Sailing Around Martha’s Vineyard

Currents at Menemsha, boiling water off Wasque Point and a decision to head home early
A nautical narrative by Mike Marks 

Waking up on Menemsha Pond on Sunday morning was glorious. The air temp was cool and the water placid. It was utterly quiet with no bugs buzzing or biting. A gentle breeze blew out of the northeast. I made some instant coffee and grilled a bagel on our portable Weber grill (an outstanding purchase). I wanted to get under way ASAP before the tide dropped too far. The channel out of the pond is shallow, and we arrived the night before via high tide - we didn’t want to get stuck on the way out.

Our plan for the day was to sail around the south side of Martha’s Vineyard, eat dinner in Edgartown and spend the night at either Katama or Cape Pogue Bay. We would then return to Saquatucket Harbor in Harwich Port on Monday. However, the marine forecast for Monday was iffy - 20 knot winds with gusts up to 30. There was also a small craft advisory in effect.

I had full faith in our sailing ability and confidence in the sturdiness of the Flying Fish, my 23-year-old O’Day 25. I’d had her out in 15-20 kt winds with just 1/3 of the jib unfurled and no main – we’d done 5 knots and were dry and comfortable. Still, the standing rigging and mainsail are both original and this gave me some concern. Three years earlier the primary port shroud on my 1976 O'Day Mariner broke in a 10 knot gust - ever since I've been wary about 20 year old rigging. Then there’s the fact that this boat, with a shallow draft centerboard keel (2’3” draft with centerboard up), fat stern and skinny rudder, can get squirrelly in a following sea.

If we returned Monday, the expected 4 - 5 foot seas would be on our stern - steering in those conditions would be like negotiating a Formula 1 race track in a Greyhound bus. Then there was the nagging detail that two nuts had worked their way off the lower pintle (one of the pins that holds the rudder on) the day before. I replaced them, and things seemed to be okay. But if we lost our rudder with 30 knot gusts and peaky 5 foot seas, we could get in serious trouble. Also, there was a small rip in the head of the mainsail I’d just discovered that morning. Based on these factors, I decided we should skip the second night at the Vineyard and sail back to Harwich Port that day.

Now, here’s how boys can get into trouble: Boris, my 78-year-old father, said “20 knots isn’t that bad - we could do it.” He seemed disappointed. I reconsidered my decision. This trip was my birthday present to him, and he’d traveled all the way from Los Angeles for it. “We could probably do it,” I thought. But then I thought about those guys you read about in newspapers who do something stupid like sailing a 23-year-old 25-foot sailboat with original rigging in Nantucket Sound when there’s a small craft advisory. Nope, we’d continue around Martha’s Vineyard and head back to Harwich Port on Sunday.

The sail from Harwich Port to the Vineyard was perfect. There was a 10 knot wind out of the northeast and the tide was favorable. As we passed the entrance to Vineyard Haven, the wind dropped and moved behind us. We were on a dead run in a 5 knot breeze doing 3 knots over the water. The tide was slack but was also about to turn against us in Vineyard Sound. The Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book showed a 2.5 knot current would be buffeting our nose in just two hours.

But once we rounded Cape Higgon, it appeared we could hug the shore and dodge the brunt of the current. We turned on the motor and made for Cape Higgon. Our plan worked well - once around it, we moved in to a quarter mile offshore and noted much less current flowing against the lobster buoys. The rest of the way to Menemsha was easy. We followed the incoming tide up the channel and anchored for the night.

The tide streamed forcefully out of Menemsha Pond as we left the next morning, following a local fisherman down the channel. The channel is shown clearly on the chart but not very well marked on the water. Near the harbor the current swirled around a red nun buoy. A decayed hull on the shore served as a reminder of the perils of running aground. On the wharf a sign warns boaters that the water depth in the channel is 2’ at low tide. It was hard to control the Flying Fish in the current and we came close to hitting the buoy. Once clear of Menemsha, we breathed more easily.

The wind continued to blow gently from the northeast and, as we rounded Aquinnah (formerly Gay Head), the current was slack. We motored for a while along the west coast through a small fishing fleet, then turned the point at Squibnocket and started to head eastward along the south shore. The breeze freshened. We turned off the motor and sailed on a close reach two miles off the south shore with the wind at 5 knots.

I fastened down the tiller and balanced the main and jib. The Flying Fish was happy and held a steady eastward course for twenty minutes at a stretch without any adjustment. Boris decided to take a nap. If I had fallen off the boat, the first clue he might have would probably be running aground on Nantucket! The only boat we saw during that 4 hour leg was a cigarette style power boat passing us at 30 knots.

At Wasque Point the Atlantic Ocean pours into Nantucket Sound through Muskeget Channel. We were a good mile offshore and the water under us was no more than twenty feet deep. Close by, shallow spots existed where the depth was less than six feet. The tide was flowing in and the water around the Point was boiling, and we got a bit nervous. When there’s a strong south swell, it’s surely a good idea to give the area a wide berth.

The wind switched south and strengthened. As we made our way to Harwich Port, the waves started building, reflecting Monday’s imminent forecast. Off Harwich Port at 7pm I took down the main in two foot chop. One wave threw me against the boom and the topping lift broke. I fell on the boom against the side of the cockpit. There was no other damage, but the incident reaffirmed our decision to head home a day early. We docked at 8pm, washed up and had a nice dinner at Brax Landing. We ate indoors necause the wind had begin to blow hard..

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