PROVINCETOWN, MA.

Sunday, July 28,2024

We left Padanaram (Dartmouth) on Friday morning and had a beautiful passage with the tide in our favor through the Cape Cod Canal.  Flat seas, blue skies and pleasant temperatures all the way to Provincetown.  Here’s a shot Lynn took to show how flat the seas were and how straight our course ran.  We were on autopilot for about 1-1/2 hours from the Canal – across Cape Cod Bay straight to our Waypoint at P’Town.

From the stern – like driving down the highway!

Friends have told us that they see whales almost every time they cross Cape Cod Bay, and we kept an eye out: visually, and with the depth sounder.  In the picture below, you can see our course on the left screen, and the depth sounder on the right, showing clear to the bottom at 200 feet.

No whales showing up either on the surface or below!

We are really enjoying P’Town.  It’s Lynn’s first visit, and I have never been here by boat.  It is a GORGEOUS harbor: huge with almost 360* protection.  The marina is very busy and very well managed.  Here’s a shot of where we are geographically: look for the little blue dot!

And here’s the beautiful harbor:

P’Town is notorious as an LBGTQ+ haven, and it doesn’t disappoint in that regard.  The street scene is crazy.  It also features beautiful beaches and wonderful restaurants.  It’s protected on the east by a long, curved spit called Long Point Beach, and we set out for there in the dinghy, which is powered by a 1,000 Kw electric motor.  The motor served us well for short hops in the Elizabeth Islands and the Bahamas, but it ran out of juice before we reached Long Point…soooo,

We bummed a tow from a friendly passing catboat, and we ended up getting to the beach via the Long Point Shuttle pontoon boat.  Great fun!  Every day is an adventure!

Nice guys on Pegasus who towed us back to the marina!

We spent a lovely afternoon picnicking, beach walking, and watching the harbor seals gambol in the surf.  Sorry, we have no seal photos – every time they popped up, they’d submerge again before we could get a picture!  We did get some other photos, however, including one of Guinness drinking water from a huge clam shell.

All in all, a terrific day!   We have one more day here, and then we’re off across Cape Cod Bay once again to Salem, MA.  The forecast is for conditions rather more challenging than we faced on our trip here.  We’ll be safe, but it could be an uncomfortable crossing…we’ll see.  In the meantime, we’re off to another Top-Rated restaurant!

TTFN