Easing Into The Cruising Lifestyle

PM's Perspective -- Easing Into The Cruising Lifestyle

Now that our three crises (GPS not working, clogged sewer pipe, and malfunctioning bow thruster) are behind us, we are beginning to enjoy the cruising lifestyle.  While in Plymouth, we stayed at a slip at Brewer's Marina where we spent time with Jim and Carla, owners of the sailing vessel Shadowfax, a 37' Island Packet.  Oddly enough, Jim and Carla live in Denver, Colorado and keep their boat at a marina in Wickford, RI. Carla and Jim rented a car and were kind enough to invite me to come along to the supermarket to reprovision, a treat I couldn't pass up.

We used our four night stay in Plymouth to catch our breath (both of us), catch up on some boat maintenance and cleaning (mostly Bob), and explore the local area (mostly PM).  Once again, Bob and I experienced that when working together we perform a much better job than either of us could do on our own.  Bob decided to recaulk the space between the teak trim and the fiberglass on the front face of the fly bridge.  Ever since we bought Velomer, brown streaks were showing up down the exterior of the cabin at the rear of the boat.  These streaks appeared to be leaching tannin and difficult to remove as they stained the fiberglass.  Three long runs needed recaulking.  The first run Bob did by himself using the caulking gun while I was out on one of my walks.  I didn't stay out long enough and when I returned I saw that the line did not look pretty.  It was much too thick and gloppy.  Removing the excess caulking was very tedious and painstaking.  There had to be a better way.  I recommended using painter's tape which we have aboard.  We taped the second run, Bob recaulked using much less than before.  This looked pretty good but we left the tape on just a bit too long so the edges looked a bit raggedy to our eyes.  However, it was good enough!  The third run came out perfect.  We are happy to report that the brown streaks appear no more!

While on one of my several walks through town, I heard this voice behind me saying, "PM, PM!"  I looked behind to find Katie Turner, baby Eleanor in her stroller, and Emma, Katie's friend from the UK who was visiting for a few days helping them sail.  The four of us spent a delightful hour or so together.  Just in the last few days, Eleanor has begun to walk. Katie was concerned that living on a sailboat would hinder Eleanor's walking development.  Not to worry!  Eleanor just loves her new found skill and is quite adept at it.  You go girl!  I so enjoy witnessing such events and seeing the look of accomplishment on the face!

On July 29, 2014 (remember that date!) under sunning skies we left Plymouth heading for Kingman Yacht Center in Pocasset on the southwest shore of Cape Cod.  I was at the helm and took Velomer through the Canal without using the autopilot.  This really gave me the opportunity to feel the response time between the movement of the helm and the reaction of the boat.  The tide was going with us and we benefited from a 4 knot lift from the tide.  We were the last boat through the canal before the railroad bridge came down.  We picked up a mooring at KYC.  At the time we came through the canal, little did we know that we did so on the 100th anniversary of the opening of the canal.  That night from our mooring, we watched a phenomenal display of fireworks in celebration.

Our three days at KYC gave us the time to do laundry,  ride our bikes along the Cape Cod Canal, visit the canal's Visitor's Center where we bought activity books for Tryg and Ani, lunch at Cafe Chew and explore the Town of Sandwich.  Our next major decision was where do we go next?  After visiting the Charles W. Morgan whaling ship in Boston, the only logical place was New Bedford, the whaling capital of America and the starting point of the Pequod's final voyage.  Bob called ahead for mooring information and found a great deal at Bayliner Shipyard, a mooring for a mere $25/night.  The only problem was the mooring balls have no pennants (lines that extend from the mooring ball to the boat).  Boaters need to supply their own pennants.  Fortunately, KYC has an incredible parts department (as well as exquisite shipyard staff) that were able to fashion one for us.  The problem was how to figure out how to pick up the mooring without a pennant.