Musical Anchoring chairs boats
Indeed, one can get fined for improper anchoring I'm Newport harbor!
Indeed, when I came back to Salty Ginger after running errands the stern was hanging over the delineated "cable area" line. Trying to be a good citizen, I pulled up the anchor and found a spot that was a bit better, but not by much and fairly close to one of the boats. The new neighbor was quite nice and asked me if I thought this was ok. I told him that I'll be on the boat, and given the forecast we should be ok. He responded "ok, no problem." I did end up moving a bit but I just couldn't see a good spot where I could anchor solo safely without running a risk of hitting another boat. The neighbor was surprised that I got a ticket "I've never heard of tickets being issued!"
Sunday morning the wind started to pick up and again my stern was hanging in the cable area. Harbormaster came by and I asked him whether I should move. He said, "yeah, it'd be a good idea. You don't want to get caught on the cable and call divers." I said, "You guys fined me yesterday, so I definitely want to avoid another one." Response was: "oh, call the Harbormaster general, and they'll take care of it."
There was a great spot but while I was making coffee it was taken by another boat. Try to drop anchor in another spot - seemed too close. Came to another spot. Stern is 10-15 meters away from the cable area. Good.
Not soo good. When the wind picked up, Salty Ginger started walking on the anchor and swinging very close to a motor boat that was rafted with another boat and then to a sail boat Aspiration. The latter gave me a look but didn't say anything, but the motor boat people weren't pleased. "Maybe you could let out more chain?" I wasn't sure that was a good idea since that would only increase the "walking" distance. Then they said "ok, fine". When they departed a couple of hours later after ~20 knot winds subsided, I apologized profusely and took their spot. Finally safe from boats and cable area. Now need to call the harbormaster to see if "they will take care of it".
Launching Ginger Snap
Irina found a perfect name for our folding Porta-Bote dinghy. It has an advantage over inflatables that it doesn't puncture as easily, but it is quite heavy. I briefly considered just rolling it over the lifelines, but then thought that'd might get too much water and she's still heavy... So I after unfolding Ginger Snap I attached her to a line lead through the spinnaker pole to swing the transom out over the water, tied the bow so it was hanging over the water as well, lowered the transom, lowered the bow.
Perhaps it didn't look elegant, but no backs were hurt in the process, just a little knuckle scratch.
I checked the outboard battery before, so I knew it was full (lesson reminder: leave the batteries fully disconnected!), but as I tried to attach the motor to the transom, I discovered that both bolts seized. Penetrating oil and a bit of muscle got the bolts unstuck after half hour or so and I was on my way to Newport.
Welcome aboard!
Saturday afternoon Galya and Mitya came for a visit from Cape Cod. When I told them that I'm vaccinated and alone, and I won't be alone for the rest of the sail trip they decided that it was sufficiently safe to come visit me. They found a parking spot on Wellington Av, we boarded the dinghy and spent the afternoon chatting and eating the food that they brought.
One difficulty with the mounted Hydrovane, and especially the hydro generator, is that the boarding SG from the dinghy has to be done amidships. I balanced the single step so that it's more or less equal distance between the deck and the dinghy, but still it presents more of a challenge than walking into the dinghy from astern.
Sunday afternoon as the state of the boat went from total mess to not-so-total-mess Alexander, Alexandra, Mabry, Margot, and Mark arrived. Turns out that cleaning up with 6 helpers goes a lot faster! Everyone was hungry, so cleaning and cooking were happening at the same time! What a difference from being solo!
Pre-departure tasks
We provisioned yesterday, so as far as food is concerned, we're ok. We're missing wine and beer since on Sundays liquor store closes at 6, but we're almost ready to go to Block Island after we do a few chores on the boat. In any case, some wind is only forecast in the afternoon, and Margot is meeting a friend from Massachusetts, so might as well spend the first half of the day in the harbor.
Finally, about anchoring. The new neighbor who arrived yesterday afternoon was and still is a bit to close to us for my taste. In fact, her anchor is currently right under SG, so that'll make for a fun departure should they try to leave before us.
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