A great breakfast because we had time. This was due to the need to delay our start to catch the beginning of favorable tide in the CC Canal at 10:22 am. Time to enjoy the sunrise and the calm dry air, the promise of a beautiful day. We were delayed even further because it took me so long to use the salt water washdown pump at the bow to wash about ten pounds of oily black sludgy mud off of the links of 110 feet of anchor chain. A few ounces of it made it onto the deck. Also, the windlass stopped after most of its job was done 2/3 of the was done, and had to be reset, because the chain piled up too high in its locker until shaken down, causing a circuit breaker to trip. Further delayed by a gentleman from a nearby boat who chose this particular time to dink over and talk to us.
But the delays, it turns out, were not so unfavorable. Specifically, when we got to the Canal, the current was NOT favorable. What had I done wrong? Maybe I got mixed up and actually got the start of the flow in the wrong direction meaning bad and worsening tide for the entire length of the canal would be facing us. Lene checked again and my mistake was not so drastic: I had just read the time for yesterday, which was indeed 10:22. But today the good flow started at about 11:30 so the delay balanced out the mistake, sort of. But I have to be more careful!
At the near end of the canal we saw the Mass Maritime Academy's training ship, the Kennedy, last pictured in this blog in Charlotte Amalie harbor, St. Thomas, USVI, last winter.
Once out in Cape Cod Bay the wind was on our nose at about five knots true and 10 apparent with our motor assist. So we continued motor sailing almost all the 23 remaining miles to Provincetown. We tacked a bit east of the direct line and then north of it. I cleaned a bit while Autopilot steered. The last couple of hours were darned unpleasant, with 23 knots apparent, motor-sailing like the blazes with an ugly cold rain-threatening wind .Lene remained comfortably below, which is as it should be. We are on a mooring here and await a great day forecast for tomorrow. Here is P-Town's Venetian style tower,taken from the pierwhere our dinghy was while we went ashore to pay our bils, take showers and dine on Portuguese food at the Goveernor Bradford:
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