Ireland’s Eye Sails from Newport to Provincetown
On July 7th, after a delayed start, 5 of us on-board Ireland’s Eye, a Myabca45 TR Trawler cruised from Newport, RI to Provincetown, MA at the tip of Cape Cod. The delayed start was due to bad weather and high seas on Thursday and a locked head (bathroom) with nobody in it on Friday morning. The cruise up, albeit long, was beautiful and peaceful. The reward was a week long holiday in Provincetown…a place of never ending beauty and fun.
On Thursday, July 5th Miguel , Janiese and I drove up to Portsmouth, RI, where Irelands Eye’s lives at the East Passage Yachting Center where Kristina waited for us. Steph was supposed to meet us in Newport later that night, but due to a windy and stormy night, we decided to stay put and wait until morning to bust a move. So, she drove to Portsmouth instead. That night we had a dinner at the little restaurant at the marina and headed back to the boat for a few drinks before going to bed relatively early (for a group who’s mouths can run on for hours and hours about nothing and everything.) When we woke up in the morning we listened to the forecast which indicated that the bulk of bad weather had passed. Aedan and Bernie (my uncle and aunt) had set out earlier than us en-route to Boston and phoned to say that there was a fog, but that visibility was about 1 NM and the seas were not choppy, but fairly “roly-poly” With this information we decided to head out and make our journey to Provincetown. I hurried everyone along and went to the bathrooms on shore to wash up. When I got back, Miguel informed me that the bathroom on-board the boat was locked with nobody inside. I won’t bore you with the details but it was a huge pain in the ass and delayed us yet again. We all tried for a couple of hours to pick the lock without success. I finally broke down and phoned Jason Dean (the awesome dealer for Myabca USA) who bailed me out…yet again (thanks Jason.) Turned out, he had to drill through the lock, bust it off the door and replace it with a new one.
“…I can’t believe the bathroom is locked. I really need to…”
By the time this was done, and we got ready to set out, it was well after 1pm.
Kristina waits paitiently and smiles for the camera…
As a result of the delay, we decided we would head down to Newport, RI and stay there for the night. From there we could get up early on Saturday and set out for Provincetown.
The night in Newport actually turned out to be a ton of fun. It took us ages to get a mooring from Old Port Marine. Once we were finally assigned a mooring, Miguel had a tough time picking it up and I had a tough time preventing myself from screaming obscenities…at any rate, we secured Ireland’s Eye to the morning and managed not to throw each other overboard…or anyone else for that matter 
We stayed on-board for a short while, reading magazines and chatting about celebrity gossip…fun
“…Can you beleive Nicole is pregnant…”
Later that night went out for dinner to the same place we always go. I can’t remember the name of it, but they have a kick-ass, cajun burger with blue cheese mmmmm. Then it was back to the boat for drinks, of course.
Sun set in Newport on a stormy night
Newport Bridge on a stormy night
Some visitors in Newport
The next morning I was awake at about 5:30am checking the weather and just being a bit anxious about the trip. It was my first long journey on the boat, after all. I started making enough noise to wake the others at about 7am. With the engines running, sunblock on, Dramamine swallowed, we left Fort Adams to port at exactly 8:02am. As we headed out into Rhode Island Sound, I could tell it was going to be an awesome day. The sun was shining and there was not a cloud in the sky. There were tons of boats out fishing. We headed for the second red buoy where we made a left turn and headed for Buzzards Bay. Rhode Island Sound was fairly calm, but there were occasional swells. They were well spaced so it was no big deal and I felt comfortable. The rest of the crew, on the other hand were concerned…I warned them Myself and Steph were slightly sea sick from the swells. She stayed on the bridge with me, which was cool as there were a few moments where I was unsure if I would need to lean over the edge to spew last nights dinner. I think she felt worse than I did, but hardly complained…she’s a trooper
“…are there any barf bags available?”
As time passed and we overdosed on Dramamine, we both started feeling better. The calmer seas in Buzzards Bay also helped ease the nausea enough to throw the occasional smile
“…99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer…”
I was really surprised and relieved to encounter such calm seas in Buzzards Bay. I have heard and read horror stories of opposing winds and tides that can create big choppy seas. It was so calm that we all relaxed…Janiese and Miguel even soaked in some sun…
“I can swim, but only to save my life”
The remainder of the long trip up Buzzards Bay was fairly uneventful. Steph and I chatted away with the occasional visit from Kristina and Miguel. I don’t think Janiese made it to the fly-bridge during the trip.
A View from the fly-bridge while passing Buzzards Bay
As we approached Cape Cod Canal, my senses were heightened again. There was alot of activity in the area with tons of boats and quite a few markers in the water. We timed the trip through the canal to go with the favorable current. It was pretty cool to see our speed increase so rapidly as the current got it’s hold on us.
Approaching Cape Cod Canal
For years I though it would be so cool to go through the canal on a boat. Every time I drove over one of the bridges I would look at the boats below in envy. So, I was looking forward to the smooth, relaxing trip through the canal. Well, I was quite surprised to discover that it was not nearly a calm and relaxing as I had imagined. There were a ton of power boats heading in the other direction, against the current, which created significant wakes and chop for us. Additionally, the current had such a strong hold, that it required constant steering in order to stay on course. It was still really cool, just not what I expected.
You can see how stromg the current was
Once we were through the canal, we had 22 miles left to Provincetown. It was smooth sailing from here out. The Cape Cod Bay was awesome. It was like being on a lake. The wind was going with us, the sun was shining, nobody was sea sick anymore and there was absolutely no current. After only half an hour in the bay, we could just barely make out the Pilgrim Monument in the distance.
Steph takes the helm in Cape Cod Bay
A View of the back from the “upper deck”
African safari or boating????
Are we there yet…
Land Ho!!!
At long last we arrived in Provincetown, picked up or mooring and headed straight to town for T-Dance. What an awesome day it was, despite the nausea. At T-Dance we sucked down drink after drink…my choice was rum runners…which tend to kick my ass. Kristina accidentally dropped a ring between the planks on the deck at the Boat Slip, but with a hanger and a steady hand, she managed to retrieve it. The rest of that night is a bit of a blur, but I’m sure it was fun.
More fun days and nights to come…
