Round The Cape (In One Day)

My brother, Nick, and I made our long-planned circumnavigation of Cape Cod on Friday August 18, 2006 in my 18' Maritime Skiff CC with 70 hp Evinrude (Suzuki) outboard. (Nick has an almost identical M Skiff that we will use on the next trip.) The trip was exactly 146 nm, at an avg. speed of 14 nm/h, used 26 gal of gas (avg 5.6 nm/g) and took 10.5 hrs (with brief stops for fishing, setting waypoints on GPS, lunch off Monomoy, and gassing up at Chatham Fish Pier). I am posting this account on the following websites: www.mywellfleet.com and www.capecodsalties.com .

We left an hour before high tide and made the trip in a counter-clockwise direction: Across the Cape Cod Bay to the Canal then across Buzzards Bay to Woods Hole passage then across Vineyard Sound and Nantucket Sound to Monomoy Island point (Pollock Rip) then up to Chatham (stopped for gas at the Fish Pier) then up the backside of the Cape (past Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro) to Race Point (Provincetown) then the last leg back down the Bay to Billingsgate and Wellfleet. (See 'Note to Boaters' at the bottom of this email.)

Leaving Wellfleet Harbor at 6:30AM; no wind at all; little current out to the 'Cut' at Jeremy Point, set the Cape Cod Canal waypoint and headed out past the 'Fishing Ledge' and the 'Fingers' across to the Canal. No bluefin tuna spotted. The boat has a nice Garmin color GPS/sounder with a Blue Chart chip for easy navigation. I reset the trip log to keep track of our journey. And I had a notebook and pencil to log our trip and interesting sights. Nick & I are now ready to tackle other 'blue water' trips for cod, tuna and bass such as Stellwagen Bank.

Nick at the helm in the Cape Cod Canal approaching the Sagamore Bridge. The Canal passage was easy with a good fair current (West to East at approx 3 knots)). The biggest hitch was that the RR Bridge was DOWN and a Corps of Engineers boat came out and directed us to "turn around and stem the tide for 10 minutes". When we figured out what to do it became apparent how fast the current was rippin'. Lots of guys fishing the banks of the Canal but we saw no 'catching'. When the bridge came up we proceeded on our way.

Passing the Mass Maritime Academy tugs at the East end of the Cape Cod Canal. And the buoy at Woods Hole in Buzzards Bay.

   


Entering Woods Hole after crossing Buzzards Bay (look at yacht on the right). The "Our Dream" aground in Woods Hole. The current was rippin' at about 5 knots against us (so it was easier for us to steer). . Maybe they will rename it the "Our Nightmare"? Coast Guard and TowBoats USA and locals were on the scene. Note the passengers in the stern waiting for rescue. I read in the papers that the owner said he "misjudged the tide and current". See my "Note To Boaters" at the end of this article.)

After transiting Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds and stopping for lunch off Monomoy, we decided to go into Chatham Harbor to replenish our reserve gas at the Fish Pier.We went in and out the "Break" at near low tide, but due to the mild winds and ebb tide the passage was not a problem. It turned out we did not need the extra gas, but better safe than sorry on the great backside.

We left the Chatham break at 1:40PM and set the next waypoint for Nauset Inlet. There was heavy fog about 5 miles east of Chatham (as usual) but we still had S winds of 0-5 mph and as it was about dead low, a fair current north. We had covered 94 nautical miles to that point. We stopped to fish some bluefish blitzes right off Nauset (Nick caught 2 on topwaters) and then proceeded up (down?) the backside past Newcomb's Hollow beach off Wellfleet.

We continued North past Truro keeping an eye out for signs of bluefin tuna (our primary target) but saw only birds working huge balls of bait (herring minnows based on bluefish upchucks in the boat). We passed a large beach camper crowd just south of Race Point (Coast Guard and Monument in background). Saw no tuna and only a few liveliner boats (some with kites flyng to keep the bluefish bait away from the boat).

We passed a sleek sailboat outside the P-town harbor off Truro on the bayside. We encountered our first 'snotty' water on the passage back down the bay from P-town to Billingsgate Island due to freshening 5-10 mph south winds countering the favorable flood tide current. Result was a lumpy ride on close interval 1-3' choppy water. The Maritime Skiff is an amazingly dry boat with very good handling ability in this type of water. Unique front hull design combined with hard chines and a wide beam resulted in a dry safe ride into the wind and chop. Only 3 times did spray get over the bow and spritz the console!

After reaching our 'home waters' at Billingsgate, we came through the 'slough' and turned north back into Wellfleet Harbor for the last little run back into the Wellfleet inner harbor and Marina (retracing our run out in the AM). I dropped Nick off at the dock at 5:15 and was soon back on my mooring with the boat secured looking forward to a glass or two of wine, dinner, shower and early to bed. The house in the background is Oyster Cove B&B ( www.oystercove.com ) where I live. It was a good day to be alive and on the water ...and home safely.

NOTE TO BOATERS:
We made our plans well in advance so it was only a matter of watching for a window in the weather. I studied the tidal flows in the most critical passages using 'Eldridge's 2006 Tide and Pilot' book. I originally planned to make the trip in a clockwise direction leaving Wellfleet on the low tide. But as it looked like the 18th would be favorable weather, we decided to reverse the route to counter-clockwise based on more favorable winds and currents during the most hazardous parts of the trip (CC Canal, Buzzards Bay, Woods Hole and Vineyard/Nantucket Sound/Pollock Rip).

The weather changes quickly on the Cape and we would be exposed to all four quadrants of the compass and a complete tide cycle during our trip. We were looking for a 3 day period when the winds would be 5mph or less; and we would make the trip on the middle day. No 'moon tides' would also be a plus. As it turned out Friday, August 18 was such a day with the only hitch that winds in the afternoon were forecast to rise to 5-10mph. (That occurred and caused the bumpy ride back down from P-town to Wellfleet.)

We carried an extra jump starting battery and handheld VHF radio, cellphones, air horns, life jackets and safety gear, extra cans of gas (boat tank holds only 25 gal.), charts, water, food, etc. Even with the light winds, we dressed warmly as it can get quite cold in the Chatham Fog or if we had a wet ride. I left a detailed Float Plan with Sandy that noted various waypoints, times and approx cellphone call-ins. I had a list of Harbormaster phone numbers and gas docks. And I reviewed my Coast Guard Auxilliary boating course notes on trip planning and VHF calling procedures using Ch 16.

I strongly urge any boaters out there who would like to make the RTC trip first to take the Coast Guard Auxilliary boating and navigation courses offered in several locations and times on the Cape and then to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN and finally to LEAVE A FLOAT PLAN with someone at home who can be reached by phone. This trip should be the final exam of the Auxilliary course.


Dick & Nick Nicholson
Copyright 8/19/2006

PS: Special inspirational thanks to Dr. Allan Woodward of Wellfleet who has made this trip before and to Cape Cod Saltie, Rick Schwartz who helped me master the GPS navigating and gain confidence on 'blue water'. And the great guys who teach the Coast Guard Auxilliary courses on Safe Boating and Navigation.