Martha's Vineyard to Boston

Jim Halpin

Martha's Vineyard

Cyndi McChesney

Tequila on a mooring ball (black sail cover)

Martha's Vineyard looked so cute that we decided to stay another day to see more of it. In a town (Oak Bluffs) on the island is an area filled with Victorian cottages and stores. Before the Civil War Methodists from all over the country would come to the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting and live in tents. Shortly after the war the tents were converted to tiny houses with small front porches and gingerbread trim. The meeting house is called The Tabernacle and was converted from a tent to a wooden structure in 1879. It can seat over 3,000 people. One of the residents told us there was something happening there every night. It is worth another trip to the island.

On Friday, June 25th, we headed toward Boston through Woods Hole (a tricky channel from Martha's Vineyard to Buzzard's Bay), through the Cape Cod Canal (with the tide running against us), and stopped north of Plymouth in a town called Scituate. It was a 12 hour day with the wind on the "nose"which meant no sailing. Still, it was a beautiful day with no navigational mistakes. Yea!!!!

Cyndi has become a valuable crew member. She can roll out the furling, handle dock lines, bungee the bikes, swat at mosquitoes, and helm. I drive like a drunken sailor, but she can head for a point and hold steady. That was great because Lou could check and recheck the navigation into North Weymouth, Massachusetts, and I could observe the islands and forts along the way. She has gotten her "sea legs"and finds it somewhat disturbing when things continue to "rock and roll"on land.

Here is a picture of our "new best friend", Jim. He lives in N. Weymouth in a house he built in the mid-1950s. Jim has tried to teach Lou about the tides, talked him through the many turns from Massachusetts Bay into the Back River of the Fore River, and found us a mooring for the few days we'll be here. It's time to say good-bye to Cyndi and wait for Mike and Marlene to arrive from East Lansing, so it's a great place to "lay-over." Jim's boat (on the right) and our boat (with the black sail cover) can't be more than 200 yards from his deck. He is able to bring his 44 foot Islander to his dock and haul it out or put it in up his own ramp and store it in his yard. Imagine that!!!

Jim regularly races with his friends on Tuesdays. He's the captain (84) and everyone else is slightly younger. His neighbor and friend, Dot, is 80 and tells us that she can "tail"or helm but doesn't have the strength to crank the wench. Another crew member has a bad back, but they usually finish in the top half of the field.

On our long day last Thursday, we saw a whale. That's a first for Lou and me. Thanks to Cyndi's sharp eyes we could identify it as a Northern Right Whale. We're in a protected habitat for this species which likes to summer in Cape Cod Bay, Gulf of Maine, and Bay of Fundy. We're in the right place to see more of them. There are only 400 Right Whales and they grow from 35 to 55 feet long and weigh up to 70 tons. We saw a little guy. It would be like comparing Kyle to his dad in height. We be watching for more.