July 14 — Day 7 — Mattapoisett MA to Scituate MA —48 NM

 This was the day for the passage through the Cape Cod Canal. As best we could figure it, the tide turned fair in the Canal at about 1:30 pm so we pulled anchor at 11:30 planning two hours at six knots for the twelve NM to the Buzzards Bay “end” of the Canal to arrive at 1:30 pm. It was raining when it was time to leave, with more storms predicted, but we figured that if we got out into Cape Cod Bay at the Canal’s NE end by 2:30 (after one hour transiting in the Canal) we could do the 28 NM to Scituate by 7:30. 

I find the Canal, difficult to time. It changes the direction of its flow at different times within its ten mile length, and of course at different times each day.  There is no clear universally accepted definition of where the Canal’s Buzzards Bay end  begins. The solution is to create a table that, depending on the speed of one’s vessel, shows the earliest and latest time one should plan to get to a specified point  in order to complete your passage with fair tide the whole way. This is a great little project for some IT guy. I’m surprised it hasn’t been done yet, or maybe I just have not been able to find it. 

It was windy so I put in a reef before raising the anchor and used only the little jib. But after five minutes, Autopilot stopped working, AGAIN! This was his fourth failure. And I could not even go down to look at it then because the winds were strong and close to our stern so that Lene could not hand steer without risk of accidental gybe.

I steered broad reaches until we were in Hog Island Channel, the extension of the Canal into Buzzards Bay (or maybe it’s beginning. Then after dousing sails. Lene took the helm and I went down under the cockpit to check out the problem. This time, unlike last time, what had detached was the brass ball-pin at the end of the threaded connecting rod that is supposed to stay attached to the rudder stock, rather than the brass ball-pin at the rudder angle indicator end of that  threaded connecting rod. That was the ball-pin I had used from the repair kit I had purchased, and had repaired with 5200. It had slipped past my wooden pressure lever retainer, but that lever was created as a secondary measure. The pin is not supposed to slip out in the first place! The part Raymarine sent to us in Stonington had the ball-pin cold pressed into the vinyl; the tech rep surmised that the part in the repair kit was defective. So while Lene steered through the canal (a low wind area and for motoring without sails) I took off the old, bolted on the new and strengthened the wooden lever. To get the screw driver into the second of the two bolts that hold the vinyl piece to the rudder stock, the wheel has to be turned. Lene slowed down the engine and made a sharp 360 degree circle. This prompted a VHF call from the canal authority asking if ILENE was in need of assistance. Fortunately not. And once reconnected Auto behaved himself again. 

Once out into Cape Cod Bay, there was no wind. The difference of an hour or of an ecosystem.

Cruiser does not look like a happy camper, in his box, but at least he came up into the sunlight.

The 28 NM to Scituate were made, like yestersday’s sail, at seven knots, but this time the power was provided by Mr. Diesel.

Before entering the Canal, not realizing that I would be able to effect the repair underway, we made a reservation for a slip at the Marina in Sandwich Mass, at the Cape Cod Bay end of the Canal, and told Scituate we would be delayed a day. Lene called to reverse these arrangements, only an hour later but Sandwich said “but we have to charge you the $129. Lene persuaded them that the next reservation to come in for that night, it was very early in the afternoon, would be given “our” slip so we would not be charged.

The Satuit Boat Club (Native American pronunciation of Scituate) is where we were delayed for five days a few years ago before the mechanic discovered that the hose delivering diesel fuel to the engine was clogged off with metal filings. We liked the town and the Club. It’s mooring fee this year is $60 per night, reasonable based on what we have been seeing, though almost double the Harlem’s $35. It is a very friendly club and we would have liked to go to our favorite restaurant in town (the launch will drive you there and pick you up), but time for that plus showering was tight between our 7:15 arrival and the last run of the launch at 9 pm. And lowering and then raising the dink takes half an hour. But the Club, which has a kitchen for catering but no restaurant, was having its annual hamberger roast and we were invited. No cost. The members were very welcoming and talkative. One lady offered me a glass of her wine. A very pleasant evening.