Running for Cover

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The forecast on Wednesday morning says we will get bad weather for the next couple of days. We are, whenever we can arrange it, Fair Weather Sailors. So we up-anchor and head across Buzzards Bay to South Dartmouth.

South Dartmouth is another place with a confusing set of names. The village of South Dartmouth is also known as Padanarum and is home to the New Bedford Yacht Club (NBYC) which moved down here when a hurricane wiped out their clubhouse in New Bedford.

NBYC is one of the oldest and most well established yacht clubs in New England and they are definitely the main game in town, providing moorings and launch service. We rent a mooring for three nights.

The commercial center of South Dartmouth is tiny. By the time we have walked the half mile to the bridge that gives access to the inner harbor, we have "done the town". There used to be a small general store here, so this place used to be a Perfect Cruising Port. But the store has closed, so there is nowhere within walking distance to get provisions.

Our mooring fee allows us to eat and drink in the NBYC clubhouse but we choose to eat at the Black Bass Grille near the bridge. This is a simple place with simple food. We choose calamari, shrimp and a lobster roll. It is all, as expected, simply prepared from very fresh ingredients.

The next morning, we rent a car from Enterprise and drive home for the night to take care of a some non-boat-related chores. Thursday afternoon is indeed very wet and Friday morning is worse. The NBYC has put Pavane on one of their outermost moorings, with almost no protection from the breakwater, so Wednesday night was pretty rolly and we are very glad not to be aboard for the next two nights.

South Dartmouth is home to two famous boat builders. In the middle of the last century, the Concordia Company built and launched a hundred beautiful and famous wooden Concordia Yawls. Rather amazingly, almost all are still afloat and being actively sailed. They are now scattered all around the North American coast. At least one has gone home to Germany where the hulls were built before being shipped over here. But half a dozen of these beautiful boats are still on moorings here in the harbor.

The other famous boat builder is Marshall Marine which built hundreds of the little catboats that are so typical of Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod. A little Marshall catboat swings on the mooring next to Pavane.

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