We gotta be home soon, that is, if we want to keep our jobs, and we certainly do, so it’s time to leave beautiful Cohasset and start our journey homeward. We need to break up the long trip, but between Cohasset and Swifts Neck there aren’t a lot of ports. Scituate is way too close, literally right around the corner. Green Harbor is way too expensive, but I’m tempted to pay the $4.50 a foot just because I’ve never been there. Onset has a nice anchorage and cheap moorings, but it’s a little too far. That leaves Plymouth, which is about halfway home. I can definitely dig Plymouth again. So we pack it up, drop the pennants, and for the first time in a while, head south.

Leaving Cohasset.

In every port we visit, I like announcing our departure via radio.
“Cohasset Harbormaster, Cohasset Harbormaster. This is motor vessel Ginger Lee vacating the mooring. Thank you for your hospitality, and thank you for having us in your wonderful harbor. Over.
“You’re welcome Ginger Lee. Be good, travel safe, and come back soon. Cohasset out.”
“We will do all of that. Thanks again. Ginger Lee out.”

We turn our attention to navigating the tricky area outside of the harbor. It’s strewn with rocks and shallows and all manner of obstructions. I’m sure the local mariners have no problem picking their way through all the Stellwagen Ledges (there’s too many to name), but we opt to avoid the drama and head straight out into Massachusetts Bay. Once clear of the Grampuses (big honkin’ rocks), we make a long southerly curve around everything and set a course to Plymouth Bay.

Going around everything.

The “I Love You” light off Minot’s Ledge. It flashes 1 then 4 then 3.

I hail our friends at the Plymouth Yacht Club and they hook us up with a mooring for the night. It’s nice to be back.

PYC Launch.

We are safely tied to a mooring in Plymouth Harbor. The afternoon melts away in the summer heat until sunset brings a lovely cooling breeze. I feel good about our summer cruise, the new places we visited, the new faces we encountered, and the adventures we’ve had. I knock on Ginger Lee’s mahogany paneling for luck, and say a silent prayer that she may continue to keep us safe and comfortable for many years to come.

Sunset.

At the break of day, we leave Plymouth behind and head home by way of the Cape Cod Canal.  In a slow boat like ours, it’s important to transit the canal so that the tide pushes us along, otherwise we’ll only make 3 MPH and use a lot of fuel. The XO has calculated the optimal time to enter the eastern end. Soon we are zipping along at 12 MPH.

Zipping under the Bourne Bridge.

Mass Maritime’s training ship Kennedy.

The nice weather is spoiling me. I am so fortunate to have this boat, and this wife who enjoys boating as much as me. I don’t ever want to stop this boating life that we have enjoyed this summer. But why can’t I have it all the time? Not just summers. I want to cruise non-stop, follow the warm weather from port to port. I convey these feelings to my wife, and without missing a beat, she answers: “You can have that Rick, just get somebody to send you money.”
Sheesh. There’s always a catch.

Home safe in Wareham.