Saturday Blog

Position on Saturday, June 13, 2015

42° 5' N, 70°19' W

7 miles from Provincetown

Wind South F6

Boat course 120 Deg - 

8 to 10 knots under jib alone! 

Now motoring on final approach!

Another day - another adventure. Having drafted then sent our blog proclaiming our arrival in Provincetown, we duly arrived at around 4 am having battled fickle wind for the last few miles. (Some things never change!)

Robin's friend Alan had in the meantime emailed us saying he wasn't sure we could clear customs in Provincetown and a radio conversation with the US Coast Guard left us none the wiser. Finally, a very helpful officer in the department of Homeland Securities on ext 255 kindly informed us that we could not clear in Provincetown and due to our keel depth the nearest harbour was Boston some 40 miles away!!!

So, having prepared ourselves to anchor, we duly set of for Boston. An uneventful motor got us on the approaches around 11 am due to total calm. Many fishing pots on the way but nothing more. Dilip and Robin showed all their skills in bringing us into Boston without detailed paper or electronic charts (we hadn't anticipated visiting Boston!) Josh tried to download one but in the process run out of roaming data on his Iphone so in the end a mixture of caution and old sea dog skills (and a phone call to another officer this time based in the airport - but he did have a map - yes a map not a chart) resulted in us being told to find the courthouse near the yacht club.

Eventually, we tied up on a big pontoon and once again telephoned ext 255 proclaiming our arrival. Not quite the right place but no worries they would be with us within 5 minutes. And they were. Two officers visited us and in less time than it has taken to write this blog, we were welcomed to the USA!! It's now 2 pm and still little to no sleep!!

Having cleared the formalities and in order to keep our shore side nutritionist happy with our fine athletes physique, the purser volunteered to purchased some cold beers before departure for our 7 hours return trip to Provincetown. No more teas and coffees! He duly returned with beers, nachos and 12 chicken wings to complement the diet!

In the meantime, Robin decided to take a taxi ride to purchase our "cruising permit" while Dilip was visited by a lovely russian couple who had got into sailing because of reading about Robin's adventures many years ago. They had recognised GP and wanted to meet Robin. So yes folks, we are now sailing with a yellow pot plant from one of Robin's fans and the russian couple left with a picture of the purser rather than Robin!

As midnight approaches on this Friday night, we have or are in the process of topping up our sleep tanks while sailing under jib and we will be back to Provincetime where we WILL anchor some 24 hours later than planned.

Thanks for you patience!