Points East Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 1077
Portsmouth, NH 03802-1077
1-888-778-5790
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Cape Yachts Beneteau Rallies
Rally 1
Dates: June 28 - July 4, 2009
Open to: Beneteau owners only
Cost: $225
Ports of Call: Padanaram, Martha's Vineyard, Cuttyhunk, Bristol and Padanaram.
Rally 2
Dates: July 4-18, 2009
Open to: All customers of Cape Yachts
Cost: $325
Ports of Call: Padanaram, Onset, Salem, Portsmouth, Biddeford Pool, Portland, Quahog Bay, Bath, Boothbay.
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Rally 1:
Padanaram, to the Islands, Narragansett Bay and back.
June 28 - July 4
This rally, which Points East is organizing for Cape Yachts, came about because Dave Nolan, the owner of Cape Yachts, realizes that many boat owners are not using their boats as much as they would if they could learn more about cruising from people who do it all the time.
So Dave asked us to put together a one-week rally that would show less-traveled boaters some of the interesting ports of call in southern Massachusetts and Narragansett Bay, and also develop their skills and confidence in navigating the waters around the Cape and the Islands.
Because Cape Yachts is the authorized Beneteau dealer for New England, this rally is meant especially for Beneteau owners. But it's not meant only for those who purchased their new or brokerage Beneteaus from Cape Yachts. If you're the owner of a Beneteau (sail or power), it doesn't matter if you bought your boat from Cape Yachts or from some other dealer or broker, or from a private party ... you're invited to sign up for this rally.
Rally 1 will start Sunday, June 28 with a crew meeting and kick-off party at Cape Yachts' South Wharf Yacht Yard in Padanaram.
On Monday, June 29, the rallyers will voyage across Buzzards Bay to the Cape and through Woods Hole to Vineyard Haven. Distance about 17 miles. Everyone has heard the stories about boaters getting into trouble going through Woods Hole. The best way to not get into trouble is to discuss the navigation ahead of time - which we'll do at the meeting the day before - and time your transit through Woods Hole for sometime around slack water. Which is what we'll do. The afternoon high slack is around 5 p.m. We'll pass through into Vineyard Sound and ride the ebb to Vineyard Haven.
Tuesday, June 30, will be spent getting to know the shops and restaurants and historic sites in the village and beyond. During the summer, Vineyard Haven is all about tourism. There's public bus service, and rallyers will have a chance to tour as much of the island as they'd like, and visit as many of the other popular ports as they'd like, without giving up their moorings or raising their anchors.
An early start, about 8 a.m. is called for on Wednesday, July 1, in order to again catch the ebb tide and use it to travel about 20 miles to Cuttyhunk. We want to get there before noon, not just to avoid adverse current, but also to be able to get settled on moorings (or dock space, if available) before the afternoon rush. Cuttyhunk, as you know, is not for tourism. It's for walking around and just enjoying a lovely, natural setting. Maybe climb the hill for the view, and maybe visit the fish dock for ice cream. Definitely some cockpit parties around sundown. Keep in mind that Cuttyhunk is dry, so BYOB.
Thursday, July 2, we depart for Bristol, R.I., a voyage of about 40 miles. We'll stay in Bristol July 3 as well, so as to have time to explore the town, visit the Herreshoff Museum, enjoy some good food and good fellowship.
On Saturday, July 4, we voyage back to Padanaram, a distance of about 42 miles. Whereas we'll have taken the East Passage up Narragansett Bay to get to Bristol, we'll leave Bristol via the Sakonnet River, which is actually not a river, but a passage. We'll want to be back at South Wharf Yacht Yard in time for the July 4th celebration that evening. Rallyers will also be celebrating the knowledge that they've gained by stretching their sealegs to somewhat distant ports of call.
Rally 2:
Padanaram to Boothbay
July 4-18
What separates boating in southern New England from boating in northern New England is not just the fog. It is true that there's more fog on the Maine coast than in Buzzards Bay and points south. But what really separates the two halves of the New England coast is a physical barrier rather than an atmospheric condition: the Cape Cod Canal.
A voyage up or down the coast must take into consideration the times of the currents through the canal. Unless you have a powerful engine and don't mind wasting fuel, you need to go with the flow. And the time of the favorable current dictates how far one can comfortably cruise after transiting the canal.
For the Padanaram to Boothbay rally, the favorable current is around 6 a.m. on July 6, which means an early start from Onset, which will be the first stop after leaving Padanaram.
Here then is the general schedule for the cruise. Additional details on communal dinners and tours will be forthcoming in later emails. In addition to the basic registration fee for the Rally, there will be extra charges for the meals and tours.
July 4, Padanaram: skippers' meeting, dock party and buffet supper at Cape Yachts' South Wharf Yacht Yard, followed by fireworks.
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Once you make it through the Cape Cod Canal, you're well on your way to the fabled Maine coast. |
July 5, Onset: It's only about 20 miles up the coast to the lovely harbor of Onset. Skippers meeting at the yacht club to discuss the next day's voyage, particularly the early start through the canal.
(Those boats homeported east of the canal don't need to come down to Padanaram or even Onset to join the cruise. They can join up after the bulk of the rallyers have passed through the canal. They can intercept the group at sea on July 6, or they can just meet the group in Salem Harbor. The rally boats will be easily recognizable with their dayglow green pennants.)
July 6/7, Salem: Passage thru the canal and onward to Salem; total distance about 57 miles. This will be the only day when the distance will be greater than 50 miles. After recovering from the long passage in any of the bars and restaurants in this lovely little city, we'll spend a whole day wandering the streets of this historic seaport, visiting the various museums and the replica of the 1812 privateer Fame.
July 8/9, Portsmouth/Kittery: The distance to Pepperell Cove - the anchorage for two nights - is about 48 miles. The day's courses will take the rally thru the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary and through the Isles of Shoals on the way to Portsmouth Harbor. The following day we'll visit downtown Portsmouth, as well as the reconstructed living history village of Strawbery Banke. After touring the city all day, we'll have a communal banquet at Captain Simeon's Galley, right at Pepperell Cove.
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The harbors get less crowded as you travel east. This is Wells Harbor. |
July 10, Biddeford Pool: Reminder: start paying attention to lobsterpot buoys, especially if you're under power. From Kittery, we'll coast along the shore of southern Maine. You'll see lots of lobster boats, of course, homeported at York, Ogunquit, Wells, Kennebunkport, Cape Porpoise and Biddeford Pool, which will be our destination. With an average pair of binoculars, you should be able to see President George H.W. Bush's Walker Point "cottage." If Bush 41 and his wife Barbara are vacationing there, you should also see a Coast Guard cutter patrolling the exclusion zone. Rhumbline distance from Kittery to the Pool is about 35 miles. We'll fit as many of our boats as possible on Biddeford Pool Y.C. moorings. Those boats that can't be accommodated on moorings can anchor just outside the mooring field. The yacht club is hospitable to transients, and the launch drivers are very helpful and will carry your bags of trash to shore even if you're not going in to the club.
July 11/12, Portland: It's just a short 15 miles from the Pool to our Portland stop at the Maine Yacht Center, Portland's newest full-service marina and yard. We'll stay two days because there's so much to see and do in this bustling city by the sea: museums, lighthouses, excellent restaurants.
July 13, Quahog Bay: Pay attention to your navigation. The day's voyage of about 25 miles will be going around the numerous islands of Casco Bay. Where there are islands there are also ledges, many of them lurking just beneath the surface. We'll have a skipper's meeting in the well-appointed lounge of the Maine Yacht Center to carefully go over the route. Quahog Bay is one of the gems of southern Maine cruising. There's lots of room to anchor in the neighborhood of Snow Island, which is the home of Dodge Morgan. No overboard discharges please.
July 14/15, Bath: There'll be more twists and turns as the rally moves from Quahog Bay to the New Meadows River and follows the river out to Small Point and into the Atlantic Ocean again. After rounding Small Point, it's just a short distance to the entrance of the Kennebec River. We'll aim to ride the end of the ebb out of the New Meadow's River and ride the flood up the Kennebec. Powerboaters who don't mind burning extra fuel may want to just go whenever, without regard to the state of the tide. Most rallyers I'm sure will want to make the 25-mile voyage with the least amount of engine noise and pollution. Going with the current is the way to go.
(While we don't expect the entire group of rallyers to stay together during each day's sail, our experience has taught us that it's a good idea for boats that cruise at similar speeds to stay together. This is good insurance in case any boat has a problem; others will be close by. At the first skippers meeting in Padanaram, we'll divide the group into affinity groups based on similar cruising speeds.)
Bath is, of course, the home of the fabled Bath Shipyard, now known as Bath Iron Works (BIW, for short) and owned by General Dynamics. Bath is also home to the Maine Maritime Museum, which will be our headquarters on this stop. For a single fee, the museum will provide moorings, a guided tour of the museum, a tour of BIW, and an early morning boat tour of bird and fish habitats in the upper reaches of the river and in Merrymeeting Bay. We'll also have a catered dinner at the museum's dining room, separate from the fee paid for the other services.
July 16-17, Boothbay Harbor: Depending on whether you want to backtrack down the Kennebec River or go down the "inside passage" (made up of a number of smaller rivers), the trip to Boothbay will be either 18 miles or 21 miles. The "inside passage" is not only shorter by a bit, but it's also much more scenic. But it's not for everyone. It's not for those skippers who get nervous when the shore gets close. And it's definitely not for sailboats with masts taller than 51' (including antennas, pig sticks, what-have-you) because of the bridge over the Sasanoa River, which is the start of the very interesting passage to Boothbay. This will all be gone over in detail while we're at Bath.
In Boothbay Harbor, our home will be Carousel Marina. Owner Jack Cogswell is well known in the marine industry. Many decades ago, he owned Mariner Yachts and produced a line of cruising sailboats which are still sailing New England waters. He was also head of Cabo Rico Yachts after closing Mariner.
Boothbay Harbor is a tourist town, and for those who like shopping, this is the place. But it's also the place for tennis, golf, swimming, dining, and there are a number of excellent tour boats and windjammers, in case you're tired of sailing or driving your own boat. For those Rotarians in the rally, the Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club meets on Thursday nights - and the day of our arrival will be a Thursday. Their usual meal is lobster ... in case you haven't had enough lobster yet on this cruise.
We'll conclude the rally with a communal meal. Lobster anyone?
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