Two days ago we pulled into the sailing caital of the Northeast. The last time I was in Newport I was sailing with a captain aboard a 36-footer as part of ASA bareboat chartering course some 8 years ago. One thing I remember is that the captain ensured that everything was shipshape once we dropped the anchor. The sails had to be furled perfectly, the cover on impeccably, lines in order. "This is Newport," he said. Not that I had a sense of trepidation before entering the harbor, but the sense of a special nautical feeling before the approach was definitely there.
When we were in Quissett, the girl who checked us in and then helped with holding tank pumpout told us that her parents went to Newport to watch the J-boats regatta. We didn't think much about it even though the J-boats are beautiful and enormous. One of my thoughts was that on a Saturday we should pull in not too late in order to find room to anchor. After all, it's Newport!
The night before we spent at a peaceful anchorage next to Newport 3rd beach (yes, there is a Second beach, but we didn't spot First beach) in hopes of taking a long walk through the nature preserve. However, in the morning the kids absolutely refused to leave Salty Ginger, so we tried to fish while they were playing in the cabins and sometimes helping us to fish. David caught a gorgeous sea robin. Not only is the fish beautiful, it croaked at us when we pulled it out of the water. Unfortunately, that was the only catch of the day that we decided to release.
At noon I realized that we absolutely have to leave so that we have time to go past the mansions and then get into the harbor to find a spot. While we were sailing David and Alla made a tuna salad which was ready right when we were next to the mansions and had to motor into the wind in order to stay close to shore.
The view was fabulous! Our only regret is that the good SLRs were out of commission: one ran out of battery, and the other got soaked in salt water, so it wasn't happy. Thus, we have ourselves to blame for the poor quality pictures that we could make along the coast.
As we rounded the southern tip of the peninsula where the mansions have been built, we noticed the regatta in the distance. Beautiful spinnakers, lots of boats. Good for them: we're just chilling in the gentle breeze. And look, Oliver Hazard Perry ship is entering the harbor as well! Given our luck with Margaret Todd in Bar Harbor and the wind, we should catch up with OHP in no time!
The "chilling" feeling went away when we pointed the bow south into Newport harbor. Within minutes we were surrounded by lots of motorboats. That's weird, I thought, why would all fishermen come back at the same time... And then it struck: the regatta was over and ALL of those vessels were heading back into the harbor. EVERYBODY!
We saw 18-foot motorboats, 40-foot trawlers, 100-foot megayachts. Then later came the sailing vessels under motor. Then the J-boats caught up. The unattributed quote was "this feels like a 12-lane highway with no rules!" True enough: even though most craft were heading north with the wind into the harbor, a few vessels were heading out of the harbor. Some were motoring, but others were tackling back and forth as an onslaught of craft, including Salty Ginger, was heading their way. I was so happy we were not exiting the harbor!
In order to make appearances (and let everyone else pass us) Salty Ginger was under sails. The wake from all the motorboats combined with the current and the light wind allowed 20-25 foot sailboats to move faster, but we didn't care. OHP was half-mile ahead, and started to lower sails. Oh yeah, we're entering the harbor proper! Furl the genoa, turn on the engine: these people will take up all the available spots!
I have to acknowledge, I sort of paniked when I thought about finding an anchor spot. I called Oldport Marina on the VHF to see if they have moorings. They booted me. Harbormaster said he has nothing and recommended I call Oldport. Ooops. Like BIG OOPS!
Luckily, before turning out of the harbor into a different spot, I decided to check out whether there was a spot to anchor. I grabbed the first one. Yay, we're lucky!
Two things mislead me: a) my hazy memory from 8 years ago told me that the place where I thought we anchored was taken by the moorings; b) will the spectator boats really be expecting to spend a night at anchor? No, the cruisers will, but they are a minority among the spectator boats. When we took the dingy into town I spotted at least 2 other spots where we could have dropped anchor. Sometimes it's good to be a "black sheep".
Kids loved being ashore, especially when we found a playground. Although, to Peter's dismay it was occupied by an amature performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth. We happened to get there at the very end, so the kids did get to run around. Nearby, we found a place to have dinner, a supermarket to get some food for the morning, and a wine store to enjoy the evening when the kids are asleep.
In the morning Newport continued to live up to its unofficial title (at least in my head) of the sailing capital: we were alerted by a cannon shot that announced the start of the classic ship parade. Glow and behold, we were anchored right at the start of the parade! We were again surrounded by all kinds of vessels, except that we were anchored, so implicitly we had the right of way. Towards the end of the parade it dawned on me: somebody could be watching the parade from the top of the mast! Vlad, then Margot, and then Yury were hoisted up the mast one at a time. https://goo.gl/photos/sqQD9YKykBPjw4q38
One more week of my 2-month vacation is left. I'm awaiting for Frank plus Joao, Lena, their son Gabriel to arrive within the next couple hours. Alla, David, and their kids left yesterday. Irina and our kids left to visit grandma today. And I'm still in Newport in a discombobulated emotional state where I'm anticipating more adventures yet sensing Irina and my kids' absence and reluctantly envisioning the end of a grand Salty Ginger voyage of 2017.
When we were in Quissett, the girl who checked us in and then helped with holding tank pumpout told us that her parents went to Newport to watch the J-boats regatta. We didn't think much about it even though the J-boats are beautiful and enormous. One of my thoughts was that on a Saturday we should pull in not too late in order to find room to anchor. After all, it's Newport!
The night before we spent at a peaceful anchorage next to Newport 3rd beach (yes, there is a Second beach, but we didn't spot First beach) in hopes of taking a long walk through the nature preserve. However, in the morning the kids absolutely refused to leave Salty Ginger, so we tried to fish while they were playing in the cabins and sometimes helping us to fish. David caught a gorgeous sea robin. Not only is the fish beautiful, it croaked at us when we pulled it out of the water. Unfortunately, that was the only catch of the day that we decided to release.
At noon I realized that we absolutely have to leave so that we have time to go past the mansions and then get into the harbor to find a spot. While we were sailing David and Alla made a tuna salad which was ready right when we were next to the mansions and had to motor into the wind in order to stay close to shore.
As we rounded the southern tip of the peninsula where the mansions have been built, we noticed the regatta in the distance. Beautiful spinnakers, lots of boats. Good for them: we're just chilling in the gentle breeze. And look, Oliver Hazard Perry ship is entering the harbor as well! Given our luck with Margaret Todd in Bar Harbor and the wind, we should catch up with OHP in no time!
The "chilling" feeling went away when we pointed the bow south into Newport harbor. Within minutes we were surrounded by lots of motorboats. That's weird, I thought, why would all fishermen come back at the same time... And then it struck: the regatta was over and ALL of those vessels were heading back into the harbor. EVERYBODY!
We saw 18-foot motorboats, 40-foot trawlers, 100-foot megayachts. Then later came the sailing vessels under motor. Then the J-boats caught up. The unattributed quote was "this feels like a 12-lane highway with no rules!" True enough: even though most craft were heading north with the wind into the harbor, a few vessels were heading out of the harbor. Some were motoring, but others were tackling back and forth as an onslaught of craft, including Salty Ginger, was heading their way. I was so happy we were not exiting the harbor!
In order to make appearances (and let everyone else pass us) Salty Ginger was under sails. The wake from all the motorboats combined with the current and the light wind allowed 20-25 foot sailboats to move faster, but we didn't care. OHP was half-mile ahead, and started to lower sails. Oh yeah, we're entering the harbor proper! Furl the genoa, turn on the engine: these people will take up all the available spots!
I have to acknowledge, I sort of paniked when I thought about finding an anchor spot. I called Oldport Marina on the VHF to see if they have moorings. They booted me. Harbormaster said he has nothing and recommended I call Oldport. Ooops. Like BIG OOPS!
Luckily, before turning out of the harbor into a different spot, I decided to check out whether there was a spot to anchor. I grabbed the first one. Yay, we're lucky!
Two things mislead me: a) my hazy memory from 8 years ago told me that the place where I thought we anchored was taken by the moorings; b) will the spectator boats really be expecting to spend a night at anchor? No, the cruisers will, but they are a minority among the spectator boats. When we took the dingy into town I spotted at least 2 other spots where we could have dropped anchor. Sometimes it's good to be a "black sheep".
Kids loved being ashore, especially when we found a playground. Although, to Peter's dismay it was occupied by an amature performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth. We happened to get there at the very end, so the kids did get to run around. Nearby, we found a place to have dinner, a supermarket to get some food for the morning, and a wine store to enjoy the evening when the kids are asleep.
In the morning Newport continued to live up to its unofficial title (at least in my head) of the sailing capital: we were alerted by a cannon shot that announced the start of the classic ship parade. Glow and behold, we were anchored right at the start of the parade! We were again surrounded by all kinds of vessels, except that we were anchored, so implicitly we had the right of way. Towards the end of the parade it dawned on me: somebody could be watching the parade from the top of the mast! Vlad, then Margot, and then Yury were hoisted up the mast one at a time. https://goo.gl/photos/sqQD9YKykBPjw4q38
One more week of my 2-month vacation is left. I'm awaiting for Frank plus Joao, Lena, their son Gabriel to arrive within the next couple hours. Alla, David, and their kids left yesterday. Irina and our kids left to visit grandma today. And I'm still in Newport in a discombobulated emotional state where I'm anticipating more adventures yet sensing Irina and my kids' absence and reluctantly envisioning the end of a grand Salty Ginger voyage of 2017.
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