9000 nm on Prairie Gold

The winds were roaring overnight in Block Island, though passageweather.com predicted they would drop by late morning. We headed out of Block Island on a nice sunny day and got into our first race against a 47ft boat. Who says, “size doesn’t matter”? As we turned to the east toward Buzzards Bay the wind died (as predicted) so we motored (although we left the spinnaker in the sleeve attached ready to go into action). Our destination was Cuttyhunk; we have never been there before but always wanted to go. About an hour and a half before arrival the winds picked up to 15 kts so we used that spinnaker and sailed as fast as the now silent engine was previously taking us.

Cuttyhunk is a pretty place. They charge $45 a mooring and have them packed tight. There is no way that a 47foot boat could moor here as their stern would hit another boat.  Presumably this is why the large boats were hunkered in the corner under anchor. However, I would never go over there. The boats look fine with the current wind direction, but with swing if the wind changes it could get ugly.

We learned that each year 4,000 boats moor in Cuttyhunk and that the fees go to the town for things such as their sewage treatment system as well as for reinvesting in the mooring field. At $45 a vessel that’s $180,000 per year.

We radioed for oyster delivery but their driver was not working. We could go to the dock to get some. This is the first time on the trip where a dingy would have been useful. Still not convinced about dragging a dingy around for thousands of miles for an occasional use. Although last night I am sure those oysters would have tasted good.

Today was an important day – we reached 9000nm on Prairie Gold. There is a tradition in our family that was established by one our daughters on long road trips from the Midwest when we lived in Iowa. She would draw important events on the trip.  Yolande made the important drawing for this momentous achievement.

And some morning scenes in Cuttyhunk