Day 5. Sippican Harbor to Westport Harbor

The wind forecast was 15 kts out of the WNW which would allow an ideal course to Cuttyhunk.  However, we decided to make our way to Westport (the western most harbor in Massachusetts).  The cruising guide opens up with "Westport is not for the faint of heart..." due to the shifting sands caused by the river and the severe current causing 3 foot standing waves at the entrance.  Thus, we must go.


Linda hoisted the sail before 7:00 a.m. and we floated leisurely out of Sippican Harbor on a broad reach in light wind. 

Linda plotting our course for the day

As we turned SW our speed picked up slightly to 4-5 kts with only one sailboat in sight.  While Linda manned the helm, Bob did some pink chores including shaking out the bed sheets.  A pillowcase was inadvertently tossed in to the bay which prompted a clumsy man overboard practice maneuver.  We are ashamed and saddened to report that the pillowcase was lost at sea.  But we are committed to practicing our MoB skills. 

The wind picked up and we were able to hold a decent course for a couple of hours as the waves intensified before reefing and heading a bit more southerly (and farther off course).  After a couple more hours of pounding into the waves Linda was not feeling so well.  We passed Penikese  Island all the way over near Cuttyhunk and finally tacked to get back on the other side of the bay; but later regretted allowing ourselves to get so far off course.  Several other sailboats had passed us motor sailing (or just motoring) higher in to the wind and now we knew why.

But, alas, we finally made our way to the mouth of not for the faint of heart Westport Harbor - although by now we were feeling quite faint of heart.  We dropped a hook to wait for the flooding current to ease then made our way in under motor and on high alert.  The harbor entry was easy, uneventful and beautiful but surprisingly windy with a stiff current throughout.

The Knubbles - Westport Harbor Entrance Fl G 6s

That wasn't so bad

We were perplexed by the mooring rigging - the entire mooring ball gets hauled up on the deck and the bridle retrieved from underneath.  As we observed the sterns of boats facing in to the wind with bows pushed out over the mooring we realized why.

Strong current and opposing winds require an interesting mooring rig

We ventured to shore with a friendly and informative launch driver and took a walk to Horseneck Beach.  Soft, white sand and sparsely populated.

Shadow pics are starting to be a tradition

After a walk at the beach we had a light dinner at the Black Eddy.  Highly recommended for good food and atmosphere.  Linda had her first martini of the trip.  Gibson, of course.

photographer = friendly tuna fisherman

And that was day 5.  :-)


The last leg of our track below is not accurate (we were way less straight) because Linda crashed Bob's Android App (Captain's Blog).  Something about a NullPointerException or some BS like that.