Hello Sailor! [Ep. 7]

In this episode we pass a catamaran while sailing offshore with our monohull, sail with Humpback Whales, and explore Provincetown and Nantucket off of Cape Cod.

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0:00 Start
0:30 Leaving Maine

Its fall in Maine. Time to head toward greener pastures. We leave Rockland, Maine in the late afternoon and set sail with our sights set on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. We left late due to some online work obligations and our weather window closed on us, so we diverted to Provincetown, Massachusetts. We had to run the gauntlet of lobster buoys in the dark.

1:28 Sailing in the Gulf of Maine

The trip from Maine to Provincetown was all bluewater offshore sailing. We had NE winds in the 5-25 knot range the whole trip. Making for nice downwind sailing, although the waves did pick up the further south we drove into the Gulf of Maine. We dodged lobster buoys and fishing boats on our way south.

3:10 Crushing Catamarans

We found a catamaran sailboat of the same size on AIS that we raced through the night and next day. They started ahead of us, and by the time we arrived in Provincetown they were just off our stern. It was a really great speed comparison of a cruising catamaran vs a cruising monohull. I am sure neither of us was racing hard, I think we both had either reefed mainsail or headsails only a multiple points, but it still gives a great idea of how catamarans and monohulls compare in the same conditions. We were surprised that our monohull was faster than the production catamaran off the wind, reaching and downwind.

7:23 Arrive in Provincetown

We arrived in Provincetown, to meet some new friends due to anchoring too close to them. They were super nice about our mistake, and SV Sargo has become great friends which we see again in the Caribbean. We eat pizza, tour the town, and take a bike ride out to Race Point Beach.

10:34 Old Harbor Life-Saving Station

There we tried to explore the rescue museum, but we arrived just a few minutes to late, as it was closed. We met the rangers leaving on the path as we walked there. They were great and explained some of the history. It was amazing how the pre-curser to our coast guard saved lives. The risks they took to save troubled mariners were incredible, and the gear they had to do it was rudimentary at best. We explore some of this in our video, but we want to thank our USCG members for their great service to our country and to all sailors.

13:45 Spinnaker Sailing off Cape Cod

After leaving P-Town, we headed offshore around Cape Cod and the Cape Codd National Seashore to sail to Nantucket, Massachusetts.

15:38 Humpback Whales

We saw Dolphins and Humpback whales along the way as we sailed under our A2 Runner Spinnaker, which we have named "Big Blue." (We have a white A3 Reacher / Gennaker Spinnaker in our sail inventory as well ;-)

17:01 Monomoy Shoals Sunset

We sailed through Monomoy Shoals with no problem. It was well marked and charted, however, we didn't shortcut. We used the shipping channel. We arrive safely to Nantucket Harbor in the evening and anchor amongst its strong current. Our Rocna anchor held beautifully on a short scope of 3:1, despite the changing 2-3 knot current.

17:50 Tour Nantucket

We walked the cobblestone roads and sidewalks of Nantucket as we tried to find New England's shortest lighthouse.

18:56 Brant Point Lighthouse

Brant Point Lighthouse is a stubby little thing and highly photographed by visiting tourists. We added ourselves to that list. Later we went for a nature walk on the other side of the island, seeing the marsh, grass, and beautiful flowers.

#sailing #monohullvscatamaran #sailinglife #travelvlog

About Us:
So who are we? Well, we aren't Sailing La Vagabonde, Sailing Doodles, Sailing Uma, Gone With the Wynns, or Sailing Delos. We don't have a fancy catamaran, but we do have a pretty spiffy and fast monohull sailboat that likes to eat cruising catamarans like the Fountaine Pajots, Leapords and Lagoons for lunch and leave them in the dust ;-) We are Kate and Curtis, a sailing couple, with our sailing dog Roxy, aboard SV Sweet Ruca. We used to be sailboat racers on the great lakes, and our goal is to cruise around the world via the capes (the wrong way or the hard way). We will see if this will happen or not, as the "new normal" has put quite a damper on our travels. For now, enjoy our videos and join us on our journey via our YouTube Channel.

'Till Next Time :-)