We have been back in our California winter home for about ten days, so this is my final report on the 2025 boating season.
Our last overnight cruise to Boston ended on October 7, and since then, we’ve enjoyed several days on Amazing Grace as we wind down the season and prepare her for her winter rest.
Columbus Day Weekend
I had booked our first visit to Bristol Rhode Island for the holiday weekend, but canceled when the forecast for the back half of the weekend went downhill.
We’ve been celebrating Columbus Day with Gail and Rudy since 2023, but the last two years have been a scratch for cruising due to weather.
We toyed with the idea of doing a few days in Vineyard Haven before the storm arrived, but decided to settle for a couple of day trips instead.
F/V Bound
Friday was spectacular as we headed out to the Cape Cod Canal.
One of the nicest aspects of having Onset Bay as our home port is the ability to enjoy a canal cruise in virtually any weather.
Dockmaster Dwight gave us a quick shuttle ride across the boat basin to the F/V side!
Lunch At The F/V
tomato, red onion, melted swiss, dill mayo on griddled marble rye
served with fries, tartar, coleslaw, and lemon
As always, the food, service, and views were perfect!
The fall brings the King Tide. Both high and low tides are extreme and at Sandwich Marina, the floating docks were actually higher than the shore.
The ride home was surreal – a perfect and bright Autumn day!
Garmin Down
We headed over to the boat Saturday morning planning to head to Edgartown for lunch. I fired up the electronics and immediately spotted something strange popped up on the screen.
I think I saw this once before, but I couldn’t remember what I did to clear it. I called Scott at SK Marine Electronics, but it was Saturday and it went to voicemail.
Then I called Bill at NE Bowthrusters. He works a lot with Garmins and thought he might help. Bill was at his kid’s ball game, but he spent ten minutes on the phone walking me through the likely causes.
Unfortunately, we ended up at the point where we needed a laptop and a fresh software update, so no boating Saturday 🥲
I gathered up my sad crew and we returned home. The day was salvaged with four pounds of Steamers from Turks and a walk on the beach.
Winter Home Bound
Since Amazing Grace is too big to haul in Onset, we bring her to Safe Harbor Plymouth, for storage, winterization, and winter projects.
The Saturday after Columbus Day, Peter and I brought Amazing Grace to her winter home in Plymouth.
Plymouth has really blossomed over the past decade and it’s become a great boating destination. It’s also a wonderful place to store our boat.
The end of the boating season is a bit of a double whammy for most boaters. It’s sad and it’s a ton of work getting the boat ready to store.
In an effort to make the end of the boating season more fun, we spend the final two weekends enjoying Plymouth while removing everything necessary from the boat before storage.
There are plenty of reports on this site about Plymouth, so I’ll just give the highlights of our last two weeks.
Driving Miss Daisy
We have a wonderful 13-year-old Westie named Daisy. We seldom bring her on the boat because old age has brought on some plumbing issues leading to frequent night pees!
We have a rule that no one gets off the boat at night without another crew member standing watch, so taking Daisy out for a pee at 2:00 AM is problematic.
But since she slept through the night all week, we brought her to Plymouth and she really enjoyed it.
Lunch Upstairs at the Surfside Smokehouse
The Surfside Smokehouse closes the porch after Columbus Day and moves service to the second-story loft.
The menu changes a little and the offseason crowd is more friendly. It’s a great spot to watch a Patriots game.
Peter tested the new menu…
Mrs. Horne tried out the roasted corn dip…
3 cheese blend, chives, spices, tortilla chips
The Silly Seals of Plymouth
The city has erected several silly seal statues all over town.
They are great fun and add to Plymouth’s unique vibe. It turns out that they are funded through sponsors and actually cost the Plymouth taxpayers nothing.
Busy Saturday Night
Our friends Jeanne and John are huge fans of the Spire Center and have been urging us to check it out for years.
There was a Queen tribute band performing Saturday night and Mrs. Horne invited two of her girlfriends to join us.
We planned to grab a quick dinner at the Artisan Pig before the 8:00 show. Our flotilla partners – Tom and Kathleen, were in town too and they invited us aboard their Riviera 54 for a cocktail before dinner.
Artisan Pig
My plan almost collapsed when we walked into the Artisan Pig just before 7:00
There was a one-hour wait for a table and probably too late to eat anywhere else. Mrs. Horne spotted a half-empty table for twelve and landed us seating at the empty half.
We told our server we were going to the show at 8:00 and she expedited our delicious dinner…
Olive Oil Base, Bay State Mushrooms, Fontina, House Mozzarella, Fresh Herbs
I loved the idea of idea of the Roasted Shroom pizza, but took it up a notch by ordering a second one topped with their homemade sausage.
It was totally piggy!
The Spire Center
At some point in the last ten years, I’ve become a huge fan of Tribute Bands. I’m not sure if it was the smaller crowds, the $5,000 Rolling Stones ticket, or the short walk to a reasonably priced full bar, but I’m all-in.
We’d seen a great Queen Tribute Band in California in 2020 and when I saw one was performing at the Spire in October, I bought five seats.
It was our first visit to the Spire, but it won’t be our last!
In fact, I suspect we’ll book a trip or two to Plymouth
Experience Queen
Let me start by saying they sounded better than the Queen band we saw in California, in fact they sounded just like Queen.
That said, every Tribute Band I’ve ever seen has done its best to imitate the band they’re covering – not Experience Queen. The lead singer certainly sounded like Freddie, but he couldn’t have looked more different (he was bald and had about a 100 pounds on the late great crooner).
The girls ended up looking away from the stage and just listening. I immediately noticed the lead guitar player and I got mesmerized by his extreme theatrics.
We were in the last two, which is actually the best seats in the tiny theater (unlike the stiff old church pews, the last row are actually quite comfortable).
I decided to put my new iPhone Pro Max 17 to the test and shot this low-light video from about 70’ away.
We had a great night and the fact that they offered a very tasty hazy IPA on tap, made it perfect!
Yeah, we’ll be back…
Lazy Sunday
We were done going anywhere in the boat until 2026 and the only work left was to take the first SUV load of stuff back to the house for the winter.
As I was making breakfast, I spotted Dave Hogan’s new Marlow 61 entering the harbor.
It was Dave’s first stop on his way to Long Boat Key for the winter. We exchanged texts and agreed to meet up later.
Dillon’s Local
Sunday was around 60°, so we walked the waterfront to Dillon’s for brunch.
I’m a sucker for eclectic breakfasts and I know Dillion’s always has a couple on the menu.
sesame ahi tuna, cucumber pepper salad, edamame, cilantro lime basmati rice, avocado
two poached eggs, homemade pastrami, house made Hollandaise, English muffin, home fries
It might have been the best Eggs Benedict I’ve ever tasted!
Plymouth was alive and well on our walk back along the waterfront.
We watched the resurgent New England Patriots win and went over to Dave’s boat for a visit before dinner.
Daisy is rather temperamental, but she let Dave hold her for quite some time. Dave’s wife Renee said they call Dave the Dog Whisperer…
The Rye Tavern
Peter had never been to the Rye Tavern and since we had a car, we decided to run out to Pine Hills and check it out.
We dined at The Rye Tavern in 2021. It’s located within Pine Hills but is far older than the golf resort community.
It opened in 1792, and in 1794, three years before he was elected President, John Adams apparently stopped by one night, and none of the locals knew who he was!
From the Rye Tavern website:
The meal in 2021 was quite forgettable, but given the history and the charm, I studied the menu. Much to my surprise, it was totally new and rather eclectic.
whipped butter | honey | fennel |pomegranates |
chives | smoked maldon salt
I love charred bread and the fennel/pomegranates were truly eclectic and delectable!
red beet risotto | parsley & mint pesto | blue cheese
|pickled onion | pomegranate | toasted pepita
The Red Beet Risotto and Blue Cheese combo was one of the most incredible flavors I’ve ever tasted.
romaine | caesar dressing | sourdough breadcrumbs
| pecorino | lemon
Mrs. Horne eats a lot of Caesar’s and she declared this “The best Caesar I’ve ever eaten”. The plump anchovies on the side were divine.
roasted bone in breast and thigh | roasted potatoes, carrots & pearl onions! lemon & caper brown butter | herbs
My chicken was perfectly cooked (moist and yet crispy), as were the root vegetables.
If you’ve never been to the Rye Tavern, you must give it a try. If you haven’t been recently, it’s really changed for the better,
Our Final Weekend
Our flight to California was on October 29 and we spent the weekend before back on Amazing Grace in Plymouth.
We returned to some of our favorite restaurants, watched a movie on the boat on Saturday afternoon.
And of course, we watched the Incredible New England Patriots game on Sunday.
Monday morning we met with the technical team at Safe Harbor to go over the winter project list.
Nothing major is being planned for 2026, except to run faucets from between the lower cockpit and the DI water system in the lazarette.
High-pressure DI water is the perfect solution for cleaning the fly bridge windows and the faucets will enable us to tap into the system without opening the lazarette.
I’ll bid you adieu for the boating season with a photo expose of the great meals we enjoyed in Plymouth.
Oh yeah, keep an eye out for my Christmas Eve video collection!
Salt Raw Bar and Fine Cuisine
Egg noodles, Szechuan pork, peanuts, Chinese chive,
Dandan chili sauce, scallion
Egg, Chinese chives, Napa cabbage, carrots, sesame,
Nfresh herbs, aji Amarillo aioli
Chili crisp & yuzu aioli, togarashi, kabayaki, chive
East Bay Grille
char-grilled, hand-packed burger, lettuce, tomato, red onion, choice of cheese, bulkie roll. choice of: american, cheddar, swiss, or gorgonzola.
romaine lettuce, homemade caesar dressing,
shaved parmesan, crispy croutons
light battered shrimp flash fried, bang bang sauce,
sesame seeds, chopped scallions
71° West Atlantic Steakhouse
Half pound of hand-packed Angus beef, lettuce, tomato, onions, fries, potato roll
Wood fire-grilled | Chef’s 48-hour marinade
28-day wet aged | Wood fire-grilled
included with entree
included with entree
included with burger
Final Dinner Out – Turks Mattapoisett
Seeya in April!
Thanks for sharing your 2025 cruising and culinary delights. Always fun to read and always bring on hunger pangs. Been to the Spire once or twice to hear blues bands — nice place. Have a good winter.
Hi Dave and Sue,
Sue and I wish you a great winter in California and look forward to 2026 and meeting up with you both on Amazing Grace. Our Grand Finale is spending the winter at Kingman Marina and will be back on the water in mid-April. Joe and Sue
I love reading about your adventures! Especially the food part! Have a great California winter & looking forward to your 2026 charters! Happy Holidays to you both! We’ve had 2 days of Winter here in Florida & the Iguanas are done falling from the trees! 😂🛥️Leslie Humphries