Boston to New York City - Day 1

Farewell to Boston

[Kyle] Maryanne and I both really loved Boston. It's such a wonderful, vibrant, historic city with a certain charm that makes us feel glad to have had the chance to live within it. The day before we left was just perfect. Summertime had finally arrived, albeit a tad late, and the weather was gorgeous and clear. I felt a real twinge of sadness as my ferry pulled away from the waterfront and began weaving its way amongst the boats and islands of the harbor towards where Footprint was tugging at her mooring, ready to go. Almost everywhere that Maryanne and I have been, we could have happily spent longer but eventually the urge to go becomes stronger than the urge to stay and we find ourselves standing on tippy toes trying to see what's over the horizon.

We got the sails up right after sunrise and made a short tack through Hull Gut to get out of Hingham harbor (right when a ferry showed up. Why does that happen?). Then we turned downwind and just flew down the coast having achieved the rare combination of perfect wind speed and direction, fastest point of sail and a following current on a beautiful, clear summer morning. Looking forward at the sea and the sky, I was convinced I saw a blue shift, but then how would I know?

Crazy waters of Cape Cod Canal

We made such good progress down the coast during the day that we arrived at the Cape Cod Canal several hours earlier than we had originally anticipated. Instead of arriving with a favorable current through, we ended up bucking the maximum head current. The tidal range on the Cape Cod side is around 9 feet, while on the Buzzards Bay side, it is only 3 feet or so. This makes the current through the canal fierce. At normal cruising RPM and with the mainsail up in a tailwind, no less, we still had people on the path along the canal pass us and then recede into little dots while strolling.

Sunset in Onsett Bay - great end to a long day

Eventually, we made it to tho other side and found a picturesque anchorage right off the canal on Onsett Bay, MA, right next to a little wooded island (that's for sale, by the way.).

Where are we now?

[Maryanne]Now we have our satellite phone working, we are finally ready for our next major passage (from North Carolina to Antigua in October). When that far off shore for a passage that may take a couple of weeks, we still like to keep in touch with our family on our progress - we found we can post position reports (via our satellite phone) with a group called YOTREPS- so we are currently testing it and making sure we can present our position. We put a link on the blog, but you can see the progress of Footprint here too.

Yotreps only allows updates to position every 3 hours, so while we are (currently) so close to land, it will often look like we are sailing across land. Also it only allows degrees and minutes - rather than seconds (or decimal minutes) for a location - so it may even appear that we are anchored on land - but the point is the system seems to work and we are comfortable about our next major offshore passage :-)

Name this Building

[Maryanne]On my last full day in Boston, I stole away from preparing the boat for our early start the following morning, and aimed to use up the last of my public transport card for Boston with what I planned to be a quick tour of a few of the free sites.... On my tours I came across this building - it is beautiful - I admit these aren't the best pictures in the world, but can you guess what it is?

Did you guess? Nope? Well it is the Boston Public Library, the first free library in the country and just stunning - what a beautiful setting. To be precise, the The McKim Building. The offer a free architectural tour daily and If you are ever in Boston I absolutely recommend it. I hadn't intended to go to the library but (cheap as I am) I had noted it had a free tour.

I first went to the Custom House Tower where there is a 26th floor observation deck over the city - that is supposed to be really good. The tower currently a Marriott time share building, but they have a daily schedule for public viewing from the observation tower. I turned up for the 10am tour, only to be told they changed it to 2:00pm. Doh! So I moved on to Faneuil Hall. We had seen the outside of it on our Freedom Trail tour, but this time I went inside for the free presentation. This meeting hall has a huge part to play in American History, and is neatly preserved - the bottom floor, an old market place, now basically a small shopping mall, the 2nd floor the meeting Hall, and above that the home of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts with a snazzy little museum of their artifacts.


Next I went for the Black Heritage Trail Tour (another free tour). My knowledge of Black American History just about tripled, and it really was a very well presented walking tour, ending at the museum (also free). Boston has a rich Black history as one of the early free states, and the tour focused on the South side of Beacon Hill, where the early free black community settled in Boston. By the time I'd finished at the Black Heritage trail, I'd missed my chance to return to the Custom House so I picked the next tour (2:30 at the library) - I had to sprint a little, but I made it; and as you can see I'm glad I did.

Whilst on the library tour the guide told us about the Trinity Church just across the square and described it as one of the 10 most beautiful buildings in America. I decided I couldn't miss it and paid the $6 for a self guided tour. Pretty impressive, but I'm not sure how it ranks #10 and I could not find any evidence that such a list even exists. By then the day was getting late, an I knew I still had to get and stow last minute grocery supplies - so I rushed the tour and rushed back to the boat (and I still had $s left on my transit card!).


Whew - a hectic day, way longer than I had planned, but I'm so glad I made those extra tours. I'm writing this we are crossing the Massachusetts Bay, heading south. Kyle is grinning, sailing downwind with full main and the screacher up - all is well with the world. Farewell Boston.

More Boston Sightseeing

[Maryanne]Boston (and its surrounding area) has a huge selection of things to keep you busy and entertained. Given the time constraints of Kyle and work, we prioritized our list.. Finally we were down to the last chance stuff, and we decided on the following 3 things


1 - Harvard University in Cambridge
We really enjoyed this, and especially the student run/owned Unofficial Tour which was a great mix of comedy and interesting facts during an hour walking tour of the campus. The grounds and buildings are just as you would expect (although for an ivy league university, quite lacking in Ivy in the main campus; we managed to find some in the University Museums ).


2 - The Good News Garage
You may wonder why a garage is on the tour itinerary at all, even more so for a couple without a car - but this is the garage of the "tappet brothers", Click and Clack - the NPR lousy radio show hosts of Car Talk! We love the show and were so close we made sure we'd swing by. Ray works there pretty much full time, but was out that day. The staff seemed remarkably un-phased by tourists and were really helpful, and even apologized that Ray was out that day (Implying that he normally sets time aside for those that take the detour to visit).

Juvenile African Penguin

3 - New England Aquarium
I've seen LOTS of aquariums, but still can't resist. Kyle was especially taken by the Penguins, and they had some impressive Sea Horse species (the large Leafy Sea dragon that can grow up to 45cm or 1.5'). The Aquarium is right on the Boston City waterfront so we enjoyed one last amble around the area, along with chowder for Lunch at the Legal Seafoods restaurant. The food was good, but does not deserve the place in Patricia Schultz’s guidebook, 1000 Places to See Before You Die.

Oh well.. We're moving on soon so the other Gems of Boston will need to wait for another time. I'll see if I can't sneak in a side trip into Boston on my own, once I'm sure I have the boat all ready for our next leg to NY.

My Little Crusades

[Maryanne]I've always been frustrated by the privileges given to cars (compared with public transport, walkers and cyclists). Sidewalks that are overgrown beside the busy freeway, leaving me to either purchase a machete or dodge the local traffic. All those things annoy me. Why put up with them when you can find someone with the power to fix it to complain to?

Big on pedestrian rights, especially since I've moved to the USA where even the police just drive right over a zebra crossing while you are crossing on it; they just swerve around you. It frustrates me that drivers here seem to think they have the right of way from their warm/dry/air-conditioned cars sat on their butt, in conditions where I not only have the legal right of way, but I'm out in the elements often carrying groceries or laundry... Both common courtesy and the law would expect they give way to the pedestrian in a crossing. So where I can I make my point and FORCE my right of way (as you can imagine I'm not too popular with drivers).

More recently (since being in Boston) I've noticed the local stores don't provide bicycle racks. I tried making my point by securing my bicycle to especially inconvenient places, but subtlety was obviously not going to work. At the local Lowe's (DIY Store) I secure my bike to whatever big display they have outside the front doors; sometimes a lawnmower, more recently a wood splitter contraption. Otherwise I'm left to secure it to local street signs, not always convenient. I get kind of miffed when all those cars get to park so close to the door, and I have to walk way over to the other side of the parking lot after cycling all the way there.

In the end, at the local "Stop and Shop" supermarket, I asked to speak with the manager. She clearly (even not knowing my topic for discussion) did not want to talk to me and kept me waiting for 45 minutes. She obviously didn't know who she was dealing with, I waited her out (you can do that when you are retired). I was calm and factual. I pointed out that not only did they not have a bicycle rack for me, coming from the local marina, but there was a whole new development opening just a couple of blocks away - surely it would be a good investment - I even threw in high gas prices etc for the catch. She was non-committal, suggested others had said the same thing, but it was out of her hands. She was keen for me to finish... blurbed on about the landlord, etc. But guess what? A week later a bicycle rack appeared. Pretty cool eh? I was shocked, and pretty glad I waited those 45 minutes.

Kyle Bonds with the Head

[Maryanne]This week (again) our toilet stopped pumping. Since Kyle insisted on fixing the toilet alone the previous time, I told him it is now his domain since he still hasn't shown me what to do... Well after taking the toilet apart 6 times in one day this week, he made pretty sure I'd be able to do it next time.

The toilet is now overhauled so completely (new seals, everything) that I doubt there will be a problem for at least another year, by which time I expect to report I have forgotten everything, and it still Kyle's job! (I hope I can get away with it).

But the real reason I'm writing this post is to share some of the (Publishable) comments I heard from Kyle while he was in the middle of all this. Just to give you a feel for the moment.

While removing the bolts that hold the pump unit in place: A person's face should only need to be this close to the toilet bowl while throwing up.

Sarcastically: There is no better way to bond with your boat than to work on the head.

More Sarcasm: Wake up! What shall I do today? I'd like to fix my head, but so often you end up wasting your time sailing.

When we finally did go sailing, we had a host of new engine issues which kept us busy (all now resolved) - We had an Advanced Boat Maintenance Course - according to Kyle, although I'm pretty sure he'd rather be sailing.

Pretty Chuffed with Myself

[Maryanne]You may think this is strange for a person who has lived aboard a sail boat for 6 years - but I had never taken the boat off on my own (Without Kyle aboard). At first it was simply I didn't have the opportunity (Work certainly got in the way, and I while I was at work, Kyle would often set off on his own). Then Kyle was always around anyway, or if he wasn't I was busy doing laundry, and grocery shopping in a strange town.

Of course I have single handed the boat (during watches while Kyle slept), But I had never been the only one aboard and set off anywhere.

Finally this week I did it. Kyle had an early show at the Logan Airport and none of the public transport systems would get him there in time. To avoid another taxi fare, we decided to sail over and anchor by the airport for the night. The next morning I dropped him off at the airport taxi/ferry dock and set off for the 2 hour return journey to our mooring.

AT 4:30 in the morning there was little wind and little traffic. With the Autopilot set, all I really had to do was keep watch, enjoy the view and press the occasional button. It's strange not to be able to share it with someone, but I was also relishing having the boat to myself and making my own decisions - you grow in confidence quite a lot when there is nobody to double check with!

I got to enjoy the city scape at night, with the office lights blazing, and sunrise between the Boston Harbor Islands with calm water and nobody to disturb the view - cool. And of course, Kyle got to work on time.

About time, but now I've done it. I even picked up the mooring ball first time without issue.. BIG GRIN.

Side Trip - Angie in Portsmouth

[Maryanne]I took a side trip (by plane) back to Portsmouth, VA this week. My good friend Angie most likely will not be there when we return on our planned visit next month, and I had been meaning to visit "home" earlier in our trip - it just never worked out.

Well I could not possibly miss out on seeing her, and before you know it we have a visit date agreed and a party arranged for that weekend! That's Angie for you! On the short trip I also squeezed in lunch with some ex-work colleagues. There are LOTS of others I would have liked to have met up with, but I hope catch up with them when we are in the Norfolk area for a longer time; and next time, Kyle will be with me.

The party was a blast, and I had the appropriate hang over the following day.

Angie is a friend we met while we were all staying in the same Marina. She is amazingly interesting, has cruised the Central and SE coast as a solo sailor in a small sail boat, and has lived aboard her various sail boats for years even before we met her. She is also an engineer on a large tug boat plying the Gulf of Mexico - this girl knows her stuff. Since I met Angie, she has gone over to the dark side and now has a beautiful trawler (with 3 floors/decks it's a great party location). We are both keen readers, and used to swap books weekly - after 3 months without seeing each other we each had a big pile of books to swap out. Angie is also a huge sushi fan, and continues to try and get me to appreciate it... Mostly I object due to the uncooked fish, the cost and the small portions - but she finally won me over by teaching me to make it (most sushi does not require raw fish apparently) - all problems solved. This picture was taken as an after thought - we had already eaten all the best looking ones - I think she taught me pretty well!


Thanks for everything Angie!

More Sailing

[Maryanne]Now our boat is up and running we were keen to visit two more of the Boston Harbor Islands.

First we visited Grape Island, which at it's most built up held a farm house. There is no evidence of that any longer, it is a lush island filled with birds, and berries, and with great views over the bay. It is also apparently the best for camping, and each campsite is secluded off the trail. Even the two resident rangers camp on the island. Kyle practiced his rock skimming, and we both wondered exactly which berries were edible and which were not.



Our next plan was to visit Little Brewster and take a tour of the lighthouse (Boston Light) itself. The Island is only open for such private boater tours Fri/Sat/Sun so we had to schedule it with Kyle's availability.. This Friday was our last chance. However when we arrived there was no safe place to anchor so we were not able to leave Footprint and land ashore on the dinghy.. Still we enjoyed the lighthouse view yet again.

Boston Sightseeing

[Maryanne]We had little time, but we really wanted to see inside the Massachusetts state house. They organize free tours (our favorite price). We raced across town to make it for the last tour of the day! The original building was built in 1798 on an old cow field of John Hancock. Quickly they determined the building was too small, and it was extended with a very impressive marble - the Brigham addition. It seemed that no expense was spared and there are murals, mosaic floors, stained glass windows, and just generally an impressive building. Not like the public buildings of today.


Feeling sufficiently cultured, we moved down the street to the basement bar used for the setting of the TV Cheers bar, before walking back to the Ferry for home, via the Public Gardens alongside Boston Common.

We have one more full day to "see" downtown Boston. It won't be nearly enough, and we are sorry that boat issues kept us from seeing so much more.

The Boston accent

[Kyle] Radio Boston did a good show about the accent. Click on the title above to hear it.

Dough!

Update from Kyle appended
[Maryanne]I've been working up to it for months now.. Cooking bread on the stove top.

I found two recipes/methods that basically agreed with each other. One from the book by the famous sailor, Hal Roth: How to Sail around the World, the other from the web site of another sail boater: SV-Bluebottle.

We don't really eat that much bread at home (at least not daily), but it is nice to be able to have the occasional sandwich, or something to dip into your olive oil/balsamic vinegar, etc.. Once we are at sea we can hardly purchase fresh bread, all the other cruisers apparently (if we are to believe the magazines) make their own, I had better learn I thought!

It's not the baking of bread I was procrastinating over all this time, but doing it on the stove top. Our oven is probably capable, but a little small for a decent bread tin (Nor do I have space to store a bread tin), and the temperature does not seem to hold well.

For the last year I've been coming across articles and stories of stove top or "pressure cooker" bread (you don't need the pressure, just a heavy bottomed, covered pan). I tentatively scheduled a bread experiment this week, and then I blurted out to a friend I was going to do it, so I then felt I had to follow through.


Here is my first attempt. A bit of a failure. Despite using a new batch of dried yeast it did not rise (but then I knew that before I put it on the stove, I was just in denial), it is a little burnt on top and bottom (but hey, I've eaten burnt food before). I can still convince myself it doesn't look too bad.

Ah, but the proof of the pudding (and the bread) is in the eating. Result? well, chewy, very jaw achingly chewy. It is a good job I have all my own teeth, and I feel lucky I still do after the first two slices!

Where the two recipes didn't agree I chose the middle ground (maybe I should stop fiddling until I actually have success?).

I could also have titled this post, how to waste 3 hours of your life. Still messing up a bread recipe still beats going to work, so I shall keep trying. I think I may go back to the oven, but bake bread rolls? Or possibly purchase some new yeast and try again? I don't really feel I wasted anything (except the propane). All the ingredients are inexpensive basics, but it takes an hour of propane to cook (in my case, burn), so I'd better get a recipe working while we still have ready access to topping up our propane tanks.

I wonder if I can pass any off on Kyle when he comes home tonight. I'm lucky he is not a fussy eater, but I suspect he'll suggest we use it as fishing bait.

Doh!

[Kyle]When I got home, Maryanne was so excited about showing me her loaf of bread. Now you must understand that when I first met Maryanne and realized she was English, my expectations for her cooking were not very high (Sorry English readers, but English food is generally only beloved by the English). Maryanne, however, is a marvelous cook, which I am quite pleasantly surprised about; nearly everything she makes is delicious and I'm happy to gobble down whatever she puts in front of me. In my entire memory, I can only recall 2 things that I did not like: One was a batch of rice, cooked on a sweltering day in Chesapeake Bay, where it so hot that even after the rice was served it just kept cooking until eventually it formed a sticky ball - very hot. The second disaster was, well, the bread. She sheepishly handed me a slice, with jam and I took a bite. I must say that it tasted and felt very close to what I imagine a truck tire would. So eventually I just sucked the jam off and chewed, and chewed, and chewed. I turned down the offer of a 2nd slice. We eventually agreed to dispatch the rest to the local geese and swans: they too will most likely find it un-chewable, but after it has soaked for a day or so not too bad. Maryanne is determined and resourceful though, and I'm sure that in no time she will come up with a recipe that I'll be begging for.

[Maryanne]He hopes!

Post #100

New Transmission Installed Today
[Maryanne]Today feels like a birthday. We have a shiny new transmission installed, and all seems to be working well. My new phone arrived last weekend, my broken west marine cart is being replaced and delivered for free. All we are waiting on now is our autopilot controller and we will be 100% back with all systems go.

I know I've gone on a bit about the transmission - after all, sailors for centuries managed without engines of any kind. But if you can imagine losing your water heater in your house in the middle of winter. Yes, you CAN live without it, you can boil water on the stove, run to the neighbor for a hot shower and generally make do, but really who would want to when you know you can have hot running water again just a plumber away! Losing the transmission is a bit like that.

I'm sure Kyle will want to test out the new transmission thoroughly next time he is home, I did a few quick tests while the mechanics were here, and all seemed well.

Oh - and Blogger tells me this is the 100th post - so for those of you still reading - CONGRATULATIONS, a milestone has been reached.

Boston - Freedom Trail

Old and New Massachusetts State Houses

[Maryanne]At last! We actually got into Boston as tourists. We have a list of things we want to do in Boston, but we thought we would start with a little overview and orientation - and the well marked Freedom Trail, starting at the Boston Common, seemed to serve just that purpose.

To be fair, some of the sights on the freedom trail are a little lame, it's heavy on the cemeteries, and on the "here once was something interesting/historic" type of thing, but there are also some really well presented historical sites. Some charge a small entry fee for very little, while others give excellent free tours (and everything in between). We had all day and I learned a lot more American history.

For those non-Americans (or non-historically minded) that read the blog, Boston was the arrival port for many early immigrants (I believe, on an almost equal par with New York). Many of the key players in the fight for independence from Britain were active here, and unlike many US cities, many of its older buildings were understood to hold historical significance and "saved" in the 1800's; so we can enjoy them today. Boston was also an early leader in the anti-slavery movement.

Although the trail itself was themed on America's freedom from Britain, the sites often covered general Bostonian history. As we find in so many American historical sites there was no time or space given to the Native Americans themselves. Nope! American History apparently began with the great white European invasion!

You can walk the route yourselves, or take a guided tour by a dandy gent in costume. Because we turned up on a Saturday the guided tours were over crowded, and we decided to go it alone; and because it was so crowded, naturally we bumped into the guided tour at many of the trail sites.

We took a few side attractions not officially on the trail, and were glad we did. The first was to the very grand entrance and reception of the Omni Parker House Hotel (where the likes of Charles Dickens have stayed). We also detoured to the The New England Holocaust Memorial, a thought invoking memorial that (as my guidebook state) gives "an unusual degree of attention to its non-Jewish victims". A lighter detour was to Quincy Market is a wonderful old brick market hall (now converted into a very commercial food court); it was packed solid with people. Outside there were street performers, and lots of action going along - the kind of place you can sit for a while and enjoy the chaos. We didn't eat there, thunderstorms were brewing and we were saving ourselves for a nice meal in a proper restaurant.

We had a good time and ended the tour in the North end (missing the last 2 official stops that were just a little to far for the time we had). The North End is the Italian quarter of Boston - and of course we stuffed ourselves with a great Italian meal. There were plenty of restaurants to choose from; we think we lucked out when we picked La Famiglia Giorgio's and had what was possibly the best Italian food I have ever experienced (in the USA or Italy).

I won't go into details about all the stops on the tour, however we both particularly enjoyed seeing Paul Revere's House, we learned lots about grave stones (and why we saw so many skulls on them), and of all the Churches appreciated the excellent presentation in the Old North Church, along with the pirated cherubs surrounding its organ.

Paul Revere Statue with Old North Church in Background

We plan to go back to the Massachusetts State House on a week day when we can actually enter the building; for some reason the free guided tour does not run on the weekend (when all the tourists come!). We also hope to see the Aquarium, and possibly the USS Constitution, and the Boston Tea Party museum on our next trip into the city.



Other comments from our tour day:

• Kyle didn't appreciate me checking out all the horse statues for their anatomical correctness (pretty good if you want to know).
  
• We took a detour via a book store, and Kyle laughed at me sat flicking though a picture book of Scotland, while I laughed at him reading (and returning to the shelf after reading) "The Cheap Bastard's Guide to Boston"
  
• We were particularly amused by one family we kept bumping into: They had a teenage daughter who clearly was not appreciating the history tour, and followed along behind her mother reading an obviously gripping book.. hilarious! We bumped into this family at multiple sites, I didn't look as though the book would last the whole trail.
  
• Boston is also the home to America's first subway system, and we got to experience that too on the journey in and out of Boston. It also runs under many of these historic sites, in the old State house we could feel the building shake as a train went by underneath!
  
• Nearly all the churches on the trail were built in the same style, with pew/boxes that would be purchased for annual (Or longer) use; enclosed wooden stalls that each family could heat and decorate themselves to enjoy the sermon from. I was taken by once box that had been converted into office space in the King's Chapel.
  

Pew turned office in King's Chapel

One step forward, two steps back

[Maryanne]After calling Raymarine all week to chase up our autopilot and being told it was not in the system - Kyle sent me off to the post office to check out delivery (and possible insurance claim). It was signed for at Raymarine on the 23rd... By the 30th they were still denying it had arrived. THAT mystery was finally solved today, when we discovered (with the aid of the serial number) that the parts had arrived, and they expected to start work on them Monday or Tuesday.

Original plans to tour Boston city today, were changed yesterday when the guys in charge of replacing our transmission said they wanted to do it today. We were excited at the thought of having the boat up and running. Unfortunately it turned into a wasted day - they arrived late (after getting lost), came expecting to us to be at a dock, not a mooring (a little altercation and some expense afterwards, we were towed up to a dock); when at the dock the guy was expecting to fix a transmission on a Beneteau (A different make of boat), and one that had oil in it (Not ATF). They poor guy basically came, undid some parts, and then realized that either the engine had to move forward, or the drive leg backwards - put it all back together again and left. So now we are busy planning our next move.

[Kyle]After the mechanic got the transmission back together, and filled with fluid, we got the engine started and a test run quickly demonstrated our problem. The boat would not go into forward gear (nor reverse for a while); the mechanic watched and agreed that we were not doing anything wrong, it was not working as it was supposed to work. After eventually getting into both gears a few times (reasonably reliably) we finally left the dock to head back to our mooring - to avoid another towing fee on a zero progress day. We got the boat into reverse to back away from the crowded dock, but then it would not go into forward and we drifted back into a different dock (with some quick line handling by Maryanne to save the boat). We fiddled with it for a while until forward finally engaged, Maryanne untied the line and jumped on the boat before I sped away from her. We stayed in gear until we reached the mooring, which we knew would need to be a one shot deal - Securely tied to our mooring, Maryanne began the phone call rounds to determine what next?


[Maryanne]The only Good news (really good) is, that we finally managed to remove the steering wheel. The trick (Thanks to Tony of PCI) was shock loading the wheel shaft (hitting it with a hammer). See - you do need a hammer on a boat.

Unfortunately our day is blown - it is already 3:30 pm.

On a separate note I did (among all my chores this week) manage to find some (unapproved) down time yesterday - I went to the local movie theater and watched Mama Mia, the musical. It was corny and fun, with bad singing, but some great scenes with Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth, shirtless and wet (Don't tell Kyle). It also had some classic middle aged women behaving badly. :-) Worth it for a chuckle.