Onset is in MA, on the west side of the Cape Cod Canal. We hit the canal at just the right time for a favorable current, and realized about 3kt boost all the way through, doing 10+ kts over the ground rather than our 7 kts through the water. Having passed through the Cape Cod Canal makes us realize that we have truly left Maine and Downeast, and are back in Southern New England. The canal is a shortcut for ships heading from, for example, NY to Boston. This means that they don't have to navigate the rougher, longer waterway outside of the Cape Cod peninsula. Not just small boats like ours, either -- we encountered this behemoth as we exited the canal.
A sure sign of being further south is the weather. The average temperature seems a little warmer, but the true indicator is the water temperature. We saw as cold as 56 in upper Maine. BURR!!! The current water temp is a balmy 65. This actually means a lot to our comfort. Realize that at least half of our living area in the boat is below the waterline. The colder water definitely makes the interior of the boat colder, too. We definitely can feel the difference now.
High winds are probably keeping us here until Saturday, when we plan to head for Block Island, about 10 hours from Onset. We'll be researching the next few days carefully after that, as we would prefer to make an overnight voyage from Block Island to either Barnegat Bay or Cape May. It all depends on Mother Nature, as usual.
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