A Bit Close For Comfort

After an uncomfortably rolly night in the outer harbor of Gloucester (I forgot the commercial boats in MA are very different from the lobster boats in Maine – they’re fishermen instead of lobstermen and are in and out at all hours of the night – the lobstermen go out early in the morning), we set sail for Provincetown. I was afraid we were in for a bit of motoring, but other than the wind shifting a bit, we had a lovely sail down.

Setting the Staysail

We passed through Stellwagon Bank and were treated to the views of a lifetime – humpback whales surfacing everywhere around us! It turns out that autumn is when they gorge on food supplies before they run south to the Bahamas & Dominican Republic to give birth in winter. We were continuously spinning in circles on the boat to take it all in, so magical.

Humpbacks

Lawrence had already gotten to Provincetown that morning and had a chance to nap after his overnight sail, so we dropped anchor next to him and caught up over cocktails. He was off to the Cape Cod Canal the next morning, while we headed ashore to explore again. We were happy to know that decent anchoring possibilities exist in Provincetown, because moorings have now gone to $75-$130 a night, depending on the facility and season (high enough to otherwise keep us away). We stopped by our favorite hardware store (which has a remarkable kitchen supply) and 60s clothing shop, enjoyed a bit of lunch, hit up the grocery store, and then it was back to the boat.

The next day the wind picked up considerably and we opted to stay onboard, and instead watched other boats coming in to take shelter from the high winds and seas. Happy to report that the hook from Race Point provides just the right amount of protection.