We left Cuttyhunk, MA on 6/23/2026 headed directly for Marion, MA for what we hoped would be an opportunity to explore a small town after being on Cuttyhunk with almost no commercial enterprise. We stayed one night at Bethany Yacht Club and then left the next morning 6/24/2026 for Provincetown, MA.
| Leg | Start | Destination | Distance, nm | Duration, hrs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maryland Yacht Club, Pasadena, MD | Cuttyhunk, MA | 352 | 49 |
| 2 | Cuttyhunk, MA | Marion, MA | 20 | 3.5 |
| 3 | Marion, MA | Provincetown, MA | 40 | 7 |
Departing Cuttyhunk is a cool experience with the narrow channel and open expanse and other land formations before you. But, departing Cuttyhunk after paying over $7 per gallon for diesel you feel like you just had your wallet stolen and there is nothing you can do but motor away. We left with an overcast day and, safe to say, no wind. Coming out of the Cuttyhunk inlet we were met by the Schooner Alabama which looked mystical with the light fog surrounding the area.
With virtually no wind, we easily motored out of Cuttyhunk Harbor and into Buzzards Bay. As the waterway widened and nearby land disappeared into the fog, I headed up to the bow to monitor for ship traffic. It was very peaceful and quiet away from the noise of the motor and exhaust splashing out the discharge.
It was a few moments of bliss that we enjoyed motoring into Buzzards Bay with breakfast being made, books being read, and just plain gazing out into the water listening for other boats nearby. Unfortunately as we settled into this pattern, the autopilot began to stop working and the boat began to noticably veer off course momentarily. We both dive for the helm to regain control and maintain the desired route plan.
What could it be? We turned off the autopilot, then turned it on — nothing. We depowered the entire electronics on the boat — nothing. While I was handsteering, the Admiral deduced that the problem was with the motor based on amp draw. That could be possible, afterall, the unit it approximately 29 years old. First things first is to get the boat stopped in Marion so that we could finish the troubleshooting when we are not moving.
Anchor down, we started performing surgery on the autopilot motor. This is a Lewmar Mamba 24V 1/4HP motor. We’ve never opened it up to see the inside guts of this thing. Before I knew it, the Admiral had the front cover off and was dissecting it like it was a frog in biology class. She was pulling parts off faster than I could believe, which then lead to some calls to Europe to ask about parts availability.
The brushes seemed okay, but it was likely the actual motor which had failed us. It was that moment that we realized that we would be hand steering this boat for the remainder of the trip since we didn’t have a backup autopilot. Remember a while back that we had a WindPilot on the transom? That would not have helped us in this case, because there was no wind. A second autopilot system would have been very nice.
While one half of the team was working on fixing what appeared to be a faulty Mamba, I spent my time divided on route planning and purchasing a new Mamba unit. Trying to rush order a major component to ship during a major US holiday weekend was downright ridiculous. It took me a while to find out that there wasn’t one in stock anywhere in the US, and so I turned to Hallberg-Rassy Parts in Sweden — yep they had one, and they had it available to ship.
Those plans in motion, we awoke the next morning to start the next leg of the trip up Buzzards Bay, through the Cape Cod Canal, and then rhumb line to Provincetown, MA. Just as we were approaching the Canal, our friends aboard Endeavor (HR36) headed the opposite direction approached us. We stopped, took pictures and shared how happy we were to finally see each others boats. We met them at the annual Hallberg-Rassy Owners land party in Deale, MD every year, but never while on our boats.
We slowed the boats down and did circles around each other. Endeavor is a very well maintained boat. After a few minutes we broke away from that pattern so we didn’t block traffic and get crushed by fast-moving power boats and ships trying to dodge us.
After leaving our friends, we pushed forward into the canal with the engine running. The canal really surprised us and seemed full of life and activity as we compared it to the C&D Canal which is basic, functional and relaltively unpopulated.
Once we got out into the Cape, we threw up the spinnaker and enjoyed hand steering in light wind. The Cape was flat and sunny. It was almost perfect sailing conditions except the wind was too light to where we had to eventually motor sail. We were happy that we finally completed a bucket list item to sail in Cape Cod. We have become much more comfortable deploying and dousing the spinnaker on the boat, but hand steering with it in light wind was quite the challenge. Some boats following us through the canal peeled off and headed North towards Boston, but not too many chased us to Provincetown.
We didn’t want to get into Provincetown too late, and so motoring the last couple of miles took us past the lighthouse. Honestly, going past the lighthouse seemed to take forever because it is set on a long penninsula that we had to round. Being moored in the harbor just before sundown was a great feeling to have finally made it and safely.
The entire trip we used our new best friend to fend off the flies, our rechargable electric flyswatter. One hand was on the helm and one hand was on the flyswatter. Don’t leave home without it!
