Cape Cod

After a morning “Turkey Trot” run on Martha’s Vineyard…

…like a truly salty captain, Michael decides to take us where the wind wants to and this awesome decision leads us to the perfect sail from Tashmoo to Chatham with 14-18 knots S on the beam the whole way.  Not a single sail adjustment was needed, and we averaged over 8 knots the entire way. We arrived in Stage Harbor early and took a walk between the raindrops to Chatham Lighthouse. (I’m not kidding. It rained all day before the walk and all night after the walk. Just Lucky!) Michael figured out that the harbor was quite crowded because the eastern outer harbor is closed.

This made for very interesting neighbors that included fishing boats, a very active sailing school and an array of pleasure and work boats. After watching Dawn T, a fishing boat, unload an enormous fresh catch of cod and halibut, our interest waned, and the stench took over. The beaches on Chatham are absolutely picturesque (other than the foreboding sign), but for malodorous reasons, we had to move our boat.

So, after enjoying the day coffeeing and beach combing, we motored over to Monomoy Wildlife Refuge.  Beginner’s tip: if you are tying up your dinghy to an elevated dock and the tide is going out, leave a long painter. If you forget, like we did, the captain might have to get wet to dislodge wedged in dinghy from dock pilings. The first mate gets to giggle and take pictures of the minor fiasco. Thankfully, no damage was done to the dinghy or the captain!

Just off the coast of Monomoy, if I sit very quietly in the cockpit, I can hear the seals breathing in the water around me. They make a puff sound when they surface.  Sometimes they come so close! They are adorable creatures, made to be smiled upon. The colors here are so vivid; greens, blues, whites and the black and grey glistening seals.  I cannot see a single person other than Michael, the love of my life. 

The best word I can think of to describe our day at Monomoy Wildlife Refuge is, ‘surreal.’ Arriving by dinghy on the deserted eight mile stretch of beach on the west side of the peninsula was only the beginning of our dream like adventure.  Although we chose the obvious path that led over the dunes to the ocean side, nothing about what happened next was expected.

Within five minutes we were standing atop a grass / sea-salt rose covered dune with vast expanses of beach to the east and west, stretching as far as the eye can see to the north and south.  It was overcast. Crystal clear sea water was crashing and spraying along the shore, creating mist where the fog had lifted only moments before. I was sure, we had arrived on our own private cloud in heaven. That is until we were unexpectedly joined by a gaggle of over one hundred grey seals!!!

Now this was my kind of beach crowd.  They were so much fun to watch and there was the added benefit of the boost of confidence I felt from a purely body image standpoint. On land these cuties were shy, often moving like an enormous inch worm back into the water when we were still 200 yards away, but in the water,  they were playful and friendly. We found that if we sat still on the sand, they would swim and bob their heads up and down tirelessly in front of us. We quickly realized our initial faulty thinking. On Monomoy, the people don’t come to watch the seals.  On the contrary, the population of forty thousand seals gather to see the main attraction, which on that day, was us! We walked until our arches and calves could take no more and the rest of the afternoon faded away into the dense fog.

I remember coming out of my trance when Michael mentioned it might be a good time to put on his wet-suit and go for a swim off the back of the boat. “Sure honey, it’s a great idea to dress yourself up like one of the seals and jump into the shark infested waters for a swim,” I said sarcastically.  “Not!”

We decided to head through the fog towards Nantucket instead.