Solstice

 6/21- Safe Harbor Onset, Onset MA

  Happy solstice today to everyone. It was a beautiful sunny day unfortunately with just a little wind. We motored out through the hurricane gate saying goodbye to New Bedford. We got out past the point and we ran up the head sail. We drifted along for about a half an hour until the wind filled in a bit. I think the fastest we got was 2.7 knots. That was fine as it was very pleasant just bobbing along. We did this until around noon then we packed it in and called for Mr Perkins. 

   We were also reminded in this stretch why we don’t like to travel on Saturdays. There is a long channel that leads to the canal and there were plenty of boats to fill it up. It was the first nice weekend day in quite some time so I’m sure it was the first time out for a lot of these folks. 

    The current was flooding strong as we neared the turn off for Onset. This turn has thrown me before. I mean literally thrown me as the current swept the tiller across the cockpit. I was prepared this time except for the fact that a large cabin cruiser was coming out at the same time. We swept right on past him though we might have scared him a bit. 

   We settled on to a mooring and went for a walk into town. This is kind of a neat town as it has beaches everywhere. The river and the cove are both lined with sandy beaches which were filled with people on this hot first day of summer. The boat traffic through here is also kind of amazing as it is a main staging area for the Cape Cod canal. More on that later. 

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