July 2018 Archives

Chatham Fog

Under Sail

Oak Bluffs

Oak Bluffs a few hours later

Oak Bluffs, the view astern

Oak Bluffs, the view ahead.

Summer Camp Hotel. A classic all updated and hip.

A nice place to have a cocktail and a meal.

Vineyard Haven

I bought a bus ticket and rode over to Vineyard Haven to buy a couple books. Pirates stories. The VH harbor is more classic sail than OB which is party town power yachts. In VH, I also found a Jamaican restaurant that served me some very good Caribbean food which I missed since getting home.

Vineyard Haven, Gannon and Benjamin Yard

Vineyard Haven Launch

There is launch service in both VH and OB. The VH Launch services their moorings which are outside the breakwater and the town moorings inside the breakwater. Mooring rates are in the $40 to $50 range per night. The launches charge between $2 and $5 per person per trip. Bring small bills and get ready to pass them out. Dinghies have docks or beach space for free. The OB Launch is on Ch 77 and runs to midnight or later. The VH Launch is on 72 and  closes at 10PM. VH is a more sedate town! Dock space starts at around $5 per foot per night.

Averisera on her mooring in Oak Bluffs. The sailboat near us is a Beneteau 343 which is just a foot longer than Averisera and about three times the volume. A nice young couple sail her.

Images of the "cottages" in Oak Bluffs that hark back to the late 19th Century. Pretty cottages and pretty gardens. I think ownership must include a passion for home maintenance.

Two harbors and two very different places separated by only a few miles.

Check out:  https://explorenewshores.com/

Leaving Hatchet Bay entrance in 1961. We loved Hatchet Bay. Saturday night movies for 10 pence a person, cheap ice cream from the dairy, horses, caves, other kids, and my first Boston Whaler ride. We also dragged anchor one night and that was dramatic.

Hermita was Thetis' original name and she was home ported in Marion, MA. We bought her from her third of fourth owner and sailed from Stamford, CT to Cape Cod in the Spring of 1958. It was cold as the dickens.

The skerry on Jackknife Beach, Big Pleasant Bay, Harwich, Cape Cod, MA. A guy named Dave is building a Chesapeake Light Craft NE Dory nearby. He saw our boat on the beach and drove down to say hi and look over our handiwork. A local newspaper had an article about a woman in Orleans who built a CLC Whitehall pulling boat. Norm wrote to her and some day E+N will drive over to see her and then later swop stories and viewings. Nice serendipity meetings. We will get some pics of the other boats up some day soon.

Averisera on Boston Harbor, ten years ago.

A typical view: the boat on her mooring. Gee, wouldn't it be great to see a picture of the boat somewhere else? Maybe soon? Soon we sail from Stage Harbor to Newport for the New England Solo-Twin July 27-28. Mostly, I am looking forward to the sail home.

Tasks in progress are a toilet repair, holding tank maintenance, varnish, engine hour meter replacement, scrub decks and teak, fix a loose stanchion, and clean up below. 

The stanchion repair is "hopeful" as it is always getting yanked as the launch comes alongside. So... we'll see. I repaired the weak area with an application of a quick setting epoxy on deck and a fender washer below decks.