Essex Bay to Ipswich Bay Yacht Club
Saturday, July 27, 2019
After leaving the snug little harbor of Rockport we headed north, then west towards Essex Bay. The idea was to go up the Essex River, but as we started up that way we came across a fisherman who warned us off of a sandbank that was ahead of us, and also a Harbor Master who told us that the river was long, winding, and shallow, even with our shallow draft of 2.5'. I have current charts on board, but in this area the sand bars move frequently, and we decided it was just not worth it to continue.
Plus, we still had not heard back from Essex marina, despite repeated attempts to telephone them, and we decided that a better alternative would be the Ipswich Bay Yacht Club, where we had been able to reserve a mooring ball for $40 for the night.
There is a Garmin 5215 marine chart plotter/GPS on board, and I have the latest version of the electronic charts for the United States (and into the Great Lakes in Canada), but even with this it is a challenge to find the entrances to coves and rivers and to match what is shown on the chart with what you see out of the window in front of you!
Knowing from experience the difficulty of communicating over the sound of a diesel engine, while docking and at other challenging times, I had bought a pair of what are known in the boating world as "Marriage Savers." These are wireless headphones that allow you to easily communicate without a lot of shouting, arm waving, and hurt feelings! They are so worthwhile!
Our day ended with picking up a rope from a mooring buoy at Ipswich Bay Yacht Club. It was interesting maneuvering since I could not see the buoy it was under the bow, and the current was pushing us around a lot. After a boat hook was lost to the gods of the bay, a kind couple came over in a dinghy to help us out.
It was a long day and an early night was had, safely tied up to the mooring buoy.
After leaving the snug little harbor of Rockport we headed north, then west towards Essex Bay. The idea was to go up the Essex River, but as we started up that way we came across a fisherman who warned us off of a sandbank that was ahead of us, and also a Harbor Master who told us that the river was long, winding, and shallow, even with our shallow draft of 2.5'. I have current charts on board, but in this area the sand bars move frequently, and we decided it was just not worth it to continue.
Plus, we still had not heard back from Essex marina, despite repeated attempts to telephone them, and we decided that a better alternative would be the Ipswich Bay Yacht Club, where we had been able to reserve a mooring ball for $40 for the night.
There is a Garmin 5215 marine chart plotter/GPS on board, and I have the latest version of the electronic charts for the United States (and into the Great Lakes in Canada), but even with this it is a challenge to find the entrances to coves and rivers and to match what is shown on the chart with what you see out of the window in front of you!
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| Caroline Wearing a "Marriage Saver" No.... we are not married :) |
Knowing from experience the difficulty of communicating over the sound of a diesel engine, while docking and at other challenging times, I had bought a pair of what are known in the boating world as "Marriage Savers." These are wireless headphones that allow you to easily communicate without a lot of shouting, arm waving, and hurt feelings! They are so worthwhile!
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| Mooring Lines from the buoy successfully attached! |
It was a long day and an early night was had, safely tied up to the mooring buoy.
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| Sunset at Ipswich Bay Marina |
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