12 - Home of amazing yachts and island hoping!

We left Mystic and had a great sail up to Rhode Island.  We pulled into Dutch Island Harbor in Jamestown, RI.  We found a beautiful anchorage and settled in for the night.  The next morning, we took the dinghy into town where we walked to the public library for printing services.  It was a great little library and we were both able to get some “real work” related documents printed and mailed off.  Modern technology is a marvelous thing sometimes.  We then walked from the library to the local market where we bought a piece of fish for dinner and a fabulous looking piece of watermelon. 

The next morning, we pulled up anchor and motored through Narragansett bay towards Newport, RI.  We went past General Dynamics and Electric Boat Company.  These are manufactures of submarines.  We  were bummed that we didn’t see any of them being launched but it was still cool to see the factories. 

We could definitely tell as we got closer to Newport because the boats kept getting bigger and more exotic.  We dropped anchor in a pretty crowded anchorage and got the binoculars out.  Gorgeous boats of all size and shapes were the norm. 

 

 

 After awhile, we closed our sagging jaws and took the dinghy ashore.  We grabbed our backpacks and headed (the round about way so we could explore as it was raining the last time we were here) to the nearest liquor and grocery stores.  We found a great local beer and some additional wine (we weren’t out but it was right there) and stocked up on some fresh groceries.  Gary was excited to get a huge steak so we headed back to the boat to fire up the gill and open the wine.  We had a great night watching the 12 meter boats (these are the ones they used to race in the America’s Cup races before they switched to big catamaran's) sail through the anchorage right by us on their sunset cruises.  The gorgeous sunset and almost full moonrise, made the night even more perfect.  

Alas, it was time to leave and we had an amazing sail over to Cuttyhunk, MA.  This is a small island (says there are 50 permanent residents) in what they refer to as the Elizabeth Islands just off the coast of Massachusetts.  It is the favorite sailing destination of some of our friends so we had to check it out.  Its an adorable little town with super friendly people.  We walked up to an overlook where we had a great unobstructed view of the entire island and could even see the mainland as well as Martha’s Vineyard.  We even got a picture of WSW in the bay down below. 

 On our way back to town, we passed the local grocery store (no we didn’t need anything but….) where we found some yummy homemade muffins we had to get to accompany our coffee drinks and beach walk for the next day.

As we were heading back to WSW, we spotted another 42 Cabo Rico.  We’d seen then in Watch Hill, RI but weren’t able to connect with them.  We took the dinghy over and they were on the boat!  For those of you who don’t know, there were actually only 16 of our boat's model and size made so spotting another is pretty cool! We were so excited to talk to them.  The name of the boat is Mahi Mahi.  They hail from Quebec and the boat is hull #10.  They have also been sailing all around this area and plan to ship their boat to the Mediterranean next year.  Maybe we’ll see them there.

After our coffee drinks, muffins and beach walk, we pulled up the anchor and motor sailed (not much wind) over to Martha’s Vineyard.   We dropped anchor just outside the harbor and took the dinghy into the Edgartown (recommended by our fellow Cabo Rico sailors and our friend Doug).  What an adorable town.  We discovered that they had two breweries on the island and one was within walking distance.  We had to check it out!  The next day we decided to rent bikes so we could see more of the island.  We rode to Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven and Tisbury (a total of about 15 miles after we also rode through Edgartown).  Great bikes trails all throughout the island and moderate (for the most part) hills, made it the perfect way to see the island.  We arrived at the second brewery in Oak Bluffs too early so we decided to skip it.  We bought some amazing lobster bisque to take back to the boat so we could relax after our days excursions.

 

 

 

The next morning, we had favorable winds so we decided to head over to Nantucket.  Again, we found an anchorage just outside of town and took the dinghy ashore.  It really is amazing how different (I know we keep saying it but it's true) each of these towns are.  Nantucket seems to be older with it's cobblestone streets and definitely older buildings in town.  There also seem to a lot more locals or at least more returning seasonal visitors.  It's an adorable quaint town.  Our first day here we discovered that they had a courtesy shuttle to the Cisco Brewery (the local brewery) so we had to check it out.  Afterward, we decided to take the dingy over to explore the beaches.  The sand was described as brown sugar and it's a perfect description.   The smooth rocks that are so flat they look like they were sliced from larger ones were also very unique. 

The next day we decided to rent bikes and head over to an area called Siasconset (known as Sconset to all the locals).  This is an even more quaint little area. The houses right inside town and small but absolutely adorable.  Just outside of town are some fabulous and really large houses that sit on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic.  Breathtaking views.   Again,  they have great bike paths throughout the island that makes the ride even more fun.  We were both amused to see the second lemonade stand (the first one was on Martha's Vineyard) and had to stop at this one for some cold lemonade and to visit with her cat.  We even saw one of the two cranberry bogs on the island.

 

We've now decided that it's time to start heading back south (we think it's getting cold but everyone up here thinks it's perfect).  The plan is to leave here and make the 2-3 day run to Delaware Bay and then into the Chesapeake Bay. 

Until next post!

11 - Mystic and roadtrips!!!

We pulled into Mystic about a week ago and took advantage of the cloudy day to get caught up on laundry and explore the town.  Back at the marina, we  met some great people and asked for a restaurant location. We enjoyed talking to Lorna and Frank so much, we asked them to join us for dinner and had an amazing time.  The next morning we rented a car for the week and we took off in the direction of Newport, RI.  We thought going by car would be the most practical way of exploring Newport (or at least economic as the rates for marina slips in the area were triple or more of what we'd been paying).   If you're a sailor and especially an America's Cup fan, Newport is somewhere you have to go to at least pay homage.  On the way, we found a quaint little area with a fishing village near Point Judith and Narragansett, RI where we stopped for lunch of fish sandwich and clams.  Yummy!

We found Newport and were grateful that we'd brought along our rain gear as it went from misting to outright raining.  No problem!  We just donned our jackets and splashed in the puddles.  At least the crowds were slightly diminished.  The downtown area is filled with shops selling everything you can think of, really neat very old houses and boats of all sizes and shapes.  It really is a great town.  We'd been told by several people that the "Cliff Walk" is a not to be missed experience while in Newport, so despite the weather, we thought we'd check it out.  It's gorgeous! 

 

As the name suggests, it is a walkway built on a cliff above the rocky shores where the Newport Mansions of yesteryear were built.  The mansions are amazing (there are a lot of places where the hedges are so high that you can't really see the houses but it's still breathtaking).  We walked about 1/2 of the walk so about a mile and a half one way.  It was raining pretty hard at this point so we turned around and headed back to the car and back to Mystic.

 

The next morning, Gary had to fly out to Topeka, KS for a client so MaryAnn flew in her friend Chris to "babysit" her for the week.

 

With the boy away, the girls took off for a road trip.  First they drove to Boston where they spent about 24 hours sightseeing and eating their way through the city.  Boston is an interesting and very historical city.  The girls were proud of themselves for navigating the subway system without Gary and were able to sample many of the city's sights and the ethnic neighborhoods.  Despite her best efforts, however, MaryAnn was disappointed to find that she still was still too, uh, tall for the downtown Boston carousel.

  

 

 

The girls then started a road trip back towards Mystic by following the coast line and stopping in every small town or beach side village they could find.  What an amazing area filled with beautiful old houses and just really pretty scenery. They found Plymouth MA and the famed Plymouth Rock.  To make sure that Gary wasn't left out, they scoured the beach to find him a Plymouth rock of his own.

 

 

  

In New Bedford, MA they discovered a monument to Joshua Slocum.  Slocum, rebuilt a 36 foot sloop and he was the first man to solo circumnavigate in 1898.  We've read his book and a couple of others about him so it was neat to see waters that he too had sailed in.

 

 

Next, the girls stopped back in Newport, RI to complete the remainder of the cliff walk that we didn't see (the last section is much rougher terrain -literally rock climbing at some points - and I certainly wouldn't recommend it in foul weather).  There is even a tunnel to go under the rock at one point.

 

 

 

 After 2 days on the road, they made their way back to Mystic.  After walking through town and finding a great restaurant in Noank, CT for lunch, the girls decided to put the dinghy in the water and explore Mystic more by water. 

 

 

Chris has relatives in Mystic who own the most adorable children's clothing store called the Blue Rocking Horse in downtown Mystic (right beside the draw bridge).  That evening the girls were invited over for a fabulous kabob dinner that included local caught monk fish (one of MaryAnn's favorites), swordfish and shrimp.  Absolutely delicious!!! 

 

Their son who lives next door has a dog named Eric.  MaryAnn immediately fell in love with him and had to come back the next day to take him on a walk.  Luckily, he was a little too big to fit in her backpack or he might be sailing with us.

 

 

 

 Well, as it always does, time flies when you are having too much fun and it was already time for Chris to head back to Orlando and Gary to come back to the boat.  We had the rental car for one more day so we found the Defender boat supply store  (again with the boat repairs in exotic places) only a few miles away and then stocked up on some more groceries and supplies.  We met Frank and Lorna for one last dinner in Mystic and exchanged promises to keep in touch. 

 

Today, we got all of our laundry done and everything loaded back onto the boat so we can take off in the morning.  Next stop will probably be a Newport, RI area called Dutch Harbor.  

 

Until next post!



10 - From the big city to the small towns

Our 3 glorious days in Southport/Fairfield, CT - us in luxurious accommodations at Doug and Sandy’s house with amazing views from literally every room in the house

 

 and WSW moored at the Peqout Yacht Club

 

 

 - finally came to an end.  We were treated like royalty and chauffeured all around town.  Doug and Sandy invited some very experienced lady sailors over for dinner one night so we could pick their brains about sailing to the Azores and Portugal.  We also attended the annual book sale of the Pequot Library where we got to fill a bag of books for $5, we had  a dinner and movie date night with sushi and the latest Mission Impossible movie (we even got ice cream) and even got to participate in some of the renovations at the house!

We had a great sail out of Southport up to Duck Island Roads (a great protected area to anchor for the night).  We dropped the hook just in time to see the Wednesday night sailboat races from a nearby yacht club.

 

 

The next morning, we sailed back across Long Island Sound to Sag Harbor, NY.  Again, we were amazed by the number of lighthouses we passed.

We located a great protected anchorage.  Now, our boat is not a slacker (we are almost 50 feet overall) but here we found ourselves to be one of the smallest non-tender (dinghy) boats in the anchorage .  After brushing off our pride, we took our even smaller dinghy into town.  The town is adorable.  This town felt more inhabited with locals or at least annual tourists than tourist tourists.  We found a great grocery store where we picked up a few fresh veggies and had crab cake and fish and chips lunch at the Corner Bar which was amazing.
 

Next we sailed back across Long Island Sound (yes we were zig zagging but we wanted to time our arrival) to the town of Essex, CT.  Again, each one of these towns is cuter than the last.  Essex is full of very (150-200+ years) old houses.  We walked all through town amazed at the houses and how perfectly maintained they were.  MaryAnn loved that the town seemed to be full of dogs.  Doug and Sandy drove up to meet us for Sunday brunch at the infamous Griswald Inn.  The atmosphere and the food were both terrific.

 

 We then proceeded out of Long Island Sound into Narragansett Sound to the town of Stonington, CT.  Another adorable town but this one much more densely populated.  It’s amazing that each of these towns can all be so similar yet so different.  This town had very little greenery between the houses (as opposed to the other towns we’d seen) and also had a commercial fishing area.  We found a great restaurant overlooking the anchorage area which didn’t have any air conditioning.  I can see that this wouldn’t normally be an issue but this day had a heat index warning and it was way too hot to eat inside (just right outside for us, though)!  We originally were just going to have a happy hour drink, but after looking over the menu, decided to also have dinner.  Good decision.  It was great!

The next day, we motored about an hour (our shortest passage yet) to Watch Hill, RI.  Again, a fabulous town. 

They have an area where you can dinghy into shore and cross over a sand dune to the beach!  We walked the beach at least 5 or 6 times in the 2 days we were there. 

The actual town is very cute too.  They are, as the name would suggest, on top of a hill overlooking the Atlantic.  They still operate a carousel that is said to date back to 1883.  Unfortunately, it is limited to only children under the age of 12 and under 5 ft tall, so MaryAnn didn’t get to ride.   Back on the boat, we took advantage of the calm day at anchorage for MaryAnn to make a small boat repair.

 After all our work, we took the advice we'd gotten from everyone, including our friend Jamie Bassett, and decided that we had to get ice cream at the store by the carousel.  Absolutely totally worth the calories (and we walked up and down the hill around town while we ate, so surely we burned off most of them).

Again, after 2 days, we decided to try a new spot (honestly there is no way anybody can visit all of the really cool places here in one summer much less one month) and headed over to Block Island, RI and the town of New Shoreham. We anchored in what they call the Great Salt Pond or New Harbor.  Holy cow were there a lot of boats!  There are mooring balls and anchorage areas.  Both were packed with several boats rafted up 5-6 boats deep.  We literally squeezed in between a couple of boats and after putting out 150 feet of anchor rode (we were in about 25 feet of water and that was one of the more shallow anchorage spots we saw open), we were way closer than we normally like to our neighbors but we seemed to be fine.  At first, the area seemed to be nothing more than a couple of marinas and a beach that was very crowded.  Then, we found the town!  We loved it.  Great restaurants, adorable shops and a well stocked grocery store.  The next day, we rented bikes and rode the huge mountains (I'm sure they were only hills but we were out of shape and had biked mostly in FL for the past 18 years) all around the island.  It's absolutely gorgeous!  There are cliffs (with a stairway down to a beach),

 2 lighthouses (one each end of the island)

and really pretty houses and old hotels!  Much of the island was destroyed during the hurricane of 1938 so that explains why all of the houses were newer than we'd be used to seeing in this part of the county.  We found a roadside produce stand with a "donation" box so we had to get some home grown veggies.  We stopped for a beer at the Spring House Hotel (we'd met some fellow boaters who said we had to go and we agreed after we saw how pretty it was).

One more thing we thought was cool was the boat that runs all through the harbor yelling "Andiamo."  In the morning, he sells coffee and all sorts of pastries, etc. and in the evening he sells seafood.  We hailed him on the radio after we saw his sign advertising fresh fish.  He didn't have any fish at the moment  (just oysters and shrimp cocktail from the restaurant) but someone overheard us and said they had some freshly caught black sea bass and trigger fish that we could "have".  We jumped in the dingy and met up some amazing people and the 10 year old boys who actually caught the fish.  For $10, we got a large zip lock bag  filled with enough for fish & grits, fish tacos and ceviche (we used one of the tomatoes we got from the roadside stand)!!!!!  Delicious!!   Again, another fabulous place that was so very different from the last. 

We are now in Mystic, CT (just got here) doing laundry and getting the boat cleaned up!  We'll update you on this adorable time soon!

Until next post!