prairie Gold will be back in Boston.

Looking back to Vancouver

Vancouver

Sunrise looking over Boston's North End

So does this make us hypocrites?

On Columbus day we sailed from Boston harbor out past Deer Island through Hypocrite Channel and past the Northeast Grave. Here we are looking back North East to Boston which can be seen on the horizon behind Green Island. Lots of spinnaker sailing today on points of sail from a run to close-hauled. When we returned we bbqed Bronzini on Prairie Gold and had our last dinner evening of the season.

We were in search of Columbus on this special Monday and we found one! Not certain if the name of the vessel is visible, but yes, it was Columbus. Online we checked into the history of this ship and found the following that we have copied from a review - "Launched in 1997 by Hapag-Lloyd, Germany's venerable cruise ship operator, the Columbus was designed to navigate the locks and canals that connect America's Great Lakes. At 15,000 gross tons the ship is small by today's standards, carrying 420 passengers when fully booked. Marketed primarily to German-speaking Europeans, Columbus nevertheless offers English-speaking travelers a unique experience: it's the only option for full cruise ship service through the waters shared by the United States and Canada."

Schooner Leaving Manchester

As we were preparing to drop our mooring this beautiful schooner departed. The sail back to Boston was great - 10-15kts apparent wind and we were sailing on a close reach most of the way. Temps in Boston were in the 80s. When we got to the Boston harbor winds dropped and we had a strong outgoing tide. Since the wind was from the north west tacking was challenging - the current slowed forward progress. When a cruise liner came nearby it was time to turn on the diesel engine and motor in for the final 2 nm. This was leg 73 of the year and Prairie Gold's odometer passed 5000nm.

Sunday fishing

We watched several people in the Manchester-by-the-sea harbor in kayaks fishing. They had foot paddles to propel their kayaks and were dragging coolers and using up to three rods. We even saw them catch fish. This harbor is very protected from the wind and there are almost no waves making this kayak strategy feasible.

What's wrong with this picture?

Taken from the port beam of Prairie Gold while moored at Manchester-by-the-Sea.

Note that boats are pointing in all directions - there is almost no current or wind in this harbor. The locals who are moored put out fenders to protect their boats....We understand why after watching the apparent random motion of boats on moorings.

Strong Winds on Thursday

The wind was blowing 30 knots Thursday

Here is Fujin, the boat we sailed on today

Cruise liner taking refuge from offshore storm

Today sailing with friends on their boat