1st time on the coast

[Night swimmer]

So we launched our boat out of rye nh today. It's my first time out on the coast (all our boating has been on the lakes). It was the perfect day sunny all day and flat calm seas. We made it all the way down to Cape Ann mass which is about 25 miles down the coast. We checked out Glouster harbor and a few other little harbors. On the way back north we went up the Merrimack river for 5 to 6 miles or so. Than went into hampton harbor. On our way from hampton back to rye we saw a few whales and a couple of dolphins. Hopefully we get more days like this out there.

Anyone from the area have any suggestions on place to check out next time? Or any favorite restaurants where we can dock and dine?

 

[Madifonzo]

There are several restaurants in Gloucester Harbor...we have been to the Rudder and there is a new place hay opened right next door. Both have dockage. If you go up river on the Annisquam, my understanding is that there are several places to dock and dine as well.

 

[Night swimmer]

Awesome thanks. Yeah I'd prefer to just dock right at a restaurant rather than a marina and have to walk to a restaurant. Unless it's a nice little town with shops that the wife can check out

 

[Henry Boyd]

We've made the trip between Ipswich and Portland many times. We had one trip where stopped in Rye to fuel up. Between Rye and Ipswich the ocean had been flat, skies clear and no wind. After fueling and having lunch we continued on our way to Portland. Immediately after leaving Rye the skies clouded and the wind kicked up from the SW. Pretty soon we were in 4-6' rollers and making about 10 knots forward speed. After it became clear we would not reach Portland before midnight we pulled into Kennebunkport for the night. In the morning we were faced with rain and fog. If it weren't for radar we would have spent a second night in Kennebunkport.

The point of the story is that the weather changes fast, and most of the time not for the better. If you look at the charts you'll notice that protected anchorages are few and far between. If you are going to be making 25-30 mile runs down the coast in a 24' Sundeck make sure you have good up to date marine weather info, a working VHF, marine GPS. and a bad weather plan.

The Rudder is ok, but I wouldn't say its worth the drive though. Just before Blyman drawbridge at Cape Ann Marina is the Mile One Cafe. We haven't eaten there but friends have and said it was fine for lunch. If you come down into Ipswich Bay and go up the Essex River, mid to high tide would be best if you don't know the channel, there is Shea's. They have a tie up dock and the food is much better than the Rudder's

Henry

 

[Night swimmer]

Thanks Henry. I've definitely done alot of research and tried to be as prepared as possible. I know I want more safety gear if we do this more often. I have all the paper charts for where we went. I have 2 gps installed in the boat 1 is running the charts and other is showing compass heading, speed and lat. Longitude. Plus I have navionics charts on my cell phone as another back up. I only have a hand held vhf but we never went more than 5 miles from shore.
The weather I watched all week long to see if there were any changes and kept checking the weather reports on the vhf while we were out there.
The one thing I would like to do with the boat is make the cockpit drains larger. Currently they're only about 3/4 inch drains I'd like to make them atleast 1 1/2 just to get water out faster.

This was my first time out on the coast in my own boat with me as captain. Growing up my dad had a 19 ft walk around and we would do all of buzzards bay and out around Marthas vineyard all the time. So I do have some experience from watching/helping my dad which definitely helps.

 

[Gofirstclass]

C'mon now, you know the rules....it didn't actually happen unless you post lots of pics to show us that you really did it!

Sounds like a good trip, and good on ya for making all the safety precautions.

 

[Night swimmer]

First 2 pics are the anisquam river 3rd is the whales (wife and mother in law wouldn't let me get closer) 4th is rye harbor