| We took our boat from Plymouth Harbor to Newburyport over Memorial Day Weekend.
We did a straight shot across Massachusetts Bay to Cape Ann.
The seas were smooth rollers, no breaking water, (no wind early, either). The
visibility was less than two miles with the haze. The sun was warm but the air
cool out on the water. We went right by Boston without seeing it and spotted
the power stacks at Salem before we knew it.
We then took a leisurely sail (we had motorsailed until then) around Cape Ann,
making it home in a small squall. We saw the Adventure, a big two-masted
schooner, off Cape Ann. It was beautiful! We had seen this same vessel four
years ago when we had bought our last boat in Camden, ME. We saw that as a good
sign.
We had quite a time entering the mouth of the Merrimack. This is NOT a
recommended inlet, by the way! We experienced five-footers, along with an
overheating engine (we later replaced our impeller). I had to pour water from
the cooler into a coffee pot and then pour it in the engine while my boyfriend
tried to keep the boat on course--the extra outboard we brought with us
(our sloop has an inboard) had jammed against the tiller post in the broiling
water of the mouth.
It was great fun, all in all!
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