We did it! Our maiden voyage cruising Boston Harbor Islands

Our maiden voyage around the Boston Harbor Islands began with the hoisting of our sails around 10am at Piers ParkSailing Club in East Boston. We headed out on a steady broad reach, and were soon sailing between Spectacle and Thompson Islands. From there we could see the tip of Long Island. This is when we realized that Ramon has virtually no long distance vision! Chen Ye, Michaela and I were all pointing to the Long Island Bridge up ahead and Ramon kept asking “What bridge?” Clearly, he will need to get a better prescription before we cruise too far from land or we will end up in Timbuktu on our way to the Caribbean!

We approach the bridge and wait our turn to pass beneath. The optical illusion upon approach, that the mast is taller than the bridge, provides a twinge of adrenaline. We pass safely with room to spare and find ourselves in open waters with Peddocks Island in sight. Suddenly, the wind becomes a slight breeze. We drift lazily around the tiny island of Rainsford and the north side of Peddocks, basking in the unseasonably warm October sun. On the southernmost tip of Peddocks, the wind finally picks up and we search for a place to dock.

We are surprised and disappointed to find that the only docks available are for the ferry boats. Determined to visit one of the islands today on foot, we sail on. We travel northeast up through Hull Gut. This was a passage we had previously sailed through during our cruising course on a 30 footer so we were aware of its dangerous cross currents and heavy traffic. There is no lack of wind or currents trying to push us onto the rocks along Pemberton Point, but we safely maneuver through.

Sailing on to George’s Island, we first sight the ferry docks and then the smaller slips. There is a strong wind blowing onto the dock and it’s a bit crowded. We decide not to risk it and continue on. Next stop, Lovells Island where we finally find available dock space! We tie up and head off to have lunch and explore the island a bit. We stumble upon a few underground forts and thankfully a bathroom. Picnic tables are open at the top of the beach and we sit, eat our pb&j sandwiches and relish in our latest sailing accomplishment. Little did we know, the most challenging part of our journey had yet to begin.

Pushing off from Lovells, we headed north across President Roads towards Deer Island. Looking to the west, we could see that all the boats in the distance were traveling across the entire mouth of the harbor on a beam reach before tacking. That could only mean one thing; we would be sailing into the wind. This last leg would be slow going, requiring a lot of tacking.  We followed the other’s lead, but were quite far behind. Midway into the harbor, with no other sail boats in sight, the wind died. Literally, zero wind. It was dusk, no lights on our Sonar 23 and we were going nowhere. We radioed for a tow and sat virtually motionless while we waited for the power boat to arrive.

It was dark as we tied off back at Piers Park and we felt like newbies all over again. We should have been safely docked before sunset.  As we rolled up the sails, we learned from another sailor that the wind dies in the harbor every evening at dusk. We should have known this. We also should have better planned our return time knowing we would be fighting the wind.  A valuable lesson learned.

                               Ready To Set Sail