Seven Days In May – Part One

As we approached Boston Harbor on Tuesday, I said to Peter: “I have the perfect title for this report: Seven Days In May!”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I flashed back to that November day in 1962. It’s burned into my brain because it was the only time I ever witnessed fear in my father’s eyes.

It was Saturday, November 17, 1962. I even remember exactly when and where. We were on the Route 2 West entrance in Boxboro around 10:30 in the morning. They were saying something on the radio about Kennedy, Khrushchev, and a nuclear war. My father turned up the radio; his face went slack and flashed a fear I had never witnessed before.

Some days, I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, but the Saturday in 1962 is permanently etched! Fortunately, Khrushchev backed down, and the whole thing was over a few days later.

Boston Bound

We are off on our first extended cruise of the season – 7 days, and our first ever in the month of May.

Our good friends from La Quinta are on the East Coast for their annual visit to Maine, and a few months ago, Alan mentioned it would be nice to get together when they’re in Boston.

Brenda and Sandi are sisters, and although they look and talk like a couple of Classic California Girls, they’re actually from Maine.

We have a lot of serendipity at play on the trip. We have been planning to spend Memorial Day weekend in Oak Bluffs for several months. The best time to meet up with our California guests was Tuesday and Wednesday, so we decided to just stay on the boat Thursday night, creating a nice seven-day cruise.

Serendipity further struck when Tuesday turned out to be the first summery day in Boston, with temperatures in the 80’s.

Surprise – Coast Guard Inspection

We left Onset around 9:15 and headed east on the Cape Cod Canal. As we passed under the Railroad Bridge, we saw a small USCG boat make a sharp u-turn, flash its lights, and pull up to a large Trawler. I hailed the USCG and asked permission to pass to port. They said, “Proceed”.

About twenty minutes later, they approached us, and one of the officers shouted out, “Have you been boarded by the Coast Guard in the last year,”

The answer was “no,” and two young girls in Coast Guard uniforms boarded the boat, asking to see the ship’s documentation.

Preparing For Boarding

The young officer told me they’re doing continuous inspections on the canal through Memorial Day. She said they like the canal because they can stay underway during the inspection.

In general, this is probably true, but on Amazing Grace, the only helm is in the Flybridge, and virtually none of the things she wanted to see were in the Flybridge!

This meant Mrs. Horne and Peter had to host the inspection, making it more of a scavenger hunt than and inspection.

• USCG – Inspection Checklist
  • Documentation – Amazing Grace is documented by the CG, so they wanted to see my current papers. Otherwise, they’ll want to see your state registration.
  • Identification – They didn’t require my Captain’s License; my driver’s license was sufficient.
  • Flares – They will check the expiration dates. Amazing Grace doesn’t have flares; we have a radio beacon, which was fine. We also have a bell, which is no longer required for boats under 20 meters, but depending on how we’re measured, we could be considered 20 meters.
  • Life Jackets – All they require is one for everyone on board, including children’s jackets if you have any on board. We have somewhere between 20 and 30!
  • Fire Extinguishers – This was the first curve ball. She needed to see four. The fire suppression system in the engine room counted as one. Peter came up and asked me, and I told him where I thought they were. They will check the expiration dates.
  • Life Ring – This was probably our worst moment. The requirement calls for it to be mounted and ready to throw. Ours was in the locker under the cockpit lounge, which was sealed in canvas and covered with pillows!
  • Black Water Discharge – Another tough one. At this point, I called Captain Tom at Maritimo for information. The CG wants to see the thru-hull seacock, and they want to see a zip tie preventing it from being used. Our seacock is in the Lazzerette, and Tom said it was not zip-tied because it has an electric lock controlled by a keyed switch near the helm. I explained that to the officer, and she said, “Perfect.”
  • Hull Number – The final item in the scavenger hunt turned out to be the Hull Number. It must be on an engraved display attached to the hull by regulation. I assumed it was in the engine room. After ten minutes, Peter reported it wasn’t there. I called Captain Tom back, and he said it under the starboard line locker. He said the one attached to the hull is very difficult to access. She accepted the one under the locker but advised us to attach one to the hull in the engine room
  • USCG-REGS – The CG also requires boats over 39.5’ to have a copy of the USCG Regulations Book on board. I have one, but I don’t think they asked for it. I had a courtesy inspection on Relentless, and they accepted a downloaded copy on my iPad.

Finally, here’s a link to the Official Checklist they use. There are several marinas offering courtesy inspections this weekend. I recommend it. If you do, you get a window sticker that may protect you from a boarding!

We had to slow to 6 knots for the entire thirty-minute boarding inspection, which added about twenty minutes to our ETA as we cleared the canal and headed north in Cape Cod Bay.

It was a perfect day for making way, and we ran at 28 mph all the way, reaching Waterboat Marina at 12:39 PM.

The Bostonian Public House

I went to Yelp and sorted restaurants by “Open Now,” Distance, and Customer Rating. The first choice ended up being Legal Seafood. Knowing we’d eat a lot of seafood this week, I went to #2 – The Bostonian Public House, just south of Faneuil Hall.

Tuesday was in the high 80s in Boston. The first perfect summer day of the season after nearly two months of cold, wet weather. All the alfresco tables were packed with people who probably snuck out of work!

The host told us it was a thirty to forty-minute wait for an outside table or right away inside. We chose inside.

We enjoyed a great lunch in a street side booth.

Everything was very good. My wings might have been too hot if I hadn’t steered clear of all the little Serrano slices.

Even more notable were the prices. We were a five-minute walk to the financial district, Faneuil Hall, and Long Wharf, yet the most expensive item was only $20.

Peter and I did a little cleaning in the afternoon, getting ready for a cocktail party and dinner in North End with dear friends from California starting at 5:00 PM.

Our friends Anna and Scott moved their homeport from Newport to Boston this year. Scott had texted me Monday and told me they’d be arriving from wintering in Florida on Monday. It was hard to miss their Azimut 68 at the Yacht Haven Marina.

First Cocktail Party of The Season

Our guests were staying at the Harborside Hyatt near Logan. They took the Redtop Water Taxi, and we were dropped off near our boat.

After catching up with a few adult beverages, we took the half-mile walk to Tresca in the North End.

One of the pluses of docking at either Waterboat or Yacht Haven is the proximity to the North End and some of the best Italian restaurants in America.

Tresca is quintessential North End, with second-story French doors opening on Hanover Street.

Everyone stuck with the theme and ordered the Italian classics.

The Chef Rich, who is also the owner, came by to see how everyone was doing. He even posed for a photo with Mrs. Horne.

It turns out Rich is actually the co-owner. The great Bruins defenseman and Captain Ray Bourque are the other co-owner. Bourque was a Bruin for 21 seasons and their longest-serving Captain. He also holds the NHL record for points scored by a defenseman.

Modern Pastry

Our friends love Italian Pastry, so the only question was Mike’s or Modern Pastry!

These pastries are absolutely sublime. Just remember to bring cash – Modern Pastry does not accept credit cards!

Harbor Cruise Wednesday

Although Tuesday and Wednesday were two of the best boating days in the history of Massachusetts, I didn’t know that when I created the plan for hosting Alan and Brenda.

I created an itinerary that would work well in any weather short of torrential rain.

We’d begin with a short cruise to the Wynn Encore Casino in Everett, then head to Marina Bay via the outer islands for dinner on the boardwalk.

It turned out to be a brilliant plan made even better thanks to 10.0 weather.

Touring the outer islands of Boston sounds terrific, but actually charting a course proved impossible. Every Google search ended up with ads for paid cruises. Eventually, I decided to depart around 10:30, zig-zag our way to Everett, and arrive at the Wynn right around noon.

Although it’s only 2 1/2 miles to Encore, it’s possible to stretch it to an hour at 5 knots with lots of zig-zags.

And it was easy to do, thanks to some of the tremendous waterside sites along the way.

The Alford Street Draw Bridge

As I plotted the course to Everett, I noticed two bridges. The first was The Mystic River Bridge. My chart showed 135’ of air clearance at high tide.

The second bridge was at Alford Street. It only showed 12’ air clearance – but it was a draw bridge.

Back to Google, but once again, it did not help much. But given that dockage at the Encore is available on Dockwa, and the only way to get there is under the Alford Street Bridge, it couldn’t be a problem.

It turned out to be easy and a fun little adventure, too. Once you get close, you hail “Alford Street Bridge” on Channel 13. When they answer, tell them you want to pass.

It’s 75’ wide, so it’s best to wait until it’s clear and go through one boat at a time. I think the outbound boats go first, probably because there’s less room for loitering on the west side of the bridge.

The first outbound boat sounded a long horn blast before entering, so I assume that’s also customary.

Here’s a one-minute video Peter shot.

A channel to starboard opens up a few hundred feet past the bridge. It’s the best-marked private channel I’ve ever seen. It even has centerline markers saying “Stay Right. The Encore doesn’t allow overnight sleeping on their dock, so I can easily imagine drunken gamblers leaving by boat around midnight!

The marina is also pristine, with hundreds of feet of straight docks and a 20’ minimum depth from edge to edge.

The Encore

I visited a lot of casinos back in the day for conferences in Vegas. We also have several “Indian” casinos near our house in the Coachella Valley. Most are clean but a little smokey and uninviting. I hate to overuse the word, but the Encore is pristine!

If Disney ran a casino, it would look and smell like the Encore.

The plan worked, and we entered the lobby right around noon. Anticipating an early lunch, most everyone had skipped breakfast, so locating the best restaurant was the first order of business.

There are a lot of restaurants at The Encore, but most are only open for dinner. There are two restaurants with table service open for lunch: Frank and Nicks (Italian) and On Deck (A Sports Bar).

Having eaten Italian the night before, we opted for On Deck.

The food was well executed for a sports bar, but being a casino restaurant, the portions are large. And with everyone getting “Hangry,” we seriously overordered.

I can state unequivocally that none of us ate more than half our meals – you’ve been warned!

The Casino

As you may know, Mrs. Horne loves gambling. Knowing she could easily spend the day there, we set an ETD for 2:00 and let her run.

After a ridiculously easy departure and run through the drawbridge, we cruised to the outer islands en route to Marina Bay.

Docking at Marina Bay turned out to be tricky. Mitchell was breaking in a new dockhand who ended up being obsessed with cleating the stern line quickly and too tight. There was a brisk wind coming out of the Southwest that was pushing the bow away from the dock. And after he tight-cleated the stern, the bow popped out and caught the wind.

Despite the confusion, Mrs. Horne and Peter operated like a well-oiled machine, and with the help of the bow thruster, Amazing Grace was secured in under a minute.

I can not emphasize enough that dockhands are far from “always right.” The Captain and Crew are responsible for the boat, not the dockhand. You must observe, correct, and direct at all times.

Wednesday Night at Marina Bay

I suggested trying one of the alfresco bars before dinner, but everyone just wanted to chill in the salon. There’s no substitute for good old fashioned conversation without the ever-present cell phone.

We got Brenda to tell us a colorful story about a real estate listing gone bad and she entrained us all for quite some time!

After cocktails, we enjoyed a very light dinner at the ReelHouse.

How light was dinner? Alan and I split a burger. Mrs. Horne and Brenda split a humus plate, and Peter had the Halibut! No photos were taken.

I’m going stop part one here. The plan for Thursday was up in the air due to a weather forecast changing by the hour.