Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Bay

Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Bay

 Monday 10^th August 2020

 

To say that Buzzards Bay “sucks” is a bit of an over-statement, but to be honest it isn’t my favorite sailing location. Cuttyhunk and Hadley harbor are really nice places to anchor, but from what I can tell the north shore has almost no anchorages because every bay and harbor is completely developed with no space anywhere to anchor. However, that’s not my real complaint – it’s the sailing conditions. Perhaps it’s because we are usually heading to or from the Cape Cod Canal, but we always seem to experience the choppiest seas due to wind over current conditions. This is particularly true on the return westwards passage where a favorable current through the canal meets the inevitable south-west wind as you arrive at the exit resulting in really steep waves.  Anyway, this morning was also pretty choppy. We left Hadley just before 8am with the goal of reaching the west end of the canal in about two hours shortly after the eastwards flood started, so on the approach we were perhaps dealing with wind over the last of the ebb tide. However, it all worked out as planned and we shot through the canal doing up to 10 knots over the ground. When we arrived in Cape Cod Bay the seas were as flat as a pancake and with a light south-westerly breeze we had a lovely sail northwards past Plymouth and Duxbury up to Scituate harbor. Unfortunately the winds were a bit too light and gradually declined and we ended up motoring the last hour or so. It was one of those occasions where we were making slow and steady progress but the estimated time to reach our destination never got any smaller… 25 miles from the canal to Scituate harbor at 5 mph = 5 hours; an hour later, 20 miles to Scituate harbor at 4 mph = 5 hours; an hour later, 16 miles to Scituate harbor at 3 mph = ~ 5 hours … you get the picture! Anyway, we arrived around 4.30 pm and picked up a mooring and enjoyed a relaxing evening.

One cool thing happened along the way. We saw the new “Mayflower” out sailing off Plymouth. Our friends Nigel and Susan who live in Duxbury had alerted us to look out for it and we thrilled to see her. It was a couple of miles away and going very slowly, but surrounded by maybe fifty or more other boats, all looking for a view and a photo opportunity!

 

Mike

 

42 12.176 N, 70 43.136 W

Cleveland Ledge Lighthouse at the start of the channel leading to the Cape Cod Canal

A broad reach (~145 degrees) off the wind, flat seas, light winds, Cape Cod Bay

Not  a great shot, but this is the new "Mayflower" off Plymouth, MA. (Shot with a 500mm lens from about a mile and a half away)