Finally the time came for departure. Nathan and I decided that whatever the case we would be underway by noon. Alex showed up early and I had to stop by the hardware store and pick up some alcohol as we were given an alcohol stove to keep us warm till we got somewhere that the weather was warm enough to not need heating. I also had to pick up some computer bits to try to make the radar work, as it failed the ops check.
At the dock we had a mad flurry of action cramming stuff everywhere so we could take the opportunity to go when there was a favorable forecast to get through Buzzards bay. I hate coming out of the canal when the wind is up out of the southwest. During our mad rush, Dianne and Kara from HOG showed up to help us out. Diane packed our kitchen which was really nice of her but now we can’t find anything, she also brought us phallic shaped meat. She claims it is her favorite. Kara on the other hand, played supervisor to dangerous last minute saw operations.
We left at 1220 and were on our way to Scituate. We had more or less a really great sail with the wind generator, nicknamed Jocelyn, humming along. She got the name Jocelyn as it has a personality that pretty much mimics someone I knew back in the navy. She was the only person I knew who could put her whole fist in her mouth and challenging her to do it was the only way to get her to stop making noise. The wind generator is basically the same way. The stay sail and high cut jib worked pretty good in 10 knots of true breeze and we made great boat speed. I tried the autopilot, and it seemed to work, right up until about 7 seconds into the evolution when it tried to round up the boat. Turns out it needs to be calibrated, who knew?
We arrived in Scituate promptly at 1700 and I tried my best to pay for the evening spent at the fuel dock but the dock master never got around to coming down to collect the money. I guess that is how reciprocal moorage works. Luisa came after while and the four of us had steaks on the bbq and some other dinner. I informed Nathan this would be his last chance to take a shower till Charleston and he passed. Great. We also managed to procure some cooked vegies, from an undisclosed source. All in all it was a pretty good start to the trip.