The Gist:
Sailed Newport to Cuttyhunk in a small craft advisory with 4-6 foot seas and 20 kts of wind. Arrived Cuttyhunk around dinner time and the pond was very empty. I guess that’s how you avoid the crowds at Cuttyhunk! Departed Cuttyhunk at 1000 for Edgartown, MV where we have a mooring reservation for the next four nights. Rain and thunderstorms expected enroute and we definitely got the rain. Winds lighter than forecast and we actually motored about half of the passage. Arrived Edgartown about 1430 (as planned) in pouring rain.
TL;DR:
It was a Friday and we knew we had to both work a pretty normal full day on Monday. So where did we want to be on on Monday? We had Block Island on the brain, but the wind and waves were directly from that direction. We waffled about and finally came up with the idea of sailing to Third Beach, Middletown and then jumping to Cuttyhunk. We expected conditions to get pretty sloppy once we got out of Narragansett Bay but as we approached the open water, we thought – this might not be so bad… let’s just go for Cuttyhunk. Once we made the turn east toward cutty, the seas were broadside which made the motion a bit uncomfortable but much improved over crashing straight into it as we would have going to Block.
Winds were around 20kts and just behind the beam. We sailed with a full main and a partially reefed genoa. This worked perfectly and the Argon rarely went under 8 knots for the rest of the trip. Waves were 4-6 with an occasional 8 footer. A couple broke over the bow but really nothing too scary.
As we approached Cuttyhunk, we figured we would only find space in the outer mooring field being so late on a Friday. We poked inside the pond and found lots of open moorings. It seems that most normal people don’t go out in Small Craft Advisories for some reason. We got a spot in the front (most upwind) row.
Cuttyhunk is always a fun stop. The moorings are not like anywhere else. Instead of tying to a ring at the top of the mooring ball, they have a post that sticks up about six feet above the water. This makes it simple to loop your line through, but it has the frustrating problem on most boats of causing your anchor to saw through the line as you swing back and forth (what could possibly go wrong?). The trick most people do is to drop their anchor so it just hangs in the water between the mooring lines. I call these moorings the “Solution looking for a problem” moorings.
When in cuttyhunk, one must call the raw bar boat on seven-two. They deliver various seafood items right to your boat and they accept venmo. How can you go wrong? We didn’t do much in Cuttyhunk apart from ordering the raw bar and going ashore for a walk around the docks and some ice cream.
Off to MV
We haven’t been to Edgartown in many years. We booked a mooring reservation for the next four nights so we had to leave the next morning. We knew the weather would be rainy for most of the day. We expected 10-15 knots of wind well behind the beam so we at least expected to have a good (but wet) sail. The good news is that the boat got a great salt rinse which was badly needed after the bouncy ride to cutty the day before. We timed our departure for 1000 which would get us into Vineyard Sound around 1130 just as the current was switching our way. We got soaked pretty well and the sails got a nice wash as did the crew. There was no lighting or squally stuff. In fact, the wind was actually quite light and we ended up motoring about half of the distance. The upside is that this improved our power situation after the major faux pax mentioned in a previous post.
Between Buzzards bay and Vineyard Sound, we transited Quicks Hole. This is about a 1/2 mile wide channel between Nashawena and Pasque Islands. We expected here to be motoring because we would be against the current and sailing very high. As it turned out, we had a decent wind angle and actually sailed very fast through it. Along the way we noticed the cows on Nashawena Island.
We had a few showers roll over us along the way, but as we approached Edgartown, it was just full-on solid pouring rain.
Like Cuttyhunk, Edgartown seemed to have a lot of open moorings. When we radioed in for an assignment, they gave us #36. We started looking for it and realized it was getting really far from town. Along the way, we passed lots of open moorings so Linda called and asked for a closer mooring. They replied back that we could have #2. Yeah that’s a lot better. On the way into the harbor, you have to watch for the Chappaquiddick Car ferries. These two ferries scoot across the channel at the same time (because they each land where the other took off from).
We will sit tight here for four nights, get some full work days in, and enjoy the vineyard life a bit. We’ll probably make our way toward Provincetown next.