Hey Pilgrims......Engine Trouble Stranding Us in Plymouth, MA

Monday,  July 30

Left Mattapoisett, MA just before noon, heading to the Cape Cod Canal for the 2^nd time in the past few days. Hog Island Channel is where you enter the area, and there are several emergency tie-ups just outside this area for large cargo vessels to secure themselves in times of distress.

Hog Island Channel, as you enter the Cape Cod Canal

Emergency tie-ups at the entrance of waterway

It’s notably wider than the C&D Canal, where we started this journey June 20^th. 

The CCC has a jogging/bike trail running right alongside the water’s edge, with some homes nestled within the trees.

My idea of a home nestled in the trees along the Canal

Old Train Bridge across the CCC

This is the end of the CCC before entering the Atlantic Ocean

 We were able to get quite far north to Plymouth, MA, and anchored in a lovely spot called the Cowyard, alongside Clark Island. 

Clark Island area where we anchored the night before our "lay-over" in Plymouth!

Lighthouses are everywhere on this eastern seacoast, and this one definitely attracted the birds! 

Duxbury Pier Light

On Tuesday, before departing our anchorage, Tim checked the engine, as he always intuitively does, and………..we had an oil issue.  This is not a good thing !   A call was placed to the Plymouth Marina, a few miles away and we were towed into a transient slip for who knew how long.

Being towed

           

Thursday, August 2……Happy Birthday Stephanie :)

Haven't a clue at the moment when we'll be able to "sail" again....still waiting on that part from Marblehead to be machined for the mechanic here in Plymouth. MIGHT be here tomorrow, otherwise we're here over the w/end til Monday. Oh well it could have been worse, we may have been in P-town and that would have been a looooong tow ride!!  Life is good, really, but this is really starting to wear on us....becoming a bit moody with one another. What's a girl to do, except leave the boat and go shopping.  And Tim has been grilling lunches for me….that’s a treat having a hamburger in the middle of the day.

Here's our new patio

Tim at work grilling for us

           

Picked up some art supplies yesterday and plan to dabble in pen and ink. Hmmmm this could be a new passion, or not!  A must if you ever get to this area, is a delightful bakery called the Blue Blinds, across the street from a quaint bookstore, on North Street.  So, I'll eat pastry and draw, or perhaps I should just “draw” the pastries?.......hmmmm, that’s a pleasant thought!

I must go back and browse this bookstore

           

Visited a Farmer’s Market just down the road and was pleased with the variety of  fresh vegetables. Feels good to support the local farmers, no matter where you are.  The boat doesn’t have to be hauled to work on the engine, thankfully, so they’ve put us on a “free” tie-up alongside the dock, but there is no electrical supply available to us.  The solar panel’s been a lifesavor and kept our batteries in great shape.  The refrigeration, which keeps draining the batteries, has been turned off completely and we’re now just using the refrigerator as an “ice box” filling it with blocks and bags of ice. So, the fresh veggies will be used within the next day or two.  We do have access to filling our water tanks with all the water we need, so my conservation efforts have really dwindled……using more water than when we’re sailing, but still quite conservative overall. 

This is our new marina

Sharing this with a mother duck and her baby

 Many of the marinas have grassy, shady areas where you can grill and rest in the  coolness of trees, but this is truly a “working” marina, which is what we need more than anything right now, so the luxuries are not that important to us. (But it would have been nice to have had a pool to splash around in during the heat of the day) This is when I miss being at anchor whereby you can take a dip/swim around the boat to refresh yourself after a day on the water. Taking daily showers helps, but I’m getting to be an expert at taking the hose and cooling myself off !  Glad I brought along so many bathing suits. 

Lots of shade at the Plymouth Yacht Club, just next door to this marina; if you look close they are teaching their youngest members how to sail, and part of it takes place on their lawn area....interesting I thought!

 Til the part comes in.............