Last Night's Winter-Cane

A huge Nor'Easter slammed much of the Eastern seaboard last night and early into this morning. Many areas received 3-12 inches of heavy, wet snow along with fierce winds.

In Eel Pond, we experienced 70mph wind gusts and sustained winds of 40-60mph along with at least 3 inches of rain. The wind blew the rain sideways, and it was difficult to walk...anywhere...but particularly on the dock. I felt like we were stuck in a giant vacuum or carpet cleaner. The screaming, howling wind was deafening at times. Tranquil Eel Pond was turned into a writhing, frothy wavy mess, which thudded and pelted our boat. I worried that our bimini top would rip off so, at 2am, began double checking and securing anything up top. I didn't take any pictures because, in the wind and rain vortex, knew my camera would be soaked. Thankfully, the storm passed before any damage to our boat occurred.

The marina sustained a little damage from boats pushing against the floating docks.

The scrapes extend about 2.5 feet up the piling. The floating dock scraped wood off the pilings from wind and current pushing boats into the floating dock.

Damage to floating dock from a boat's swim ladder. The wind pushed the boat, though secured, into and, at times, over the dock.

Chad tied extra lines to this piling. You can see how much the boat moved around...the lines rubbed off wood!

The precipitation ended early Sunday morning but the wind continued to blow and gust well into the day. Unfortunately, Falmouth held their annual marathon this morning. Runners battled 30-45pmh winds and a wind chill into the teens! The route passed right by Water Street in Woods Hole.

Second-place female runner with pace bike.

Members of the Falmouth Runners Club calling out splits and cheering.

The course is unbelievably scenic, but challenging due to the nutty Cape terrain and time of year. Woods Hole falls between mile 20 and 22. You can view more information about the marathon on the Cape Cod Marathon page: http://www.capecodmarathon.com/.

Here's hoping tonight is calmer than last, as I really need the sleep. Hoping the power is restored to our friends in NY, NJ, DC, NH and Reading!

Summer People, Some Are Not

"Summer people, some are not" is graffiti-ed under the Woods Hole drawbridge. On the hour, the drawbridge raises to allow boats to pass through the Eel Pond channel. But I am getting ahead of myself.

On Sunday, we moved our...yacht...from Taylor's Point Marina in Bourne, MA to Eel Pond, Woods Hole. The Town of Bourne closes the marina for the winter on October 31 and the up-coming weekend forecast called for rain, so we decided to move the boat a little early.

Leaving the marina

Chad plotted our voyage using navigational charts downloaded to his iphone. The voyage plan charted a little over 16 nautical miles to Eel Pond, which would take between 1.5-2 hours. Navigating the channel out of the marina and into Great Harbor (Woods Hole) is difficult. Navigation hazards like submerged rocks, sandbars and old shipwrecks dot the area and strong currents can push or pull ships into them. To mitigate these navigational difficulties, we left with the tide coming in. I'm sure there's a nautical word for "in-coming tide," but I don't know it yet. I heard from a few friends...it's called flood tide (thanks!).

It was a glorious afternoon to go boating with clear skies, bright sun, and a slight breeze. While underway, I took a few cool photos of a life at sea.

Invertebrate marine growth on one of our buoys. The blob-y things are young tunicates (sea-squirts). Tunicates are primarily sedentary and feed on plankton and other suspended particulates by siphoning. They are complex invertebrates with separate internal organs. Larval stages also have notochords, which all chordates (including humans) form as embryos. Notochord cells in chordates later develop and form the spinal column. Tunicates lose their notochord once they become sedentary. Weird! Tunicates: not simple creatures at all!

Integrated tug and barge full of cargo heading to the canal and probably North Shore refineries.

Tug escort for the integrated tug and barge. It's from NYC.

Our friend and Malevolence engineer, Jamie, as taken by Chad.

Cleveland Lighthouse, named after Pres. Grover Cleveland, marks Cleveland Ledge. Photo credit: Chad Smith

Woods Hole at sunset by Chad

One of the ferries to Martha's Vinyard pulling into the Steamship Authority in Woods Hole. Behind the ferry, you can see Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and RV Oceanus. Chad Smith

Oceanus at sunset

We arrived in the channel, hailed the bridge operator, and after several failed attempts, realize they switched to winter hours and we were too late. Instead, we docked at WHOI's pier overnight and passed through the channel in the morning.

Oceanus at dawn.

Going under the bridge!

Finally! At 8am sharp (the next day) we motored through the channel and into Eel Pond.

Passing through the channel and looking down Water Street.

Looking back through the passage. You can read the graffiti slogan under the bridge.

Eel Pond! The marina is to the left, and you can see our open slip!

We're still getting adjusted to our new location - especially the wind, which howls at night. Chad walks 150ft to work, while I have a 1.5 mile commute. Not Bad!

Sunset Over Great Sippewissett Marsh

After battling the extreme Cape wind to take pictures at Racing Beach, I drove around and found Sippewissett marsh and beach. I've been looking for the entrance to this damn marsh for years, and it isn't well-marked on maps OR on the street. Beaches on the Cape are typically local secrets; the best ones are hidden at the terminus of unassuming paths or residential neighborhood roads.

peeking through the woods to view the marsh

Sippewissett marsh and beach are nostalgic for me. Part of my term abroad was spent in Woods Hole on the Marine Biological Laboratory campus and greater Cape. One afternoon was spent mucking around Sippewissett marsh performing species counts and sampling. I was in heaven. So, 11 years later, I finally found it.

The marsh begins at the beach and stretches for miles! In this particular location, the marsh's connection to the sea is through a very narrow and shallow inlet. When the tide changes, millions of gallons of sea water funnel through this little opening.

Inlet to the marsh. See? It's tiny!

Shallow inlet channel, which is mostly sand. It's really easy to see marine life drift or swim by!

I arrived just in time for the tide to go out. Local fauna, especially birds, are well aware of the significance of tidal changes and position themselves along the inlet shoreline, waiting for schools of fish and other delicious marine life to follow the tide out.

The marsh is relatively shallow and tidal channels are, for the most part, exposed to air. Non-burying marine life must flee or find deeper channels - which are also dangerous! You'll have to forgive me, by the time I walked over to the inlet, the sun went down and I did not have enough light to photograph the marsh. Next time!
I did, though, have a great time capturing the sunset on the beach side!

My favorite. I couldn't believe my luck!

It was a fantastic evening and can hardly wait to return!

Another Fun Cape Experience: WIND!

After several days of cold, pouring rain, the sun finally broke through the gray cloud cover! The wind soon followed but, who cares, the sun was shining! After work, I took a trip to several Falmouth beaches on the windward side.

Racing Beach off Sippiwissett Road

No joke, when I opened my car door, the wind nearly ripped it off its hinges. I didn't bring a sweatshirt and, within minutes, was shivering trying to take pictures of the surf. At times the wind was so strong that it nearly knocked me down. I fought and struggled to stand and hold the camera. Plus, the surf spray and blowing sand made it difficult to see and protect my camera lens. Oh yeah, and my body and hands were shaking from the cold!

Sandblasted, wet and freezing, it was still a glorious evening!

Even though the tide was going out, the higher-than-normal surf still reached normal high-tide marks.

The waves were probably four feet, but the thundering, crashing and pounding of the surf made them sound much bigger!

Stupidly getting into the surf...which wet me even more

I hope this captures the wave action and energy!

The colors on Cape Cod are incredibly vivid, especially the clouds and sky. It reminds me of artwork by Thomas Locker and 19th century American landscape painters who attended the Hudson River School.

okay, and I think of Bob Ross's "happy clouds"

This is the wave that "got me." Soaking from the thighs down and shivering, I retreated!
And took my parting shots.

Actually, I immediately went to another windy beach to watch the sun set, but I'll write about that one later.

Our Glorious Boat...I Mean Yacht.

In my haste to capture natural phenomena occurring in and around the marina, I completely neglected to properly introduce M/V Malevolence!

Bow view, duh.

She's 42ft long and, technically, a motor yacht. I hate the word 'yacht'. The very word conjures images of pretentious Tommy Hilfiger and Burberry pastel-clothed yuppies obsessed with pedigree, country clubs, pretending to care about orphans and cancer, and with yachts named "Summer Wind" or "Spirit Love" or "Graceful Morning." We figured naming her Malevolence was perfectly, suitably ironic.

 

She was built in the glorious 80's and was previously owned by an illiterate, obese electrician from Rhode Island. Chad really rescued her. With the help of our friend, Jamie, Chad fixed, re-wired, painted, greased, lubed, pumped (wow, that sounds phallic, sorry), cleaned and loved her back into glory.

Aft view with kayak and tender.

I liked this reflection.

Eventually, we'll paint her hull black and increase the red trim to complete the look.

Tia (Australian Cattle Dog/Cardigan Welsh Corgi mix)

The dogs really love the boat, too, especially sitting on the aft porch.

Sandy (Pembroke Welsh Corgi) peers into the cabin

Sandy loves to be under-way, while Tia gets sea-sick. Lately, their favorite activity is running around the gated dock and watching schools of fish. Both have charmed our dock neighbors and marina staff!

True, there are complications and challenges that come with living on a boat but, it's been easy to adapt. Especially, when treated to spectacular sunrises and sunsets!

At the end of our dock looking toward the marina's entrance and channel into Buzzard's Bay.