Every year for the past 10 we take a family trip to the Cape and Islands from Marblehead and meet up with 5 - 10 other boats. The trip is rather special to me since I did this with my parents in the late 70s and through the mid 80s, so I get to relive this from a different perspective and watch my kids as if watching myself back then. We try to explore as much as we can in the RIB inflatables, but this year I wanted more range and the ability to take more people, so I decided we would take the Whaler, but dreaded the first leg since it would be a 95 mile tow, so my son trailered it south of the Cape and I met them there and towed the Whaler to the other stops.
***Jim - if this does not fit the requirements for this forum, please feel free to edit or delete.***
Early start to catch favorable canal currents which can be up to 5kts, so you either get a nice push or a slow ride into the current burning unnecessary fuel.
1st mate in her normal underway position. Best part is no shedding or doggie smell when she gets wet. She loves the boat and jumps in/out of the RIB or Whaler onto the swim platform with no hesitation.
Connor met up with us and ran the last 18 miles to Cutty.
The trip in total (first leg).
Trip plan.
First stop Cuttyhunk. Island is 580 acres and has 52 residents (based on last census).
Great little island that has ATVs and golf carts for transportation. There's a small marina and it's a great place to walk around and also have a beach fire.
My daugher takes the dog paddleboarding in the harbor since it's well protected and always calm.
Here is the power station for the island, it's a Kohler diesel engine that powers the island.
The seal community all around the Cape is exploding, drawing many great whites. We explored one of the many areas they hang out.
Pic taken of us at the seal spot.
Next stop Hadley Harbor and the Whaler tows nice at 10 - 12 knots.
Hadley is a peaceful harbor with lots of natural beauty and some fun tidal flumes. Deer roam the island freely with no known predators. The island is owned by the Forbes family and was put into a trust by the 5 surviving children back in 1898.
Across from Hadley is the Woods Hole Oceanographic and other interesting things. This ship is the ship that launches the Alvin submersible that Robert Ballard explored the Titanic with.
Also across the harbor is houseboat hangout.
Current in Woods Hole pass can run up to 5 - 6kts depending on tides and the buoys do get pushed under by the current. I have vid of this one disappearing under the water, but could not get the vid link to work. I'll try later this week when I return from business.
Onward to Edgartown Martha's Vineyard.
Scissor ferry that runs to Chappaquiddick, you may remember this from Jaws 2 when Chief Brodie drives his Blazer onto the ferry.
Day at Cape Poge, it's a 2 mile ride to the entrance, but this area opens up to a large protected bay and only accessible by boat or 4WD vehicle after paying hundreds of dollars for a over the sand permit. Needless to say, you usually have the place to yourself.
Next stop Oak Bluffs.
Always a fun place and the harbor packs in tight with 4 boats to a mooring, but the Jaws bridge and many other fun things to do.
The Whaler counts as a dingy and should have been tended off the stern, but it would have bumped the boat behind us and the harbormaster didn't hassle me keeping it alongside.
Great swimming harbor with temps in the low 80s.
Jaws bridge pond area - In the original Jaws this is where the guy in the red rowboat becomes an appetizer. Kids jump off this bridge all summer and it's fun.
Following day a 15 mile round trip to Lake Tashmoo on the other side of the island. It's all salt water, but looks like a lake in NH and probably why it's referred to as a "lake", large 3.5' sandbars and warm temps are great for wading around.
Water temps varied all over, but the best we saw was inside an inner harbor.
Connor got some drone vid that he will condense into a video and I'll post a link when he's done.
Vid links:
Woods Hole Buoy getting sucked under
https://youtu.be/la9n9DWA4qs
Whaler going up/down/flume
https://youtu.be/2ltrsHV2o5M
https://youtu.be/pORUXoB51Ms
Jaws Bridge
https://youtu.be/Z-PNxhE3Qto
D-
Annual Tug Trip, brought the Whaler, now w/ vid
Re: Annual Tug Trip, brought the Whaler, now w/ vid
[I noticed that sometimes the off-site linked images would not appear; the cause seems to be at the hosting site. The image hosting site notes that it is "too busy" at times to serve the images. If you don't see all the images, please try again later.
Re: Annual Tug Trip, brought the Whaler, now w/ vid
jimh wrote:[I noticed that sometimes the off-site linked images would not appear; the cause seems to be at the hosting site. The image hosting site notes that it is "too busy" at times to serve the images. If you don't see all the images, please try again later.
Images are hosted by Imgur and I've noticed they've had concern this past week with bandwidth. Hopefully they have corrected it.
Is there a preferred way to link vid or just put the URL in the thread?
D-
Re: Annual Tug Trip, brought the Whaler, now w/ vid
A URL hyperlink is best.
Re: Annual Tug Trip, brought the Whaler, now w/ vid
Gotta say Dave, the maneuver up the plume is pretty deft. Not alot of room for error.
Made a lot of great memories from the look of it.
Thanks for sharing.
Made a lot of great memories from the look of it.
Thanks for sharing.
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
Member since 2003
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
Member since 2003
Re: Annual Tug Trip, brought the Whaler, now w/ vid
Re travelling under that low clearance and going up against the big current flowing through the narrow opening: that's too scary for me.
It reminds me of the DEVIL'S DOOR rapids where the French River enters Lake Huron's Georgian Bay at the Bad River Channel.
It reminds me of the DEVIL'S DOOR rapids where the French River enters Lake Huron's Georgian Bay at the Bad River Channel.