We awoke early on Wednesday
November 16th. We had much to
do. The previous night has been somewhat
unsettling, considering the broken oar affair. Once up and about, we needed
time to prepare for our departure from Winthrop. We decided to pass across the
Boston Harbour, push past Weymouth Fore and the Back Rivers beyond Hull and Hingham
Bays to island hop through the Boston Harbour Islands to make our way to
Scituate to an anchorage for the night. We
dropped the mooring line just after lunch at 12:30 and caught the wind in our
sheets with ease. It was a glorious day,
warm and sunny with perfect wind as we whisked our way through the islands at 6
knots. We made the 24 mile run in four
hours, caught a vacant mooring ball, and without departing the boat, enjoyed
the beauty of the pleasant harbour from Bridlewilde’s cockpit. After plotting a course for the following day
to Sandwich, at the mouth of the Cape Cod Canal, we dined, watched a movie and
were rocked ever so soundly to sleep by the swell beneath our hull.
As I mentioned earlier, the
Cape Cod Canal entry was a milestone for us.
The captain had been through this canal system before as a crew member
on a friend’s sailboat. He had some local knowledge but it was all new to me. I was eager and energized, as was he, to reach
the Canal. Reaching this canal together was to be a significant accomplishment
for us; I anticipated a state of euphoria like the one I felt when we slid our
boat into the slip at Gold River Marina, in Mahone Bay, NS for the first time after
our first major voyage from the Bay of Quinte, Lake Ontario. And the excitement was mounting!
We pulled away from the
mooring ball in Scituate just as the sun was rising at 6:15. The weather of the day resembled that of the previous. We spent it in Massachusetts Bay on the open Atlantic
Ocean rather than navigating most of the day through inside island cuts, as we
had done the day before. The wind was to
our favour again, allowing us to reach the canal entry by noon. The entry is visible from quite a distance
out. We approached it easily from offshore. However, once we could easily make
out the large rocky breakwaters on either side of it, using eyesight alone, it
became very evident why the canal was built in the first place.
Yes, the day was warm and beautiful
but these waters were wild. Wild water
like this is not always alarming to us. We have traversed entries like this
many times before. But upon approach, for
a short period of time, the boat is thrown back and forth, up and down, over
and through the rollers as they push toward shore. Generally, the surf is strong as is the
current below it; proffering a mighty challenge to manage the helm in these
conditions. One must guide the vessel
through these giant breakers, taking care to help her around any hurdles, push her unharmed in past the seawalls to the centre of a passage flowing into the
calmer water of the channel inside. When negotiating entries like this we hope everything
inside the hatches in the cabin below does not get thrown out and around. We try to have things well secured to avoid
this happening. Such was the case in this
instance. The fifteen minute ride in was roller-coaster like. However, as
expected, once past that first seawall the water calmed. Shockingly smooth, almost glass-like, but for
the few ripples skipping across the surface, recapping in fact, we were on
water. There were no mishaps from the
lockers inside. There were no mishaps in the cockpit. There were no mishaps with Bridlewilde. None,
as we pulled up to the marina wharf in Sandwich. We would take a dockage berth
for the night. We would wait for the correct tide to travel through the length
of the Canal the next day. Again, our
beloved little vessel had brought us safely to a landmark, a highpoint in our
journey, a milepost. It was truly
momentous!
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| We made it - Cape Cod Canal |
Travelling through a canal
such as this is not just a piece of cake just because it is not out in the
ocean. There is planning and there are
factors to consider. We knew that. We had been through locks and canals before
on our trip east in the St. Lawrence River. But every situation is unique, as is the Cape
Cod Canal. The current at either end of
this canal mounts to 4 knots on a flood tide and 4.5 knots on an ebb tide. The tide heads eastward so it is in ones best
interest to move with the flow to maximize the time and speed of the passage. Fighting headway into a 4.5 knot unfavorable
current can actually push our vessel to a full stop at full speed ahead if there
is big wind with it. It is vital that
we are aware of the tide elements. There
are also 3 traffic bridges that cross the Cape Cod Canal. This also has an impact. Sailboats must travel in designated areas under
these bridges due to the height of their masts. Also, bridges are generally built at the narrowest points of a river or channel for cost effective measures. The narrower
the river or channel becomes the faster the water is pushed through the cut.
Ultimately, the speed of the water under bridges usually is faster. This coupled with a given rapid current usually
causes confused waters under bridges. Another consideration is the oncoming water
traffic on these canals. Some of it is big
traffic and some of it is very wide; barges,
container ships, fishing vessels and the like.
These guys cannot stop on a dime.
One must be prepared to get quickly out of their way if any approaches. Sometimes this can pose a hair-raising
reaction if the channel is shallow or narrow or both when you must veer toward the
shore to do so. Our boat needs at least
6.5 feet of water under it to safely remain afloat. Her full keel stretches the length of the boat and is 5.5
feet below the water line, another aspect we must calculate for.
None of these issues put a
negative slant on our desire to sail.
They are just part of the package; we are smitten by the experience of all of it. It is invigorating, exhilarating
and electrifying. The challenge and the sense of accomplishment never cease to
be sensational. Our priority has always
been safety first before anything else so we time things as best we can; we
wait for the proper weather, we try to keep the vessel in its best shape and we
try to garner as much knowledge as possible. (We probably would think much more
differently if we were 20 years old but those days are long gone.)
All things considered, we were
ready for the passage through Cape Cod Canal.
Once achieved, we would enter Buzzards Bay, then sail down the Long
Island Sound into Hell Gate, around Manhattan past the Statue of Liberty into the
Hudson River and sail New York City. Can
you imagine it? Can you imagine the rush?
Can you imagine how overwhelming the emotion is? Can you imagine our faces as
we look into each other’s eyes as we pass by Lady Liberty in our beloved
Bridlewilde? Can you imagine? My excitement escalates at the very thought. It will come. We must, however, get through
the Cape Cod Canal first!
Sandwich is a small but busy town.
It’s a touristy community with many museums and gardens, the elegant homes
depict the true Cape Cod style architecture, there are biking trails and
boardwalks along the beaches and restaurants galore serving fresh seafood fare.
It’s real claim to fame began with Thornton Burgess who was born here and wrote
many of his Peter Cottontail stories around the local meadows and forests he
played in as a child, the famous glass company that began producing pressed glass
here and the construction and opening of the canal in 1914. We walked from the marina to a local chandlery
and to the plaza to provision for the next few days at the grocery store. We
spent the evening taking care of some housekeeping chores on the boat so we
would be ready to depart the following day on the flood tide shortly after
noon.
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| The chartplotter reading 10.2 knots |
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| Banks of Cape Cod Canal |
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| Departing Sandwich |
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| Cape Cod Canal |
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| Heading to bridge in Cape Cod Canal |
There are many rules to
travelling this canal but those that most affected us were to stay to the right
as though we were driving a car, do not exceed a speed of 10 knots, no sailing
was allowed and one must get through the 10 mile span of the canal within 2
hours. Vessels travelling with the current, as we were, do have the right of
way so we were not concerned about the time factor. In fact, we were doing 10.2 knots at some
points heading west which put us out into Buzzards Bay well within our allotted
time. We motored out into the bay in the sunshine thoroughly enjoying the calm
of the sheltered waterway. By 3:15 that
afternoon we had navigated into Pocassat Harbour, were again securely attached to a
vacant mooring ball for the night, in
time for a sundowner in hand seated in the cockpit to watch the sun set over beautiful Buzzards Bay behind us.
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| Sunset from Pocasset Harbour |
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