Day 17 - 18

Woke up Labour Day to dense fog.  Could barely make out the boat beside us.  Around noon, it looked like the fog was moving out so we headed out.  Just past the first island the fog moved back in and we couldn't see a thing.  I voted to go back to the anchorage, not sure if everyone was in agreement, but both boats returned.  ( I made sugar cookies that night)

The next day we woke up again to dense fog.  This time there was no lifting all day.  By 2:00pm we put the motor on the dinghy and went into the clubhouse to catch up on emails and banking.  By the time we returned to the boat it had started to rain and thunder soon followed. Another boat had come in and anchored in front of us while we were on shore.  Turned out to be "Cloud 9", owned by Rhonda and Steve from North Carolina.  I had met them in Rockland, so it was nice to go over and have a chat with them before we pulled the motor off the dinghy for the night.  They will be trying for Gloucester tomorrow, a 10 hr trip, while hopefully we will get away to Portsmouth, a 6 hr run.
(How bored am I after being stuck in fog for 2 days?  - I painted my toenails.....)

Day 19

Oh what a beautiful morning!!  No fog!!  We left at 8:30 am, had sails up and engine off within 15 minutes and sailed straight for 5 hrs at avg. 6.5 kts.  We had 15-17 kts winds from the west, changing to NW by noon with gusts up to 22 kts.  Best sailing day yet...even with all the lobster buoys.  Arrived in Portsmouth at 1:30 pm and Thank You! Richard and Heather for being ex- military.  We got dockage at the Naval Base Yacht Club for $20.00 for the night.  Sweeeet!  Also picked up a few groceries at the Commissary.  Pretty nice prices.  The sad news.....we're still in Maine.  :(

 Day 20

Woke up to another beautiful day.  Left the docks at 8:30 am and headed for Gloucester with a ripple on the water and 5 kts on the nose.  Looks like it will be another motoring day.  Saw a small pod of porpoises playing in front of the boat, but so far, not much sealife around.

Big day for me today.  For the first time since leaving LaHave, I've given up the helm to the autopilot.  I think I kind'a like it. :)

Okay, so a few minutes ago, while taking advantage of the autopilot to write up some notes, I was complaining about the lack of sealife.  Now within a 15 minute time span, we saw a seal laying in the water eating a fish, two sunfish ( good grief, they are ugly), and a shark.  Guess we just have to pay more attention.

Got into Gloucester around 3:00pm and went straight to the fuel dock.  Anchorage is not all that easy to find and we ended up in Southeast Harbour, near East Point, which is no where near walking distance to town, and even the dinghy ride would take a while.  So, no laundry done again today.  I'm counting on Provincetown tomorrow, otherwise it's going to be hand washing on deck.
So, here we congratulating ourselves for spending 2 1/2 weeks doing the "Lobster Bouy Boogey" without a single mis-step and then what do I do?  We Tried resetting our anchor tonight and got the "floating" line from the dinghy wrapped around the prop.  There was enough torque with the jammed line to shut the engine down.  Luckily Greg managed to get it unwrapped from the dinghy and didn't have to go into the water.  We took the boat for a spin around the harbour and everything seems to be okay.  Lesson learned - keep the dinghy tied close to the boat when not travelling.


Day 21

Got an early start today as we have a 45 nm run ahead of us.  First 3 hrs were great with 12-13 kts winds just off the bow so we did a steady 5 -  5 1/2 kts.  Next 3 hrs the wind died and we had to motor.  The last 3 hrs, wind was on the nose up to 23 kts and going full out we were at times only making 3 1/2 kts with water over the deck.

Got into Provincetown, and to our dismay learned both marinas charge $55 for mooring.  With the wind howling, I didn't want to anchor, plus I needed a shower and laundry.  We pick up a mooring and then learn the the shuttle for the marina with the laundry doesn't operate after 4:00.  We pick up another mooring and get shuttled in to the dock to find the showers are $1/ 4 minutes and when we walk 1/2 mile to do laundry it costs us $12.  Nuthn's cheap here but at least we'll be able to sleep well.