The Trip Home

We made it!

Fujin is now moored in her new home at Cottage Park in Winthrop, MA.

The original plan was to sail for 4 days:
May 5: Newport to Cuttyhunk Island (about 20 miles)
May 6: Cuttyhunk to Onset, MA (about 25 miles)
May 7: Onset, MA to Plymouth, MA (about 32 miles)
May 8: Plymouth, MA to Winthrop. (about 35 miles)

Leaving Newport. From 2010-may-fujin

We watched the weather carefully and it sounded like we really wanted to not be sailing on Saturday May 8. So on day 1 we made a big push to get all the way to Onset, MA at the mouth of the canal. We arrived there about 5:30 and they let us spend the night at the fuel dock. We got the number of a 24hr cab company and so were able to enjoy the Onset Night Life (he says sarcastically).

Entering Onset. You can see the railroad bridge over the canal. From 2010-may-fujin

Tied up for the night in Onset. From 2010-may-fujin

On May 6, we woke up to dense fog and some pretty scary sounding weather forecasts on the VHF for Cape Cod bay.

Looking out the portlight in Onset, MA May 6. From 2010-may-fujin

New Plan
About the only option we had was to make it through the canal and just wait it out on the Cape Cod side at Sandwich, MA. Our window to enter the canal began at about 10Am and fortunately most of the fog lifted by then. So we were able to hit the canal at a pretty good time and get a nice push from the current. It was nice to barely rev the engine and still do 9 kts.

Passing under the railroad bridge at entrance to Cape Cod Canal. From 2010-may-fujin

Linda driving in the canal. From 2010-may-fujin

Sandwich, Please
After an amazingly short trip through the canal, Sandwich marina comes up on our right. It's interesting taking a right turn out of that canal current in howling wind... but we made it and the friendly staff helped us tie up. We did scrape the doc a little harder than we would have liked but no harm done.

We had not much to do for the rest of that day so we took a walk to the town. We happened to pass a "Boat Canvas" shop and went inside. We met a very friendly fellow named Jim Macurdy. We asked him if he could do the modification to our sail cover for the Lazyjack lines. Not only could he, but he showed up at our dock about an hour later with a marker and walked off with our sail cover. Another hour later he returned and we had our professionally modified cover back on the boat.

That's Fujin in the center in Sandwich marina with the Canal in the background. From 2010-may-fujin

Sandwich Beach looking over Cape Cod Bay. From 2010-may-fujin

A ship enters the canal near Sandwich Marina. From 2010-may-fujin

Day 3
Ideally we wanted to make it all the way home from Sandwich because of the nasty forecast for Saturday. This meant about a 60 mile trip so Linda set the alarm for 4:45Am. We cast off from the dock at about 5:20 and hit the last 1/4 mile of the Canal when the current was at about half its max.

Heading out of the canal into the sunrise over Cape Cod Bay. From 2010-may-fujin

Once we got out in Cape Cod Bay the wind really picked up so we attempted to reduce sail and get things a bit under control. We needed the engine to push us directly into the wind so we could reef the main and furl in some of the jib.

Uh Oh
Linda reported a slight problem with the Engine.... as in... it won't GO. True enough, we had no forward or reverse gear. We have since thought of the catastrophe this would have been if it happened 20 minutes earlier when we were in the canal. Ok, I don't even want to think about it.

I opened up all the engine covering expecting to see the transmission linkage cable broken or damaged. The problem was much more serious and easier to diagnose. The coupling between transmission and prop shaft had come un-bolted. There was about 10" of nothing between them.

The transmission output shaft disc and prop shaft disc not bolted together. From 2010-may-fujin

The prop shaft side had two of the bolts sill in, and I eventually found the other two under the engine. With the boat slowed down enough, it was possible for me to pull the prop shaft to get it in contact with the transmission shaft. I bolted them back together without feeler gauges or torque wrenches as best I could. That got us home at least.

EZ Access[tm] From 2010-may-fujin

Made good time
Despite our near catastrophe (did I mention how much this would have sucked if it happened in the canal?), we got our sails set right and took advantage of a really nice breeze off the coast of southern MA.

Fujin performing great pointing very high in the wind. From 2010-may-fujin

No stop at Plymouth
As we approached Plymouth, we had to make the call whether to stop or proceed home. We decided that a potential night entry into Winthrop harbor was better than a 36 mile sail in freezing rain and thunderstorms on Saturday so we went for it.

About then the wind got flaky going from strong to nothing every few minutes and switching directions on us. We found ourselves motor-sailing through the lulls. We've definitely learned that this boat has great performance sailing into the wind.

First glimpse of Boston from about 25 miles to the south. From 2010-may-fujin

Home!

Linda looks for our next marker entering Boston Harbor. From 2010-may-fujin

Entering the narrow channel to Winthrop. From 2010-may-fujin

Bob untangles the flag from Linda's brand new mooring ball in Winthrop. From 2010-may-fujin

Safety-first. Always have your running lights on at night. From 2010-may-fujin

There she is in Winthrop Harbor with Boston in the background. From 2010-may-fujin

First morning in Winthrop. Rainy and cold... welcome to Boston! From 2010-may-fujin