Don at IYRS

Newport, RI 
May 25
 

We made the run to Newport and anchored next to John and Jen.  They had left Fairhaven the day before in the rain.  We had an easy trip to Newport and arrived fairly early.  While we were in Newport we helped John finish his steering unit and I made their bimini, 2 front weather cloths for Caper and fender covers for 4 fenders in preparation for the trip on the canal system. 

We shared a taxi for groceries and a trip to West Marine.

 

We had a family pub-crawl with the kids.  We also visited the International Yacht Restoration School.  There were at least 20 wooden boats in all stages of disrepair for the students to work on.

On one day I did manage to finish the kids’ bimini and all of our fender covers.

Don and John sailing Ariadne

Sculpture in Newport, RI

Connecticut River
May 31

Left Newport with John and Jen behind us - they were headed out for a day of sailing.  We wanted to make a few miles toward New York City.  It was a very easy day for the most part and we made it to the Connecticut River.  The only problem was that we arrived at dark.

The anchorage on the right after the fixed bridge is full of moorings and difficult to find anchorage for a boat our size.  We anchored off Fairy Point in 10’ of water.  We wanted to be settled during the predicted storm (which did live up to its predictions).  We were evidently in the channel for a little marina as we had a lot of boat traffic around us including one twit in a sailboat who came up to us, ran down one side, across the stern and back up the other side.  He honked his horn and turned his back to us.  We were very unpopular.

While we were there, I did 13 of the curtains.  I know we will be tied to canal walls and it would be good to be able to cover the windows on the land side.

The weather was so bad that we have no photographs of this area.

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Greenwich, CT
June 2

We traveled down Long Island Sound to Greenwich.  It is a very wealthy area with lots of fancy boats.  We anchored at the edge of the mooring field in a rather open spot.  We hoped for a northeast wind, which was predicted.  The next day we took on fuel at Palmer Point Marina at $1.49 per gallon, which was a little cheaper than we had expected.  We took the boat out on the anchor and dinghied back in to Palmer Point to walk to the grocery store.  By the time we dinghied back with a boat load of provisions, the wind had picked up and we were drenched. 

It calmed some for the night, but the next morning the currents were against the tides with little wind to bring us up straight into the waves, so we bounced and hammered on the anchor for over 24 hours with 2 - 3 ft. side seas.  It was too rough to even go forward for the anchor or get our dinghy in.  Tried to work on the boat or sew, but no luck as we had to hold on to ourselves and our things so much.  It calmed some at night and in the morning we felt a slight bounce and immediately got the dinghy in and left.  We figured that if it were rough it would be easier to be underway rather than to sit at anchor.  

The weather was so bad that we have no photographs of this area.

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