Newport, Wickford, East Greenwich

Ah, Newport. Where the rich and famous escaped during the gilded age, home of the New York Yacht Club and the America's Cup for those many, many years. We're told that the reason folks like the Vanderbilts and the Astors built these mansions here was as a summer retreat courtesy of the natural air conditioning provided by the afternoon sea breeze. Which is basically why we are here as well. Like clockwork, it kicks in early in the afternoon, builds to 15-20 knots by late afternoon and then shuts off like a faucet before midnight.

We left Stonington just after first light to catch the end of the ebb out of Long Island Sound. While the maximum velocities in the route we took around Fishers Island do not run quite as hard as they do at the Race at 2.5 knots, it still pays handsomely to time your travels with the flow. Newport, being one of the places that we spent some time on our last New England visit, we only wanted to pay a short visit to collect a bit of tourist information for a visit with Joyce's parents later in the week. To our disappointment Long Wharf Marina, where we stayed before, is no more. During our last visit, the city was trying to kick Long Wharf Marina out of their prime location right in the heart of the city. So it appears they finally succeeded.

Newport is a great place to bum around. Aside from great sailing in clear cool water, other attractions, especially for us sailors, include the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS), dedicated to preserving America's wooden nautical treasures, The Armchair Sailor (the most complete nautical bookstore anywhere), the museum of yachting and just the infinite variety of boats in and around the harbor. At the IYRS we viewed several interesting yachts slated for restoration. One was the Coronet, a 133-foot, gaff-rigged, wooden schooner which will be restored to her former glory. She is the oldest surviving grand American yacht, built in 1855. In her prime, Coronet had white pine decks, teak stanchions, a marble staircase, brass lamps, hand-carved mahogany panels, and even a piano lounge. Coronet made history for becoming the first registered yacht to round Cape Horn, rounding it 4 times between 1887 and 1908, and has circumnavigated the globe twice.

Other features of Newport that we like are the many terrific restaurants, quaint side streets, and the Cliff Walk, where you can view the ocean on one side and the mansions of the gilded age on the other. The Breakers is the grandest of the Newport houses and a National Historic Landmark. The Breakers was built in 1893 as a summer retreat for Cornelius Vanderbilt II. The 70-room Italian Renaissance style house is outfitted with fine marbles, semi-precious stones, and baths with hot and cold running fresh and salt water. Two of its rooms were made to order in Paris and shipped to Newport for reassembly. Okay, enough of the tourist spiel on Newport.

The week has been one for us to slow way down and catch our breath. The scale of Narragansett Bay permits this entirely. For example from Newport to Wickford, our next port of call, was ten miles. Then to East Greenwich, pronounced "Green-witch", was eleven miles. I know, real tough days. And the weather has been beautiful, warm sunny days and clear cool nights, a little like fall in the Chesapeake.

As East Greenwich was our rendezvous point with Joyce's parents who decided to make an anniversary trip to visit us, we arrived a day early on Thursday to give the town a once over and to find a good place to park it for the few days that they would be around. Turns out that Greenwich Cove is the first place that we've been up North that has any resemblance to the fine protected anchorages of the Chesapeake; with high tree-covered hills on either side, and soft mud banks should our anchor decide not to hold. While chocked full of moored boats, we were able to find just enough room at the head of the cove in 6 feet of water to drop the hook. So when the cold front moved through bringing thunderstorms and high winds, we really felt quite secure where we were.

We had a pleasant, although busy visit with Joyce's parents. We traveled, but not by our boat, to both Newport and to Block Island for full days of playing tourists. Having a car afforded the luxury of going much further afield then by our usual mode of travel (hoofing it), and re provisioning at the more affordable supermarkets as opposed to the usually small grocery stores in town. I suppose at one time areas along the waterfront were the focal points for the community. This was where the boats arrived bringing in mail, supplies, goods and people, similar to the train depots in areas away from water. But now, it appears that the highway interchanges have taken over as the focal points as this is were most of the stores, restaurants, laundry facilities, etc. are now found. It reinforces what a commuter society we've become, but is it really progress?

As crabbing is to the Chesapeake, quahogging is to the Narragansett. The local waterman rake quahogs, which are basically various sizes of hard shelled clams, from the sand and mud bottoms. Most of the boats used for quahogging resemble the one pictured docked near our anchorage. The tiny aft pilot house is too small to stand without opening up the hatch on the top. We'd see the boats buzzing back, drivers in the cabin, with their heads poking out of the top, reminiscent of the James Bond Movie with the character Jaws who had to drive with his head out the sunroof because he was too tall to do otherwise.

For us, it's onto other places in the Narragansett Bay including the highly touted Prudence Island and then perhaps Bristol, home of many famous yacht builders. All with the hope that the weather cools down sufficiently for us to return to the Chesapeake early in September. As we're now approaching the peak of the hurricane season, we are keeping a wary eye on any tropical development. Seems that everywhere we go, we see high water plaques for the hurricane of 1938 that wiped out much of the Rhode Island, Connecticut and Long Island coastal areas. All of the major hurricanes to hit this area occurred in August and September. Another reason for liking the Chesapeake as hurricanes in that area are rare and hurricane holes are plentiful.

Kitty update: The kitties have enjoyed the slower pace and the cooler weather. They've been able to enjoy hours of uninterrupted sleep with us being gone for most of the day. Hopefully they'll rest up before the long days heading south.