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!