Note: This is a duplicate of the second part of a post I did with a similar name that Facebook removed. I’m reposting in the hope this one with pass their muster!

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.

Next up – Day Three