It’s two days before summer, and the weather is darn near perfect. We’re talkin’ seventy-five degrees, clear blue cloudless skies, and a gentle southeast breeze. It’s as if the weather gods are tossing us a bone to make up for the last three crappy weeks.
“Sorry about the past month guys. Please accept my apologies and have this beautiful weekend to enjoy on your boat. Your friend, W.G.”
Stuff for the weekend loaded into my big trike. That thing is like a pick-up truck.
Swifts Neck looking east. We lock our bikes to a fence and dinghy out to Ginger Lee.
Mean Ol’ Mister Humidity hasn’t shown his face around here yet. Oh I’m sure he’s on his way, and we’ll deal with him when he gets here, but for now, the XO and I are psyched to fire up Ginger Lee and cruise her to one of our favorite ports-of-call: Onset. The jewel of Wareham, Massachusetts.
On our way to Onset.
When we enter the Hog Island Channel, we’re surprised (and pleased) to see the Canal Patrol boat Parsons stopping boats for excessive speed and wake. The speed limit here is ten MPH and is a no wake zone, but nobody ever obeys this rule except boats like ours that can’t go fast enough to leave a big wake. In all fairness, the speed limit is not posted anywhere. When traversing this area, always assume you will be waked mercilessly and plan accordingly.
Patrol boat Parsons. Protecting all of us from big bad wakes.
Even in our slow boat, it’s only an hour cruise. At the entrance to Onset Bay, strong currents try their best to dash us against the unfriendly rocks, but we foil this evil plan and carefully follow the nav-aids to the back side of Wickets Island and pick up a town mooring.
Moored in Onset Bay.
The friendly Harbormaster stops by to collect her fee.
Everybody is out enjoying the nice weather.
Marine Unit One.
Even the Coasties are out.
We dinghy to shore in search of food. There are plenty of choices, but today it’s a toss-up between Mark Anthony’s and Quahog Republic. We settle on the latter because the XO has a hankerin’ for seafood and a mai tai.
Heading to shore.
Mostly hard dinghies here. It’s unusual.
We share wicked good parmesan fries. I have the “poor man’s surf and turf” which is a hot dog and a stuffie.
A statue of an Indian maiden watches over beautiful Onset Bay.
All is well in beautiful Onset. Off in the distance, the sun is slowly sinking toward the rugged tree-line, painting a sparkling yellow trail to our transom. There is still a surprising amount of activity: beachgoers are reluctant to pack up their belongings; boaters are still out and about; paddle-boarders and kayakers are out there too. Not one of us wants to let this awesome day slip into night, as if there will never be another so perfect. But, of course, there will be many, many more. It is just the dawn of summer, when Onset, and all the wonderful waterways of Wareham, come alive.