Where did those 2 weeks go???

Wow, where did those 2 weeks go.!! Seems like it was just yesterday that we started trying to fix the boat  transmission. When we paid the bill we had stayed in the Marina for 14 days. Today we left the city and are back in a quiet harbor in the Boston Harbor Islands.  It seems that everything we think we knew, was wrong. The transmission is fine and we are still not sure of what the problem is with the engine ( old age comes to mind) Currently the engine is back in the boat, running ( rough) but the alternator is no longer working. Transmission sounds worse than ever but we have been assured it only sounds bad, there are no problems with it. We decided we needed to re-power the boat. Britt is tired of trying to keep the Yanmar running and spending all of his time contorting his body to get to the various places in the engine room he needs to access in order to "fix" the engine (a never ending process!!). After a lot of research Britt decided on a Beta Universal Engine, we ordered it last week. Now, we are trying to limp our way back to Delaware City where Britt plans to take out the Yanmar for the last time and install the new engine. Of course, the project list just keeps getting bigger and bigger, while he is at it he will replace all the hoses, rewire the engine, clean out the bilge, re-bed the engine supports, pull the drive shaft, install a new one....... the list will go on and on. He was saying two weeks, now he is thinking a month.. So much for our summer of fun. The good news is that he is capable of doing all the work which will save us a lot of money and we have wonderful cruising friends in Delaware who have offered us a place to live and use of a car. We are very lucky folks. Now, we are waiting for weather to travel the 300plus miles south and west. Summer season the wind usually comes from the SW so, we wait, and hope that a day or two of unusual winds will show up and let us get this project started. Keeping the Dream Alive. Teri and Britt

the return of service and courtesy

Sea Otter is safely tucked into a berth at Boston Waterboat Marina. We are having transmission problems and needed a safe place to make repairs. The Marina has been more than helpful. We wanted a mooring but they don't have one available until Monday so they are letting us stay on an end dock for the same price as a mooring. We need to remove the transmission tomorrow in order to get it to the repair shop on Monday, the marina has a launch boat and is willing to take us out to our mooring at no coat. Two very helpful and courteous young men helped us into the slip. This is not the first business that has bent over backward to be helpful. The first shop we called about the transmission was too busy to help and they took the time to give us two other numbers of shops that maybe could assist us. As I was shopping in the supermarkets I found the clerks eager to assist, When I went to J.C. Penney's for a skirt the sales staff took extra time to make sure I was happy with my shopping experience. This is SO DIFFERENT from our experience 5 years ago in America. I assume when times were good, service and courtesy was not needed to make money. Now, as times have changed it feels as if we have gone back to the times of my youth when people were just genuinely helpful. This is also vastly different from our experience in the Caribbean. Except for some notable exceptions, most of the stores and businesses down there don't worry about what kind of service they are giving you. I have felt at times that I was interrupting something important just wanting to pay for my merchandise.
Keeping the Dream alive, Teri and Britt S/V Sea Otter

log of Sea Otter 7/7

Hello All, We are sitting at Anchor near Peddock Island in the Boston Harbor enjoying the peace and quiet of this beautiful summer morning. It is certainly a lot different this far north. Being used to warm water and almost constant trades in the Caribbean we have to change how we do things and what we look for in weather windows and anchorages here on the East Coast. First thing that has changed is our clothing. It is COLD up here. The water temperature is in the low 70’s and the air temp hasn’t been much better. When we do have wind, the wind chill is forcing us to don sweat pants and jackets. The second thing is that the wind comes from ANY direction.  And is very variable. They say the normal wind patterns in the summer are from the Southwest but frequently we are finding winds from the North and the East. This makes deciding which side of an island makes a good anchorage a bit problematic. It reminds me of being in the Bahamas and constantly changing anchorages to accommodate the wind shifts. The third thing that is different is all the regulations and the prevalence of expensive mooring balls in all the good anchorages. Almost all of this area is a No Discharge Zone; the good news is Pump Outs seem to be free in Mass.  The mooring balls range from $30 (in the Boston harbor Park) to $60 in some of the more popular areas. We are currently “anchoring at our own risk” in the park. There seems to be plenty of room here in 8 feet of water but we have a lot of rode out because the tide is over 10ft here... We are beginning to get used to checking the tide cycle before we anchor to make sure it is a good place. And the fourth difference is the FOG. We had to skip a day’s sailing on Monday because the fog was so thick we couldn’t see 100feet in front of the boat. Even with radar it is nerve-wracking to try and move thru Pea Soup.

All is well here on Sea Otter; we left Cape May June 29th and managed to sail for almost 24hours before the winds died on us.  We went directly to Cuttyhunk MA. Where we took a mooring ball for the first night ($40) and then went out to the anchorage for the next 2 nights. Cuttyhunk is a wonderful, quiet, old time town. It is a “DRY” town, so, no bars and really no restaurants. (A local family does put on a Lobster feed twice a week in summer). A great place to walk, relax, and chat with locals. We enjoyed our time there. Next we took off for the south side of the Cape Cod Canal. We took on fuel and found out about the free pump outs in Onset harbor where we anchored for the night awaiting a favorable tide going thru the canal. We met another boat from Maryland, Magdalena, who gave us some pointers on going thru the canal and we upped anchor at 8:30 the next morning for our passage north. The canal was a breeze. We averaged over 9knots and made it thru in less than 2 hours. When we got to Cape Cod Bay there was a little wind so we turned the engine OFF and sailed for the next 8 hours until we got to the south entrance to the Boston Harbor. As per usual it took 3 hours to go the last 5 miles; both wind and tide were against us. It is taking some getting used to these swift running currents around islands, cuts and buoys.  Blink and the boat is 300 feet from where you want it and trying to beach herself. You can’t just point her  where you want to go. There were times that we were crabbing at over a 45 degree angle to get around a point. As the navigator I need to pay more attention to the tides and currents.  Sea Otter only does 5.5 knots on a good day under power, a 4 knot current against us means we are almost at a standstill.

We met Magdalena again at the anchorage in Peddock Island and had drinks and appetizers and a great chat.  We picked their brain about Maine and even though they had to leave early this morning, before they left they rowed over with a list of “Great Places in Maine” to help us when we get further north.  I love how cruisers take the extra time to help one another. Suzanne is an Artist also and I look forward to painting together when we catch up with them further north.

Britt is busy this morning getting our spinnaker ready to use.  Winds have been so light up here and are so frequently aft of the beam he hopes that we will be able to get more sailing time in with a spinnaker option.  Our heavy “Yankee” just isn’t enough sail for us in these light winds...

We will visit Boston tomorrow, visit with family and hang out here a while.

 Keeping the Dream Alive, Teri and Britt. S/V Sea Otter