We left Halifax for Lockeport on a night passage intending to get diesel in Lockeport. However, after managing to sail all night decided to head on for Cape Cod. All in all the trip took two nights and we arrived at Pope Island Marina in New Bedford Massachucetts early this morning.
On the passage we encountered lots of waves. Up and down, up and down, the pitching and rolling became pretty tiring after a while and the waves were fairly sizeable by yesterday accounting for our first real experience with large ocean swell. Most of the time we managed to not feel sick by staying above deck or lying down while below. I tried out my first audiobook, "Hunger Games," and enjoyed it so I will be buying many more for the longer ocean passage to come in November.
The weather was sunny most of the days and as Dad planned we took advantage of a weather window that allowed us to sail the majority of the time. Sarah did some awesome steering yesterday as we all took turns at the wheel. Both of us feel that we've learned a lot more about sailing over the past three weeks and are much more comfortable with a lot of tasks. Plus after so much docking we have a system pretty well down and are pros!
Last night we had some sticky planning to do while communicating with customs about checking in to the US. Sticky situations always seem to happen in the middle of the night. We passed through the Cape Cod canal in the dark in a crazy 4 knot current and decided to make for New Bedford to anchor and then rest up. All I can say I saw of Cape Cod was a few lights and a lot of darkness. Exhausted and really in need of a shower we were all grateful to get safely to Pope Island Marina. I'm not gonna lie, it was so nice to get off the boat onto solid land after feeling cooped up for the last few days. The customs people were great today, very accomodating, and we bought a prepaid cell phone to use while in the US. Tonight we are safely tied to a dock and looking forward to a still and undisturbed sleep. I plan to settle in with a nice Keiths and watch "How I Met Your Mother" for a few solid hours (awesome show if you haven't seen it).
The next few days we'll be making our way towards New York City. This involves contending with the open ocean and a strong current in the Long Island Sound. Despite all the tiredness and difficulties of these passages it will be pretty amazing to pull into a marina in downtown New York. So here's to the city that never sleeps.
Nicole.
Hey Nicole glad you were able to stabilize your legs on land today:-)It is so cool to look at the spot check and see where you are at any time. You completely surprised me today with your voyage into New Bedford. I thought you would travel along the coast of Cape Cod and by Nantucket. Sometimes I have checked and the indicator states where you were 1 second ago! Pretty neat! We are always thankful when we see you're closer to shore again. Am so glad for all of you to have such an amazing experience. Keep us posted, I am sure NYC will be very special from the waterfront! Lots of Love Auntie Chris
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