Wednesday, August 24, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Another clear, sunny, beautiful day, but with no wind. We cast off at eight o'clock and motorsailed leisurely across Cape Cod Bay. The canal was very easy to go through and surprisingly attractive. The banks had green grass, trees, bicycle paths, and a few nice homes.
As soon as we emerged in Buzzards Bay, we were back in August. We hadn't realized what a temperature barrier Cape Cod is. North of the Cape, the weather was very cool, almost cold. South of the Cape, it's hot.
The light breeze had shifted to the southwest, so we had to motor. It was four o'clock by the time we were in sight of the hurricane barrier at New Bedford. The Fairhaven Bridge only opens at quarter past the hour in the afternoon. We couldn't possibly make the 4:15 opening, so I called the bridge and requested the 5:15 opening. Since we had quite a bit of time to kill, Roy turned off the engine, raised the headsail, and just sort of drifted around. I made several attempts to contact the marina, but there was no response. Got the fenders and lines ready.
When it got to be 4:30, I began worrying that we wouldn't make the bridge in time. At 4:40, I said, "Don't wait too long." Roy said, "I won't. Just a few more minutes." He didn't realize how far we were from the gate. At 4:45, he finally started the engine and began motoring towards the gate. Then the awful truth dawned on him. We were still nearly three miles from the hurricane barrier. It would take us the better part of half an hour just to reach the gate, and the bridge was another ten minutes from there. I radioed the bridge to let them know we wouldn't make the 5:15. Roy had the engine cranked way up, so we were making more than seven knots. Fortunately, there was no wind or current against us. Even so, it was 5:10 by the time we got through the gate. By dumb luck, a tugboat was waiting to come out, so the bridge had to open anyway. The bridge tender must have seen us coming, because he delayed the opening a minute or two. By the time the tug got through, we were in position to go through. Whew! That was a race, but we made it. Saw an empty slip at the marina and went into it. How nice to be tied to a dock again and to have free electricity and free showers! We both took showers before supper.