Hyannis to New Jersey Oops no! Engine trouble.

Miles 2450 Weather.. well see the photos.

We moored at the Hyannis Yacht Club and watched as twelve boats went out for their final race of the season. Beautiful to see. The launch boat had a cute little unicorn swim ring on the boat. I was hoping it wasn’t one of the PDFs. He said that he often picks these up as they are going out to sea. I was a little under-impressed with the hostess of the clubs restaurant. When we arrived she ignored us and was just flicking through her reservations and seating plan. To cut the story short we confirmed we hadn’t made a reservation, we’re from a reciprocal club and were happy with a seat by the window in the bar. However the food was great as was the view.

Hyannis is pretty but after Nova Scotia it just didn’t compare. We tried to get into a museum but it was closed. The door was open because the staff were having a meeting. I thought ‘Yeah, If this was Nova Scotia they would have just said go on in and shut the door at the end.’ When I was in the museum in Nantucket which strangely enough had an Asian section I looked at the Chinese coat and thought ” they would have let me try it on ‘ (It’s amazing how memories fade and become a little more magical).

It was a beautiful sail from Hyannis to Nantucket and all was well just until we were going in to dock and the engine packed up. It restarted but I was a tad anxious as I went into dock beside two million dollar boats on either side. I was also a tad taken aback when I heard the cost of the dock for a night but we were really in the mood for a dock rather than a mooring or anchor.

I was still expecting a certain amount of quaintness from the old whaling history of the Island but Nantucket seems to be more a place for the extremely rich to dander and shop. We took the buses around and met two charming young girls full of youth and vitality. One of them had just gone on her first sail and really keen to know more. They were both architects in their first year and when we were discussing equality one of them said it’s thanks to you that we are where we are. I hope she didn’t think we were as old as the suffragettes. I was still too young to burn my bra (Thank heavens ).

We intended to go to New Jersey for the next trip but as we were approaching Martha’s Vineyard the engine started conking out every 15 minutes and the wind was dying. I looked for the nearest Yanmar dealer and called as we were still within phone range. It was in Point Judith and he said he would be able to get us a mechanic after the Labour day weekend and then said ‘ we’ll see you .. if you get here”. Not terribly assuring. It was a long slow night but fortunately during the darkness the engine would go for a couple of hours at a time and there was a little wind.

We anchored in Stonington and when we went walking I saw a crowd just outside the church. We went to investigate and found out that it was the feast of Saint Isabel who prayed to God when the people of Portugal were starving from a famine and said she would sell her crown and scepter. The next day there was a fleet of ships wrecked and all of them full of food. She then sold her crown jewels and became a saint. They was parading down the town and then they would give out a free meal. A number of them told us we must come. Particularly to see the dancers

As the parade was passing and I was taking photos I was entertained by the woman in the middle trying to get the children to walk in a line and as I was taking the photos one mother said to take a photo of her child. Well she did everything she could to make the child smile but I think she looked beautiful anyway. We had a lovely day at the festival. There was also an auction of food at it and because I told the ladies beside me that I hadn’t tasted the Portuguese bread they bought some so that I could try it. I then tried to say I hadn’t tasted Lobster as it was also being auctioned but they didn’t seem to believe me.

It’s such a beautiful town and we wouldn’t have seen it if we hadn’t needed to fix the engine. Amors Fati! The following day we went up the Mystic River and visited the Mystic Seafront Museum. Its the largest museum I’ve ever seen with a number of boats and a port village set up with a working blacksmith and printer. It was gorgeous to see the children having on to every word he said.

I felt so much for this poor wife who joined her husband on the whaling ship.

Following Labour Day we headed up the river to the boatyard that was going to fix the engine. It was one of the hairiest trips I’ve done. At one stage the depth finder was reading 0.4ft 0.6ft 0.4 ft and I had no idea on which way to turn for more depth. There was a strong wind, the tide was against us and we could only go at about 1000 rpms.

Once we found space around the corner of that turn we anchored and called boat US. Coincidently the engine packed up as well. The mechanic has been working hard on it and I believe this is the fix we need. More to follow.