Crew Log for May 24th – 26th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Cuttyhunk Island to Provincetown
• Trip Distance of 55.3 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 4,979.7 NM
There was a persistent haze in the air from the forest fires burning in our home Province. It would take us a few days to really understand the severity of the situation, but given the smoke, hundreds of miles away, we had the growing sense that it had to be bad. We have family outside of Halifax who had already been evacuated and the fire in the southern end of the Province, was quickly growing into the worst in history.
We were feeling energized after finally getting down Long Island and Block Island Sounds. Despite only having a short distance to cover today to get to Onset, we were up early and eager to get moving. We had a nice light breeze and for once, we seemed to have the current in our favor. What a treat!
The conditions in Buzzards Bay were glassy calm and the air had warmth to it. Despite the pounding we had taken the last few days and the rain we came through, the boat was covered in pollen. There were also huge pollen slicks on the water.
Whether it was the calm conditions or some other anomaly, we were getting VHF radio transmissions from as far away as the Virginia Coast Guard and more exciting for us, Halifax Coast Guard. As nice as it was to hear “from home”, the amount of traffic was very confusing and at times a little annoying.
We arrived at our mooring at the Point Independence Yacht Club in Onset just after noon. We were eager to get a shower, do some laundry and top up our diesel before heading off for a few provisions. There is somewhat of a grocery store in the village, but they tend to focus on anything in a box, where the first 3 ingredients are sugar derivatives. Joe Louis, Ding Dongs, Pop Tarts and Count Chocula cereal.
In addition to marketing sugar, their other main focus seemed to be alcohol. Wine bottles were stacked in every corner of the store, and they had entire aisles dedicated to various spirits. Very few of the products had a price tag on them however, so it became tiresome asking the prices for things.
We decided we needed something a little healthy and fresher. Unfortunately, around these parts, that means a trip to Walmart. We got picked up by Julio, a massive man who we estimated had to weigh 500 pounds. He was not a healthy man at all and appeared to have limited hearing, which made any conversation, virtually impossible.
Our return trip was with Robert, who drove us back in his hybrid Rav 4, that he was very proud of. Robert is retired, and winters in Mexico with his wife. When he is back in the States, he drives for Uber and Lyft and basically pays for his winter in Mexico with the money he makes. His wife’s passport expired while she was in Mexico, so she was having trouble getting home. However, when she eventually does get home, she drives at night for Doordash. It wasn’t clear to me when, or if, they ever spent any time together.
As forecasted, the following day was a little unsettled so we spent a lazy morning on the boat. We eventually did dinghy across to the town dock and wander around town, although there isn't a lot to see. On the way back we stopped and say hello to Richard and Heather, on sv Sea Pearl, registered in Lunenberg. They bought the boat in Virginia and were taking it back to Nova Scotia.
I saw a Facebook post from Heather from a few days earlier where she talked about having to issue a mayday distress call after their engine quit and the boat started to take on water. I am not entirely sure of the details of what caused the boat to take on water, but Richard and Heather quickly discovered that none of the 3 bilge pumps on the boat were functional. To make matters worse, the crash pump the Coast Guard had won’t fit in their bilge.
They eventually got towed from Block Island to Newport, Rhode Island to have an emergency haul out. Fortunately, there was no damage and Richard traced the issue to a valve that was left open. All ended well. In fact, when we saw them, they were preparing the boat to do a 60 hour crossing from Onset, Massachusetts to LaHave, Nova Scotia, just days after issuing a mayday distress. Tough sailors!
We headed out to Marc Anthony’s for pizza that evening with Heather and Richard and really enjoyed getting to know them a little better. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to reconnect once we get back in Nova Scotia.
The next morning we planned to transit the Cape Cod Canal and had planned to head to Scituate, which is just south of Boston. The winds were forecasted to be N-NE, between 8 – 15 knots. According to our weather reports, they were predicted to swing around more of the NE, which should help with the trip to Scituate.
Our first challenge was to time our passage through the canal. The current can run as high as 4 knots in either direction. We obviously wanted to wait until just prior to slack tide at the western end, which should allow us ample time to get through before the current got really strong. Judy suggested we go a little earlier than we initially planned, which turned out to be perfect, timing wise. We had a very easy, very quick transit through the canal.
Once we hit the eastern end however, the current coming out of the canal collided with the wind coming in from the northeast, creating stacked waves. We went from skipping along at over 7 knots in flat water to struggling to maintain 2 knots in 5 – 6 waves almost instantly. We powered our way through it until we finally reached “calmer” conditions.
Based on the wind conditions and direction, I started to question whether we would actually be able to reach Scituate. We pulled the sails out and agreed to reassess our progress in a few hours, eventually deciding to alter course to Provincetown, which is located at the northern end of Cape Cod. As we made our way there, we were surprised to see Sea Pearl, who decided to leave a day earlier than they planned. They, like us, were eager to get home. We chatted briefly on the VHF, wished them luck and said goodbye. We headed for Provincetown, and they set course for Nova Scotia.
We had stopped at Provincetown on the way down, anchored, but never got off the boat. Everyone we talked to since then said it was a really interesting town and worth visiting. We knew very little about it, but agreed, it was at least worth a visit.
Provincetown, or P-town as its known, has a year round population of around 3,600, which expands to over 60,000 in the summer. It is surrounded by beautiful sand beaches and has a thriving arts community. Provincetown also has a long, positive history as a popular destination for the LGBTQ+ community.
We dinghied to shore and made our way towards the public dock. We motored past the “They Also Faced the Sea” display, a series a larger than life photos of Portuguese women. The photos honor the town matriarchs who raised large families, in addition to working full time, while their husbands were at sea.
Once we reached shore, the first person we saw was a guy dressed in a short skirt, mesh stockings, walking off the wharf in a very impractical pair of shoes. We stopped briefly to chat with a metal arts craftsperson who had a shop on the wharf, who said if we wanted to see what Provincetown is all about, we just needed to wander up and down the commercial street. He lived in New Hampshire in the winter and came to Provincetown for the summer. He apparently grew up skiing competitively, often with kids from Quebec.
It was the Friday before the Memorial Day long weekend so things were already in full swing. The streets were crowded and there was even a policemen directing traffic at the main intersection. Still naïve to Provincetown’s history, we sensed a certain unconventional vibe that was unique to any other place we had visited on this trip. As we strolled in and out of the various shops we started to get a better sense of what P-Town was all about. T-Shirts saying, “Be Yourself, They’ll Get Over It”, were further evidence that this place was uniquely different.
Wanting to understand this place better I picked up a brochure entitled, “Queer Adventure Guide and Map to LGBTQ+ Provincetown”. According to the guide, Provincetown’s significance as a special place for the LGBTQ+ community dates back to 1899, when Charles Hawthorne founded the Cape Cod School of Arts.
Provincetown had been devastated by the Portland Gale in 1898. The town sustained massive damage and most of the fishing fleet was lost in the storm, leaving a significant number of widows in the town. Given the town had lost its economic livelihood, the women offered to provide room and board for the artists who would be coming to Provincetown to attend the art school.
Over the next 20 years, Provincetown opened its homes to artists, writers, actors and “political radicals”, who brought new ideas on “gender and racial equality, artistic expression and sexuality”. They were welcomed by the local community and the Portuguese community who experienced their own form of discrimination. Acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in Provincetown began over 100 years and has evolved into the town earning the reputation as a LGBTQ+ safe haven.
As I write this, we are safely back in Canada. And by “safely”, I am not referring to any inherit dangers that come from travelling around on the water. I am however, talking about the risks associated with radical ideologies, including intolerance for diversity, that seems to be growing in popularity. I have restrained myself from commenting on my discomfort with the politics of what seems to becoming the “new normal”, but I don’t like what I see and hear. As we settle back into a community which I hope, is filled with tolerance and acceptance, I reflect back on the folks that call Provincetown home, happy that they have a safe haven.
As amazing as the history of Provincetown is, there is a small part of me that is saddened that in 2023, 124 years after Hawthorne established the Cape Cod School of Arts, the genesis of the LGBTQ+ movement in P-Town, there is still a need for a safe haven for the LGBTQ+ community. On the bright side, the community is one of the most unique and interesting we’ve visited in the 9 months and almost 5,000 miles we have travelled. We were glad we went back to Provincetown and grateful we had the opportunity to get a brief glimpse of a community of acceptance and respect. There is hope.
Our time here would be brief. We were headed towards Gloucester and the community of Rockport in the morning, over 45 miles north of here. Like Provincetown, Rockport was full of surprises and was yet another unique stop on our journey home.
But more about that, next time.
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