Cuttyhunk to Plymouth

Yesterday we left East Greenwich and headed out Narragansett Bay.  The fog had moved in but made for a beautiful morning.

Last night we stayed on a mooring in Cuttyhunk.  Cuttyhunk is the westernmost Massachusetts Island, discovered in 1602.  The town moorings have a nice tall lead at the top of the ball which makes it easy to thread a line through it.  They cost $45 per night.  They are tightly positioned which is a bit scary (especially for longer boats like us) but it was predicted to be a calm night so no problems were foreseen.

This morning we got up and headed through the Cape Cod Canal.  Going through the Canal saves sailors a 135 mile trip around Cape Cod which when you go about 7 mph is a great shortcut!  There are 3 bridges total.  The first one is a railroad bridge which is almost always up and two fixed auto bridges which have heights of about 135 feet (we need about 65 feet for our mast to clear safely underneath).  The Canal opened in 1914 and was used in both World Wars as a hiding spot to avoid German U-Boats.   You also pass the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and its training ship the T.S. Kennedy.

Tonight we made it to Plymouth Harbor where we have anchored.  It was a glorious sailing day.  We even got to hoist “The Beast”.