19 August 2022
Depart: Portland, ME - Simonton Cove anchorage 8:45
Arrive: Gloucester, MA mooring ball 5:15
Distance: 72.5 nm
Clark woke up early and checked on the boat, anchor, etc. He got a rare (for us) sunrise picture.
 |
| Sunrise at Portland |
Clark arranged for us to meet boating friends of ours in Gloucester, Massachusetts today. Unfortunately, that meant another long boat ride. We had hoped to stop near their home port of Newburyport, but anchorage was unavailable, and the marina fees exorbitant. They agreed to drive to Gloucester and meet us there for a visit. We haven't seen them in a long time.
The sights coming into Gloucester were familiar from our trip northwards.
After getting situated at the mooring ball, we called for the launch to take us to shore. When we got to the dock, our "Ramble On" friends - Linda and Scott were there to greet us. They had picked out a restaurant, and we strolled through town for a look-see on our way there. After dinner we had another walk through town as we made our way to a local-recommended ice cream shop for dessert. For a Friday night, the streets were deserted - except for the ice cream shop which seemed a bit out of the way but popular.
Where is everyone on a Friday night in Gloucester?
Walking back to the boat from the ice cream store we passed a tree with a face "carved" into it. Pretty eerie thing to see in the dark!
All too soon our visit with our friends came to an end. The launch was waiting for us at the dock to take us back to our boat, so we said goodbyes until next time.
20 August 2022
Depart: Gloucester, MA mooring ball 9:00
Arrive: Plymouth, MA anchorage 2:20
Distance: 42 nm
Relatively speaking, we had a short day on the water today. Dropping anchor midday is a real treat.
Pictures taken as we left Gloucester ...
 |
| Sunset from Plymouth, MA anchorage |
21 August 2022
Depart: Plymouth anchorage 7:25 (to catch current in the Cape May Canal)
Arrive: Onset Bay anchorage (Wareham, MA) 11:00
Distance: 28 nm
Today our goal was to meet up with friends of ours that Clark has known since childhood - Chris and Jack. Besides visiting with more people we haven't seen in years, I had boat chores that desperately needed to be done. I needed to get garbage off the boat. We were out of bread, so I needed a food store, and if I did not find a place to do laundry, pretty soon we would have to reuse underwear!
Clark timed it well to travel through the canal. We got a good push in speed from the current taking us along. The canal has a speed limit, but at very low rpm, we were still moving faster than the posted limit!
 |
| View of bike trail along canal |
 |
| Mural of Cape Code Canal on side of Cape Code Canal along boat trail |
I thought I would have time before meeting up with Chris and Jack to knock the items off my to-do list, but they surprised us by being there waiting for us when we arrived. They went to grab lunch while Clark and I got the chores underway. After their lunch, they found us at the laundromat. Fortunately the local tattoo parlor, across the street from the laundromat, had bench chairs our front, so we had a place to sit and talk while the washing dried.
 |
| Met this guy on the walk to the laundromat |
 |
| We stood in the shade in this park to talk until we eventually decided we should sit on the benches nearby. |
 |
| Chalk art near the docks |
The "market" turned out to be a liquor store with snacks. I found one loaf of whole-wheat bread. I decided that even if we had to go shopping again soon it was better than buying Wonder Bread or its equivalent. Thank goodness bread was all I needed.
With the laundry done and packed in Clark's backpack (small load), we all climbed into the dinghy for the ride to "Sunset Delight". We gave them a tour of the boat, and we hung out there for a while until it was time to go find dinner. Then we all piled back in the dinghy for the trip back to town.
 |
| Selfie in the cockpit |
We found a restaurant, Qahog Republic, with a good menu close to the docks. After dinner we decided to go for ice cream. We thought we would need to walk down the street a bit, but we found, Guido's that was basically joined to the restaurant where we ate, so the walk was very very short!
After ice cream, Jack and Chris left for their drive home near Boston, and Clark and I dinghied back to "Sunset Delight". It was so nice to catch up after such a long time apart.
No comments:
Post a Comment