We had to radio the harbour master and announce our arrival. He told us where we could anchor. Once again the mooring field was filled with mooring balls, but we managed to find a spot.
The wind was howling and it was quite bumpy. When Andrew shouted "Go!" I stepped on the anchor down button but I struggled to get the anchor off the roller quickly enough! It sometimes does this and then I have to push the up button, tighten the chain and then the anchor will release, when I press the down button again.
When I didn't get the anchor down fast enough, the delay caused us to drift back. Then once we had sufficient chain out, we were too close to the boat behind us, so we upped anchor again.
The chain was very twisted and was skipping as I pulled it up and then it jumped off the gypsy and ran out! Laura is down below pulling the anchor chain into the lower locker and I am always scared she will catch her fingers. Thank goodness she was ok. I quickly secured the chain with the hook and tied it on to prevent it from running out any more. Andrew came to help as I rushed back to the helm to ensure we didn't hit anyone.
The second time I dropped the anchor was much better as the it was hanging off the roller, ready to be dropped, and I got it down as soon as Andrew shouted "Go!"
We finally got settled and after the close boats at Block we felt we were ok.
Mellow Puff came in a bit later and struggled to find a place to anchor. They eventually dropped behind us.
We knew there was a blow coming later in the evening so we tried to get supper cooked before it came through. We watched as the sky got darker and darker and then the storm hit.
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| This guy was not on his boat! |
Everyone seemed to be in their cockpits, starting their engines. The highest wind we saw was about 43 knots, we have seen higher, but with the boats so close to each other we had to keep a close watch.
The rain came through in a torrent and the wind blew the gas out on the braai. The meat was only half cooked but we had to leave it until the storm had passed. Laura came up and sat with us in the cockpit, counting the "crocodiles" between the lightening and the thunder.
Nobody dragged and nobody hit anybody which was a relief. There was the most amazing sunset after the storm had passed.
We were very relieved that we had left Block Island. We watched videos of the storm going through there a few days later and it was absolute chaos. Boats dragging, breaking mooring balls, boats hitting other boats.
The following day was July 4th. We went ashore and met up with Jeff, Jacqui and Daniel from Mellow Puff, to watch a re-enactment of the Declaration of Independence, culminating in twenty-one canon salute.
Then we had a walk around the town. The houses are lovely quaint wooden buildings.
We decided to stop at an Irish Pub and have some lunch. They were running a special of $10 burgers. Well I guess you get what you pay for.... it wasn't the best meal ever!
July 5th was laundry day. There is a laundry close to the dinghy dock but it was fairly expensive. $5 for a wash and the machines were quite small so I had to do 2 loads and $4 for the dryer which didn’t dry on the first go.
While I was doing the washing, Andrew went to the Maritime and Sailing museum with Daniel and Jeff. It was $18 to get in and Andrew said it was good but not very big. I expected them to spend at least 2 hours there but they were back after about an hour.
While the dryer was doing its thing, Andrew and I walked up to the Stop&Shop to get some wine. We had to buy it from the liquor store as they are not allowed to sell liquor in the supermarket.
July 6th is my birthday!
I woke up to find so many messages for my birthday. We had a quick breakfast and then set off to shore. Mellow Puff crew joined us to do the cliff walk which is a 5km trail along the shore, passing 64 mansions along the way.
It was lovely and busy, with lots of people walking. There were a couple of places we were concerned about as it was marked as rocky. The first bit had big rocks that seemed to be laid neatly. The second part was a little trickier but Laura managed well.
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| Jeff, Jacqui and Daniel |
We caught the free bus back to town and found an O’Brien’s Restaurant and had a delicious lunch.
Cheers!
It was such fun to spend time with another family. We have missed our buddy boats and the crew from Mellow Puff are lovely.
I spent the rest of my birthday watching tennis and reading my book. Later Andrew cooked some steak for supper. I missed Matt and Kay as I am sure we would have spent the day playing Canasta.
While we were watching our series, The Bear, we saw a mast through the window. We went up to find a boat anchoring fairly close to us. As he let our more chain he asked if he was ok there. After Block he was miles away!! And later there were more fireworks, just for me!
I had found a brochure advertising a walk along the beachfront coupled with finding painted rocks. We duly went ashore and started where the star on the brochure told us to.
Needless to say we saw some really run down parts and some nice parts of town, but no rocks. Not one!
After a bit we gave up looking and went to O’Brien’s for a beer.
Any idea what these are?
The highlight of our stay was going to a local ball game. Andrew and I got in for $2 each and Laura was $5. It was good fun and we picked up on the game quite quickly. We left before the end as it was getting dark and the dinghy dock locked at 10pm.
Fourteen days is the limit of a stay in Newport and after that you have to leave for at least four days. So after 12 wonderful days, the weather and wind and current were all aligned for us to make a move.
We went to the fuel dock to fill up on diesel, petrol, and water and then set off. Andrew and I don’t like going to docks or marinas. I find it incredibly stressful. But Andrew docked us like a pro and we did the needful and pushed off. Mellow Puff were on the dock after us and we waited a bit before putting up the sail and heading to Cuttyhunk.
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