We took a Friday off, to sail Yuletide to Cuttyhunk for the last weekend in July. It was a blustery 22 knots of wind as we crossed from Little Bay Fairhaven to off of Kettle Cove on Naushon Island. We were fine until I went to tack, and realized that I was barely pointing higher than from where we had just come! I sailed for a little while, but under reefed jib and main my windward ability was poor. I doused the jib, and we motor sailed up the Elizabeth Islands. It took five hours, and 25 nautical miles, but we arrived at the harbor to greet our friends Loring and Joanna already moored off the town dock in their 25' Formula, Greylag.

That evening we had one of my favorite meals, lobster and scallops over angel hair pasta!

The next day we walked into town in a heavy fog, and went to the beach in the afternoon. We watched two bulldogs swimming with their owners, it was quite funny to watch.

Burgers on the grill for the evening dinner, and a beatuful sunset to boot.

The next morning was fog as thick a clam chowder....by mid-morning it had started to lift, and Greylad departed for Padanaram.

Cheryl and I walked into town, went to the top of the hill for a shrouded vista, then headed back to the boat.

One thing bothered me a lot, the last time I had sailed to Cuttyhunk there were deer walking the streets, and the islanders had names for them. Sometime in the mid-80's the Coyotes made it across the Elizabeths, devastating the sheep on Pasque and the deer on Cuttyhunk in their path.

I'm one to vote that the Coyoyes be contained, they don't come from this region, and only survive here because we let them.

Well, we had a Northwestern wind, so we set off for home at noon under power, with good visiblity. We powered down the Elizabeths, poked into West Beach on Naushon (very rocky to either side). And stopped off at Kettle Cove for lunch. I had intended to sail across the bay, but by the time we got underway the wind had died, so we powered across the bay. Once off of West Island the wind picked up, so we were able to sail the last three miles into Little Bay and the mooring....

Another wonderful weekend afloat!