Air Temperature: 56 Degrees
Water Temperature: 45 Degrees
Windspeed: 20 Knots
Seas: 3 – 5 feet @ 3 seconds – choppy
Donna’s Aunt and Uncle are in town from Belgium this month visiting her mom and her Aunt in Andover. Donna and I thought it would be great to bring her aunt and uncle and mom for a boat ride and look at the Boston skyline from the water. Additionally, this trip we took our first shot at heading into the Charles River though the locks and under the train bridge.
Her uncle, Uncle Edy, came to Boston more than 30 years ago to spend a year at MIT. We first went over to Mystic Flue (again) and they were closed (so much for Boston’s Biggest Fuel Dock open 7 to 7). Then we took a trip up the north east side of Boston Harbor and checked out the skyline, the Coast Guard location, the ICA (new art museum), Condo’s where Donna has projects going on and the Boston Design Center where Donna works.
We then took a trip back up the harbor and watched the planes fly over head. (I still think this is so cool.)
Next we headed to the locks to head up the Charles River. We made it though the locks pretty swell. We had one boat a head of us but I think I did a pretty good job keeping the boat in the center of the locks and it was a very fast process and pretty smooth. The next issue was the train bridge. We can’t fit under the bridge so we have to wait for it to go up. I was unfamiliar with the process but the boat before us called the bridge master and he lifted the bridge up for us. Now we are in the Charles River with 100′s of sailboats to avoid.
Once in the Charles we took a ride up the Cambridge side of the river and looked at MIT and the architecture. I think the whole gang had a very nice time. Uncle Edy was reflecting on his time here in Boston and the girls (Donna’s mom and aunt) talked about when they came to the US and were dating. It was very cute.
Docking – Damn – I hate this part. There was a ton of wind so I tried my best again to slide the boat into the slip but the wind caught me and started to push me into the big yacht again. On the front side, Uncle Edy helped me to keep from hitting his boat, and then a couple of very nice kids who have a boat on D-Dock helped us. Donna tossed them a rope and they pulled us in. Man, I still need a ton more practice.
On the dock safe and sound – I am slowly getting the hang of this.
Until next time.
