It got kind of crummy around Sandwich Lindsay McRory October 4, 1995 (Editor's Note: Lindsay continues to push south with a couple of his sailng buddies. Once to Norfolk, Virginia, he will head back to Halifax, Nova Scotia by plane to collect his young family and return to Hakuna Matata. to begin the voyage.) Sandwich, Massachusetts, is located on the northern end of the Cape Cod canal, and we found our departure to be quick and easy. Once out of the marina, we were right into the canal. Our departure time coincided with a flood current. This meant the water going through the canal was with us and would make the passage much quicker. And it was surprisingly easy. On a chart the canal looks like a hairline-sized stream with barely enough room for a fish. In reality the canal is fairly wide, has a consistent depth, and no navigation hazards. At the end of the canal the wind piped up, to 30 mph on the nose. We turned the motor off and raised a small jib and a reefed main sail. The wind was up but the seas did not have much of a chance to build. The rain started and we had a fast but somewhat miserable passage through Woods Hole into Vineyard Haven. Most boats that venture any distance from shore carry a marine radio, otherwise known as a marine band VHF (very high frequency). They are like regular CB radios, but with 10 times the output power (about 25 watts verses two or three watts on a typical CB). Channel 16 on marine radios is reserved for hailing and distress calls. While underway we continually monitor channel 16. On this particular day you had to feel a little sympathy for the Coast Guard. The first distress we heard involved a windsurfer who inadvertently planted his now-broken windsurfer in the middle of a narrow channel frequented by large ferries. The distress call came from the captain of a ferry who luckily spotted him and carefully maneuvered around. The poor guy must have had a few tense moments watching the massive vessel bearing down on him. Within the hour, another call was heard from a 22-foot power boat that was out of gas. Those onboard didn't know where they were. It was a interesting conversation: -- Coast Guard: "Can you give us your position?" -- No Gas: "We're drifting down the channel." -- Coast Guard: "What channel?" -- No Gas: "The one with the big houses by the beach." The conversation went on for some time. They ended up with "Captain Ron" paddling to the beach and asking directions. Next came a little more distressing call, a helicopter en route to Boston on a medical emergency spotted an overturned 30-foot sailboat with three people standing on the hull. We were about 25 miles away, so there was little we could do to help. They were picked up by the Coast Guard within the hour. Sailboats with keels generally do not flip upside down and stay there. It could have been a multi-hull boat. Trimarans and catamarans are perfectly happy resting upside down and, in fact, show considerable resistance to being righted. Dusk was falling quick when another distress came in from a boat trying to enter Woods Hole at night with no charts, and the crew had never been there before. The poor guy was trying to get the Coast Guard to give him directions over the radio. Unfortunately sailing is not like driving. Road maps tell you were to go. Charts tell you where not to go. There are more places where you should not go than where you are supposed to go, so giving directions over the radio is not safe or practical. We're not sure what happened to him. If it had been us, we would have stood off until daylight. No doubt it would have been an uncomfortable night, but there would be little risk of life or losing the boat. For now, we had to concentrate on entering an unfamiliar harbor at night ourselves, but with the proper charts.