Massachusetts

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Revision as of 17:43, 25 November 2009

Massachusetts

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Massachusetts is often popularly thought of as the area where the US was first settled.

However, the 1620 Plymouth settlement, the 1623 Gloucester settlement, the 1628 Salem settlement and the 1630 Boston settlement were all preceded by earlier settlements of Spanish in Florida, English in Virginia, and French in Canada.

(In 1604, Champlain mapped most of what is now the coast of Maine to an accuracy still usable by cruising sailors. Basque fishermen were a century ahead of him, and Native American tribes had a 7,000 year head-start on all of them.)

Nevertheless, after that not-quite-first beginning, much of early American history was, indeed, determined by and in Massachusetts coastal towns that today exhibit much evidence of that history in tourist-friendly ports.

For cruising purposes, except for the Atlantic coast from Newburyport to Cape Ann, relatively sheltered bodies of water host these ports. They are Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay (North of Cape Cod); and Buzzards Bay and Nantucket Sound (South of Cape Cod). They are easily connected without venturing into the Atlantic waters outside Cape Cod by using the Cape Cod Canal. It connects Cape Cod Bay to Buzzards Bay, which in turn is connected to Nantucket Sound by "holes" through the Elizabeth Islands (such as Wood's Hole, home of the famous oceanographic institute).

Charts

Submit the chart details that are required for safe navigation.

Chart No. 13278 (Portsmouth, NH to Cape Ann)

Chart No. 13267 (Massachusetts Bay)

Chart No. 13246 (Cape Cod Bay)

Chart No. 13230 (Buzzards Bay)

Chart No. 13237 (Nantucket Sound and Approaches)

Chart Sources

• Paper NOAA "print-on-demand" charts (up-to-date within last 2 weeks) - about $20 each
  
• RNC Raster files of NOAA Navigation Charts (free - updated weekly)

Radio Nets

Also see World Cruiser's Nets

Local Weather

Local weather conditions?

Sources for Weather forecasts

• NOAA Coastal Waters Forecast (Merrimac River, MA to Watch Hill, RI)
• NOAA Point-forecasts by map-click from National Weather Service - Boston, MA

Current Weather Conditions

• NDBC databuoys (realtime wind/wave data - offshore buoys in NE US waters)

Ports and Popular Stops - North(NH) to South(RI)

• Newburyport

• Massachusetts Bay
  • Gloucester
  • Salem
  • Boston
  • Scituate

• Cape Cod Bay
  • Provincetown
  • Plymouth
  • Sesuit

• Buzzards Bay
  • Onset
  • New Bedford
  • Cuttyhunk

• Nantucket Sound
  • Cape Cod - South Shore
    • Woods Hole
    • Falmouth
    • Hyannis
    • Chatham
  • Martha's Vineyard
    • Menemsha
    • Vineyard Haven
    • Oak Bluffs
    • Edgartown
  • Nantucket
    • Nantucket Town

Offshore Islands and Groups

List Islands

• Nantucket Island
• Martha's Vineyard
• Cuttyhunk
• Boston Harbor Islands

Special Boating Bylaws and/or Regulations of the State

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Coastal Passage Notes

The Cape Cod Canal has strong tidal currents. Consequently. it must be traversed under power. (Sailing in the Canal is forbidden.)

I have traversed the Canal on the flood current from Buzzards Bay (at Bourne) to Sandwich (in Cape Cod Bay) at 11kts-over-ground with a boat-speed of 6.6kts.

The forecasts for the Cape Cod Canal Current provide an excellent passage-planning tool. (Flood fills Cape Cod Bay, which the ebb empties back into Buzzards Bay.) Staging for passage times may be very comfortably done in marinas at Scituate or Plymouth (Cape Cod Bay) or at Onset (Buzzards Bay).

Cruiser's Friends

Contact details of "Cruiser's Friends" that can be contacted for local information or assistance.

Forum Discussions

List links to discussion threads on the Cruiser Log Forum

External Links

Links to relevant websites.

References & Publications

Publications, Guides, etc.

• MapTech "Embassy" Crusing Guides If you can only afford one, this is it. (MapTech makes the NOAA digital charts)
• Waterway Guides Also good (especially for upscale marina-hopping), but fewer ports.
• Cruising Guide to the New Engand Coast excellent sailors' background supplement to either of the above.
• Guide to New England Marinas book + CDROM (excellent, but listed dockage rates are outdated and low)

Last Visited & Details Checked (and updated here)

Date of member's visit to this Port/Stop & this page's details validated:

Personal Notes

Personal experiences?

• I sail out of Newburyport, and typically do 1200-1500nm each season. In the Fall (Autumn), I head North to the Maine coast for approximately 1/3 of that mileage. However, until then, for about 1,000nm, I cruise Massachusetts waters, staying at marinas in the ports listed in this section. (Al - s/v Persephone)

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