Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Good days and bad days

Well, it's definitely Fall, with one gale warning after the other. We ended up staying 1 week in Gloucester, with the lovely and helpful people of this port city. Then came one good day of sailing before the next gale would hit, so we made a dash across Massachussetts bay to reach the Cape Cod canal.  That was 45 nautical miles in 10 hours.  We slept at the marina at the entrance, and crossed the canal the next morning. We took refuge in Marion, to weather the next gale, which happened overnight, including thunder and lightning.

The bad day happened when we decided to leave Marion for Newport, as the swells were still present on the ocean, but because Buzzards Bay is protected, we didn't see this phenomenon until later. We were happy to be able to duck into Sakonnet river, because it was way too much for Pegasus (and her crew) to handle. We landed in Tiverton, Rhode Island, which is very protected from the swells, being 1 hour away from the coast, behind a breakwater.  The next day was very warm. We walked around in short sleeves, admiring the gorgeous Fall colors.  We are now Tuesday, and guess what ? Yes, another gale is blowing !  So we are going to wait until tomorrow to go visit Bristol, on our way to Newport. Lots of maritime museums await us !

 C'est définitivement l'automne, avec toutes ses tempetes de vents. On est resté une semaine a Gloucester, avant d'avoir une belle journée pour traverser la baie de Massachussetts, pour aller rejoindre le canal de Cape Cod. Ca veut dire que Pegasus a fait 45 miles nautiques en 10 heures !  Nous avons passé une belle nuit tranquille a la marina de Sandwich avant de traverser le canal le lendemain matin. On a tout-de-suite trouvé refuge a Marion pour la nuit, car ils annoncaient encore une tempete de vent. Le vent a hurlé a travers les éclairs et le tonnerre. Mais le lendemain, la mer semblait calme, alors nous sommes partis pour Newport, sans savoir que la houle était encore présente au large. C'était un peu trop pour notre petit voilier et son équipage !  Alors nous sommes tres soulagés d'avoir trouvé la riviere de Sakonnet, ou nous nous sommes trouvé un petit port bien protégé pour la nuit. Tiverton, Rhode Island, est un beau petit village derriere un brise-lame. 

Hier, il a fait tres beau et chaud. Nous nous sommes promené en manches courtes, mais aujourd'hui, devinez !  Oui, une autre tempete de vent. Alors nous restons en place jusqu'a demain, ou nous prendrons la route vers Bristol et Newport, en visitant les beaux musées maritimes.

1 comment:

Nadine said...

Hello!

I'm glad to see you're heading south, even if it's causing you to encounter all that lovely fall weather.

This was the time of year I hated the most when I was at sea. Even on BIG boats, you get tossed about.

I'm back to work (have been since the 16th). The aquarium's all closed up for the winter now. Working on the Crystal Atlantic Project as well, which is proving to be very interesting!

Hope the weather clears up for you guys soon!
Bye for now.

Nadine