Rockport, MA - One step closer! - Rocinante's Voyages

Provincetown to Rockport

We’ve truly enjoyed our time here in Provincetown and our Florida emergency turned out better than we expected so it’s time to continue our voyage north! We’ve set our sights on Isles of Shoals, with a stop at either Gloucester, MA or Rockport, MA for a day on the way. The decision of which will depend on the prevailing winds, and right now, it’s looking like Rockport.

About a week or so ago, I had laid out our courses for the various options, so we were all set to go. As usual, we had breakfast and then went about getting Rocinante ready to travel. At this point it takes us no more than 15 minutes or so to stow loose items, stuff towels in the cabinets so the china/glasses don’t bounce around, put the stoppers in the sink drains to stop water from coming in if/when we heel, etc. While Ada does that; I fire up the engine, turn on the instruments, set our course on the chart plotter, take our charts up on deck and open up the anchor locker in preparation to pull up anchor.

It’s 10:00 AM as we weigh anchor and head out of Provincetown Harbor and before long, we’ve rounded the Cape and are on course for the twin lighthouses on Thacher Island, MA. One of the nice things about these runs on open waters is that there is not much to worry about; no navigational markers, no land & very little recreational boat traffic. So once we’ve got Rocinante set on her course, she only needs minor tweeks to her heading, so I’ll typically sit to the side with one hand on the helm and settle in for the ride!

About 2 hours into our trip, Maria spots a group of whales off our starboard bow!

Now, we’ve seen porpoises and have even had the good fortune to watch them frolic in our bow wake, but this was our first time sighting these majestic creatures while on passage. We watched three of them off in the distance as they repeatedly surfaced and then dove again with the full “tail flukes in the air” effect!

We continued north, but now constantly on the lookout for the tell tale mist of water shooting out of blowholes. After about an hour or so, I had already given up hope when I here the cry; Tail! Tail! Tail!
I swung around and just managed to catch a glimpse as the last one disappeared into the murky depths.

Twin lights of Thacher Island, MA

Cape Anne Light Station

Around 2:30 pm, we started to see fog off our stern quarter giving chase and dark clouds looming off our port side. We tidied up the lines, put away the cockpit cushions, locked the hatch boards in place and prepared to get slammed! Alas, you won’t get to hear our tales of woe, because we were once again fortunate as neither fog nor storm caught up with us before we sighted the twin lighthouses on Thatcher Island.

These twin lights, also known as the Cape Ann Light Station, are just about a mile offshore of Rockport. I was fascinated by the existence of two lighthouses on the same island, so once we were anchored safely in Rockport, I looked into them. It turns out that the twin towers were erected on a perfect north/south axis. That means that sailors could use them to determine true north by lining them up and thus calibrate their onboard compass; Very Cool! If you’d like to know more about the twins and their history, follow this link to the New England Lighthouses website.

Rockport – Sandy Bay

With the Thacher Island lights behind us, we made our way around the easternmost point of the Cape Ann peninsula and sailed into Sandy Bay where we dropped anchor betwixt what we would come to know as Front & Back Beach. Yes, betwixt! Don’t like it, go read someone else’s blog!

Rockport Sunrise

The stormy weather we outran, eventually caught up with us and we didn’t have a spectacular sunset, but the following morning, the sunrise did not disappoint!

We got ourselves ready to go ashore and explore, loaded up our tender and headed off towards the town dinghy dock. As we made it through the cut between the walls of the old harbor, I heard a thunk and the outboard kicked up. It happened twice more, before I realized what was happening – ok, so I’m a slow learner!

We where now in granite country! Below us was no longer mud or sand, but granite boulders hidden just inches below surface! I quickly killed the outboard, tilted it up out of the water and rowed the rest of the way to the dinghy dock. Fortunately, I always approach new harbors/entrances/coves cautiously (slow!) and the only damage was to my pride!

Exploring Old Rockport

Exploring Rockport, MA

From the floating dinghy dock, we climbed a wooden ladder up a couple of feet to the concrete pier and made our way into town, walking down the old streets lined with rustic seaside buildings, homes & shops. While not run down to the point of wanting to avoid the area, this particular section of Rockport had obviously seen better days. Still, it beats the homogeneous, sterile environments we’ve started to see in other areas. Call it character if you must, but there is something about an old building and individual shops vs chain stores that I find inviting. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to keep an older building looking good while retaining it’s original character – but, I’ll take old, worn & cracked cedar shingles over vinyl siding any day!

We made our way to the end of the road which overlooked the harbor, checking out the various little shops along the way. It was interesting to note that most didn’t open until later in the morning and some, especially a number of the art galleries, only opened on demand! Yep, a sign on the door contained a phone number for you to call for someone to come open the store!

On our way back, we stopped by a small cafe, Helmut’s Strudel, for a snack. We ordered a blueberry/cream cheese croissant, which, on request, was lightly dusted with confectioners sugar. Our purchase in hand, we walked towards the back of the cafe and sat out on a small deck overlooking the harbor to share our treat. Now, as you’re certainly aware, these things are far from true croissants, but it was a truly delightful pastry! The filling was just sweet enough and the the pastry itself, while not flaky like a croissant, was light and chewy- delicious! We vowed to come back again for some of the apple strudel!

The Arts

Shalin Liu Performance Center – Rockport

We wandered around the town and at one point ended up in front of the Shalin Liu Performance Center. They were having an open house, so we decided to step inside and take a look around. It was an absolutely gorgeous and intimate concert hall that, according to the gentleman that showed us around, seats 330 people. To top it all off, the stage was backed against a huge panoramic window with views of Sandy Bay – It was breathtaking!

We continued to walk around the harbor taking in the classic views including the well known “Motif Number 1” – you can find out more about this iconic shack here on the New England Historical Society website.

We finished our day off with lunch at the Top Dog – Rockport’s Hot Dog Restaurant! What can I tell you, I have a soft spot for hot dog joints and this one didn’t disappoint!

Oh, I almost forgot, we also stopped by Rockport Fudgery and tried their Penuche fudge – OMG! Ok, go back through all my posts over the last bunch of years and I guarantee you you will not find “OMG” anywhere other than in this post! Unfortunately, we had purchased a pound of Penuche from the Provincetown Fudge Factory just days before – mind you, just seconds ago, we had considered it to be incredibly delicious and creamy… now, it lacked depth and was grainy in comparison! We’ll definitely have to stop by on our way south to pick some up or worst case, we’ll have to mail order from their website!

The first step is a doozy – Rockport dinghy dock

Ok, back to Rocinante – we made our way back to the town dinghy dock. It was now low tide and we stood there staring down at our dink 10’ below us! Fortunately, the aforementioned ladder was nice and sturdy, so we made our way down to the dock without incident and headed back to Rocinante… no, I didn’t hit any rocks on the way out!

That evening, the forecast thunderstorms arrived in force, with rains so heavy they completely obscured our view of the stone walls that lined the section of shore separating Front & Back Beaches. As Captain Ron so rightly pointed out, “It’s just a squall, they come on ya fast and leave ya fast!” This one was over in 10 minutes and after all it’s fury was spent, an amazing rainbow appeared in its place. Now, I’ve seen a ton of rainbows in my lifetime, but until,this day, I had never seen one where I could see both ends – amazing!

Rockport Rainbow

Unfortunately, this was simply a taste of what was coming our way and while we wanted to spend more time exploring Rockport, the Sandy Bay anchorage is completely open to any winds with a northerly component – so it was time to go!

Next stop, Isles of Shoals!

Till next time,

Carlos & Maria
SV Rocinante…_/)