Chip Ahoy's 2006 Cape Cod Cruise

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Description

Keith and Junior took me to dinner at his yacht club, the West Dennis YC.  (Left up to me, I'd call it the South Dennis Yacht Club, as it's on the south side of the Cape -- that's the ocean on the horizon!)  There I had my traditional margarita, a cheeseburger, and fixings.  He took me to a local CVS, where I bought my first "HotWrap" for my chest, along with everything else I could find on the shelves that might help, then they took me back to Chip Ahoy.

Chip Ahoy at its slip in Sesuit Harbor.

Chip Mate, the dinghy, at the dinghy dock where Keith and his son parked it for me.  At low tide, there was no getting out of there.

The top of Chip Ahoy's mast, where obviously the VHF radio antenna's mast has disappeared from its base.  I learned that it was gone, vaporized, in Provincetown.  (Aug. 7)

(See the final inspection of the antenna!)

The crew of "Pegasus -- Pete Schimmel on the left, Karl Bertelsen with the white shirt -- quickly became my "best friends" in Sesuit Harbor. When Pete heard I'd paid $40 for a taxi to the local CVS for another "HeatWrap" (he'd seen me wrapped up with an Ace bandage coming in), he told me he'd have gladly given me a ride.  The next day his lady friend, Marriette Vigeant, who also has a boat in the marina she lives aboard, did just that for me so I could buy a new ICOM VHF radio.  She also hollered over to me as I was leaving for Sandwich to wish me a good sail!  Wow, the great people you meet on a cruise. (Chip Ahoy is in the background.)

When I could find nobody to replace the VHF antenna on top of the mast, I ordered a new one from the local marina and mounted it on the stern pulpit, ran a new cable through the aft fuel locker cowl vent then forward to the cabin, added new connectors, and connected it to the radio.  That's when I discovered that the radio was fried as well, still wouldn't transmit.  That's when Marriette drove me to the West Marine way over in Hyannis, where I replaced it with a new one.

The old ICOM M-402 removed.  Check out the antenna connection!

Definitely fried.  Fortunately, it appears that my insurance will cover all the damages -- if I can figure out what all the damages are at this point.  I'm still finding them.

I finally got out of Sesuit Harbor and headed for Sandwich Harbor just southeast of the Cape Cod Canal in some nasty weather.  By the time I called and learned that the Sandwich Marina was actually located inside the canal, I was soaked from spray crashing over the bow.  I quickly adjusted my course and found the old "harbor of refuge" where I'd stayed on night a couple of decades ago.

The Sandwich Marina with Chip Ahoy closest out to the fuel dock, and the canal in the background.  Note the raging canal current -- 4-6 knots.