After leaving Provincetown we sailed for a few hours across Cape Cod Bay towards the Cape Cod Canal. We motored for the last hour or so once the winds gave out. Then we enjoyed a 2 knot boost from the current in the canal, up until we came around a corner and saw a railroad bridge ahead that was lowered. Aaron had flashbacks to about 30 minutes earlier when he had built a case to Anna that there were no low bridges to worry about. The bridge operator hailed us on the radio and said he figured if we slowed down then he would have it open for us in time. That worked out and shortly we emerged into Buzzards Bay. It was beautiful with the late afternoon sun, tree covered shores on both sides, some islands, and calm waters.
A couple miles south we turned off to find a place to anchor behind Bassets Island. We saw a group of mooring balls that didn't appear to be part of a business (for rent) and about half of them were unused so we used one of those instead of anchoring. It was a very quiet and scenic spot. At night Aaron noticed that there were lights in the water like fireflies! When we splashed in the water more of them would light up. Not sure what they were, but in the morning we saw a lot of minnows in the water so maybe "fire-minnows" haha!
The next day we went to Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard, motoring the whole way. We anchored just outside of the inner harbor. It isn't protected at all from the north but the winds were forecast to only be from the SE. We hurried into town to see some sights and learned a lot at The Carnegie which was an old Carnegie library turned into a museum about Martha's Vineyard.
We spent a few days exploring Edgartown and the island. One day we rode the bus around the island--pretty reasonable at $10 per person for the day. We went out to the west end where we saw some colored cliffs and were surprised by a nude beach. Then we went to the town of Oak Bluffs where we had a late lunch with two other young couples from Connecticut who were vacationing on the island. Hi Matt, Annie, Mike and Richelle! We walked around the Camp Meeting Association grounds where they have hundreds of quaintly decorated cottages ("gingerbread houses")…they are so cool! Another day we took a walking tour of Edgartown and some of the scenic buildings. The Old Whaling Church was very cool, with trick painting inside that reminded us of similar painting in a mansion we toured in Portland, ME. The next day Aaron changed the engine oil and we poked around on shore a little more.
We had intended to leave very early in the morning to go to Cuttyhunk Island but came up with the pretty good excuse that the current would not be favorable until 9:30. That current did give us a nice boost and we arrived in the early afternoon. We were hoping to get fuel there but nothing was open. Aaron went to explore the island and Anna stayed on the boat. She noticed a boat from Minnesota coming into the harbor so when Aaron returned we both went to say hi. They invited us aboard (Susan and David on SV Winneduma) where we had a great long chat and arranged to have supper the next night.
The following morning Aaron caught the attendant at the fuel dock and filled the jerry cans with 10 gallons of diesel and poured them in the tank. Then he took Louise to the beach where she ran around like a maniac and barked at waves. She needed a bath after that. Susan and David came over for supper. Anna made a pot roast with potatoes and carrots and they brought bread and salad. Very delicious!
Today we had a very lazy morning and didn't leave until 10:30. But we only had 38 miles to go so made it to Block Island by 5:30 where we got fuel and water and then anchored. Tomorrow we will explore Block Island! Then we will make our way to New York City by Tuesday. Aaron is going to fly to Fargo Wednesday-Saturday for a little work and a doctor's visit, and Anna's mom is coming to stay with Anna and explore New York City.