Tuesday, July 5th

[caption id="attachment_654" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Cutter Loose passes under the Sagamore Bridge in the Cape Cod Canal"][/caption]

Our journey today takes us 36 miles from Red Brook Harbor, through the Cape Cod Canal and on to Provincetown, the "fist" of Cape Cod.  Our departure is timed to coincide with a favorable tide through the Canal.  The five foot tidal difference between Buzzards Bay and Cape Cod Bay creates powerful currents and eddies.  By 8 AM, Cutter Loose is making 10.5 knots over the ground through the Canal, being pushed by a 4 knot current.  We transit the entire 17 miles of the Canal from Buzzards Bay to Sandwich in one hour, 20 minutes.

Once in Cape Cod Bay, a 10 knot northerly wind pushes Cutter Loose along on a liesurely close reach all the way to Provincetown.  We are secured to a mooring inside the breakwater.

[caption id="attachment_656" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Friends meeting in Provincetown"][/caption]

The Independence Day celebrants have already departed Provincetown by the time we arrive.  But there must be a gay pride gathering this week because the entire town is filled with couples of the same sex holding hands and engaging in other displays of affection.  The merchants are selling a variety of special T shirts and other products to commemorate the event.  There is also special entertainment for the delegates.  The streets are filled with promotion agents, busily drumming up business for the evening performances.  All of the participants seem to be acquainted.  It appears that they genuinely enjoy one another's company because they greet one another warmly with hugs and kisses.

[caption id="attachment_657" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Friends introducing friends to other friends in Provincetown"][/caption]

To set the record straight, the Mayflower landed in Provincetown in 1620, not Plymouth.  The Pilgrim immigrants spent a few months here before moving across the Bay to Plymouth.

[caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The 252 foot Pilgrim's Monument in Provincetown"][/caption]

Tomorrow, we will explore the National Seashore and other local attractions.