New England Summer Cruise

[bmac]

I'm looking for some suggestions from my New England boating brethren. We're starting to plan our 2 week summer cruise for next season. There are 5 boating families; 44DB, 40DA, 38DA, 34DA and 26DA. We've done Block, Essex and American Wharf to a fair thee well. Some of us have done Newport too. What do you guys suggest if we were looking to go further up the New England coast? MV and Nantucket? The canal and beyond to Boston? What's in between Newport and Boston that you would recommend to stay for a few days....with teenaged kids? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[bushway9172]

Definitely hit the Vineyard and Nantucket if you are able to. You could hit Cuttyhunk on the way up (Southernmost island of the Elizabethans). Beautiful place, if you haven't already been. It's very very desolate, but a very neat place to check out. The views are spectacular - a tiny little island to do some cool exploring. Now, on Martha's Vineyard, Edgartown and Oak Bluffs are very happening places. I recommend Edgartown in terms of the nicest town on the Vineyard. Oak Bluffs generally attracts a wilder crowd. You'd be able to pull up to the Harborside Inn, which is pretty much right downtown Edgartown. Beautiful harbor - easy to navigate once you're in the harbor, although you must swing wide around the shoal that extends from the Edgartown Lighthouse, out almost to Cape Poge (about a mile offshore), especially with your size boat. From there, you could make it to Nantucket in no time. The time from Cuttyhunk to Edgartown is probably about an hour and a half (at the most). And from Edgartown to Nantucket is probably only another 45 minutes or so (at 28-30mph).

We haven't done the trip up to Boston yet. Still deciding whether or not it we'd be able to make it on our 270! What do you think? Would be a cool adventure to look forward to next summer.

 

[JV II]

Plymouth Harbor. Stay at Brewers. Call ahead with all those boats to reserve. (Dam, did I just give away my slip). You have the Mayflower, Plymouth Plantation, Plymouth Winery, Ocean Spray Cranberry museum, too many shops and restaurants, great fishing in the harbors, and beautiful sand beaches.

 

[wetpaint]

Day 1 Cuttyhunk
Day 2 Plymouth
Day 3 Plymouth
Day 4 Provincetown
Day 5 Provincetown
Day 6 Nantucket
Day 7 Nantucket
Day 8 Oak Bluffs
Day 9 Oak Bluffs

You could always throw in Newport and Block (also leave 1 or 2 days for weather adjustments)......I would not go to Boston.....Just me!

 

[Dancin Dave]

No time to smell the roses with that itinerary. Too much stress and rat racing. I would split it up over 2 locals, but thats just me.

 

[jhild]

Some excellent recommendations above. I agree that the Vineyard and Nantucket should be mandatory. I also agree that you should skip Boston. More trouble than it’s worth. Plenty to do south of the canal.

 

[Sea Gull]

Teenagers would probably like Provincetown, but if there are younger kids you'll have some "splainin" to do. One thing to think about is fuel prices and the range of some of the smaller boats in your group. You do not want to re-fuel on any of the islands unless your rich uncle is paying. The diesel boats can probably make the round trip to Nantucket on a single tank, but the gassers will need to stop. Montauk, Sandwich, Hiannis, Woods Hole, Fairhaven and Plymouth will be among the places along the way that have reasonable prices.

 

[jrurhh]

I don't a gree with the skip Boston post, Boston harbor is a great place to boat. There are many great places to anchor, resturants with docks. You can grab a slip downtown and walk to the North End for dinner. You could spend days just exploring the harbor island and historical sites on them.

 

[bmac]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I'm in Boston every week so not sure I'll do it by boat. We like to stay at least 3 nights in each port. Montauk is pretty much our jumping off point so I think it'll be some combination of Newport and ports inside Cape Cod to Ptown or Newport, MV and Nantucket. Given those two scenarios how about some transient marina recommendations? This crew tends much more towards the resort style rather than the fishing style. Montauk Yacht Club is a good starting example for us.

 

[wetpaint]

Newport http://www.newporthotel.com/

Nantucket http://www.nantucketboatbasin.com/

Marthas Oak Bluffs
http://www.oakbluffsharbor.com/Oak_Bluffs_Marina_HTML/Start.html

Marthas Edgartown (no power)
http://theharborsideinn.actwin.com/

 

[Riptide III]

Oak Bluffs Oak Bluffs then one more day at Oak Bluffs. Nancy's and the outdoor restraunt to the left of it are excellant. Nancy's is a little pricy. The Lamp post is a great multi level bar 1 block down the road. Short walk from the dingy dock are showers and bathrooms. Fairhaven has a club that sells Gas at about 20 cents over regular car pump prices. I forgot the name but could find it for you. One more thing, plan accordingly, there are 2 weeks in August that are almost impossible to find space in Oak Bluffs. They are Shark week followed by illumination. Steer clear if you havent reserved a slip.
Phil