Captain’s log Monday June 20th 2015 “Home Sweet Home”
Captain Bob, Wilma, and The Miami Mermaid completed the 20 day 1,700 mile Intercoastal Waterway trip! I would like to thank the Mermaid for the strength she demonstrated underway. She is pretty old, but has the will and strength culminating in an amazing 18,000 plus hours on a single Perkins 165hp Turbo engine, they normally last 10,000 hours and she is still running strong.
OK, back to the last leg. I left
at 8:00 am on the top of the flood tide (high tide) that took me through the Cape Cod Canal going North, with the current at my back. In neutral you will hit 10 mph going through the 7 mile leg!
The Cape Cod Canal passage cuts across the neck of Cape Cod from Buzzards Bay, with New Bedford to the north side of Cape Cod Bay. This cuts the long and arduous 135 mile trip around Cape Cod. The Canal opened up in 1914. It was 15′ deep and 100′ feet wide. During World War 2 the Canal was heavily used to avoid attacks by German U boats that lurked offshore. Now It’s the modem day version of the worlds widest sea level canal and has a controlling depth of 32′ and minimum width of 450′. You came a long way baby!
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All the way up from Florida I was lucky, I had good weather,but leaving that morning it was miserable. Fog and rain, and it lasted the whole way.
All right, what am I crazy? It is June 20th, and I’m freezing. OK, that does it, I’m turning around and going back to Florida.
I did go by a cool lighthouse, I knew I was getting close to home. There goes that smell of Boston Baked Beans & Fenway Franks, what is it with that?
Minors Light right outside Scituate Harbor, it is famous up and down the coast as the “I Love You Light” for it’s 1-4-3 flashing light, meaning I Love You. Many weddings take place out there on chartered boats.
Graves Light, an aid to get you into Boston Harbor. Unlike most big cities, Boston has within it’s harbor and immediate environs, dozens of friendly yacht clubs, protected mariners, secluded anchorages, boatyards and facilities for recreational crafts, many which welcome cruising boats.
Fascinating sightseeing is within easy distance from any dock. Nearby are many historic towns and resorts to visit by dingy.
Approaching Boston, the fog was like thick pea soup, I could not see a thing. The big cargo ships, 12 stories high, blowing their fog horns, was pretty scary, and very hard to navigate into port. I was all fatigued out at that point, and I had no radar. Hello, I’m from Florida, I’ve seen fog twice in 30 years. This is why I wanted to do Trawler School in Boston. This is a one time deal.
Yahoo I made it to my dock!!!
10 to 12 foot tides good thing I’m on a floating dock.
Low tide look at the ramp.
It’s a long way uptake ramp on low tide.
Ramp at high tide much better.
Miami Mermaid on the very end of dock, right hand side. On a clear day, Logan airport and the Boston skyline. This is my back yard for the next 3 months, what a view!
I DID IT!!! ‘Feeling no pain, drinking Champagne’
Look what I found on the dock, and thank you Justin, what away to end a dream come true journey.
Thank you for reading my daily blogs for the last 20 days. I have one more very special one tomorrow. All good things must come to an end.
Now it is time for clean up. I have 3 back-to-back, 3-day, 4-nights trawler school charters, and I’m off July 10th, and that’s for July. August I’ll do only 2 charters, 2 more in September, and back to Florida on September 21st. I’m booked with 2 sets of clients going back.
Good night
Sea U
Captain Bob Over & Out
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