We waited for high tide to navigate the Red Brook channel and motored across the bay. Our life isn’t just turquoise water, sandy beaches, rum and margaritas. It was maintenance time and we had been referred to a long established boat yard business “Burr Brothers”. It is located at the end of the inlet in the seaside village of Marion. The harbour is totally full of yachts on moorings. We weaved our way through the many classic wooden yachts and motor launches. This boat yard is set in one of the most picturesque locations. Now, if you’re not interested in the technical stuff, skip the next paragraph.

Once docked and in no time at all, the work commenced. We had Aura in the slings and out of the water, the sail drive lube was being drained, inspections of the rudder, anodes and antifoul were underway. Next we had our rig checked as we had covered a few miles since it was last inspected by a professional. They used a crane to hoist the rigger for the inspection. Our generator showed signs of a leak and I needed a little professional advice. I was told that we needed to replace the pump rather than just change the bearings….mmmm I guess that’s the world we live in today, throw that away and install a new one. I removed the old pump and made it ready for the replacement. Our water makers membrane also had a minor leak. I removed the unit and as I hadn’t worked on this part before we sent it to a local professional (Burr Brothers do not work on water makers) and we hope to have that back soon. We had purchased 500 watts of solar panels and the plan was to have our bimini modified with Sunbrella and Velcro flaps to hold them into position. The sail maker made the measurements, the bimini was removed and a few days later we had it back in place. While the bimini was being modified we took the opportunity to polish the steel work. A few minor changes took place and we now have the panels installed. With some online guidance from Ryan in NSW and a hands on review by Gary (Takamoana) and with a loan of a crimping tool from Ken (Lady Rebel) I completed the controller/battery cabling. As Burr Bros didn’t have the required connector, we are now waiting for cable to arrive in Newport to complete the job.

That about covers the technical jobs.

Marion Boat Yard

Tourterelle was also at Burr Brothers having a technician work on their electronics that had been damaged by lightening when we were in the Bahamas. Lady Rebel (Ken & Jen) were also close by, they had a new track installed on their mast. Ocean Blue also popped in and joined everybody for Ann’s birthday celebrations, a fun night at Marion’s newest restaurant “Atlantic”.

Ann’s Birthday

We spent a week in Marion getting work done however we had a few outstanding jobs to be complete. It was the weekend and we had to vacate our dock space as the owner returning. We received an email from Gary and Louse (Takamoana) that they were heading our way so we agreed to meet them at Hadley Harbour. An easy 12nm sail (motor) across the bay…also one of Kim’s favourite spots. It was great catching up with them as we had not seen them since Christmas. As what always seems to be the case in New England, we had some cold, wet weather come through on the Monday. In an section of the harbour that is known for poor holding we dragged our anchor twice so decided to pick up a mooring and wait out the bad weather.

On the Tuesday we headed back across the bay to Marion to get some alterations done to the bimini. We spent a night on the dock before heading back across the bay to Martha’s vineyard.

Martha’s Vineyard is an island just off the coast south of Cape Cod. We anchored in 3.5 meters of water just outside of breakwater and town of Vine Haven. After wondering the main street of the town, a road trip was in order. We caught a bus to Oak Bluffs where we wondered the streets then caught another bus to Edgartown. They are all lovely seaside villages, full of tourists with plenty of shops selling knickknacks, souvenirs and t-shirts. I played spot the Black Dog general store, bakery, bar and clothing shop (see photos). And as for the vineyard, misrepresentation! There are no grapes and no vineyard to be found. In the 1600’s the island was named such as it had a lot of wild vines on the island (not sure about Martha). We’re still at Vine Haven, the weather has changed from sunny summer back to winter. Strong winds are forecast so we’ve moved inside the lagoon. Lady Rebel and White Ibis are anchored behind us and another yacht nearby has laid 3 anchors. It’s time to rug up with a good book and later we’ll catch up with the others for some Mexican Train.

Martha's Vineyard

The Black Dog