From the Newport, RI Boat Show
Thursday September 11, 2008
Before I get to the story about our journey north here are a few updates.
On the Construction Front:
Our main contractor Hardy Construction is preparing to move equipment back to Port Vandemere to start the final phase of construction and start on the grading of what will be our first home in Port Vandemere on lot 18. John Hardy and crew will be trimming the road and doing some hydro seeding.
The final construction plans for the clubhouse were finished last week and we were able to send those out for pricing. Hopefully I can announce the time table and contractor for this in the next update.
Journey to Newport
As you can take from the title, we made it to Newport, and all in one piece. Early Tuesday Morning almost two weeks ago now we went out the channel at Pecan Grove Marina, in front of the office, and headed north. And after waiting out TS Hanna in Portsmouth, VA, Sunday we sailed out the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay for our 3 day passage to Newport. Unfortunately that was the last bit of sailing we did for almost 60 hours, since a strong High settle in over us and produced calm winds and seas.
Wednesday morning, one fuel stop in Block Island and a wicked cold front later, we were happily bobbing on a mooring in Newport’s inner harbor.
Pictures of the Voyage:
The ‘Mobile Office’. During most of the ICW transit I was single handing while Bret kept the phone lines lit up.
We stopped one evening at Coinjock Marina just before heading up the Virginia Cut Canal. I have heard many things about this place but found it to be very pleasant and an easy in and out. It had a great little cafe and full bar, plus a pretty good bowl of Maryland crab soup for less than $5.
It was very busy on the last leg of the ICW, I like to call it ‘running the bridges’. With the right planning we hit all of them just about right and made it to Portsmouth about 4pm.
After TS Hanna passed us by we headed offshore into a ‘dead calm’. Even though there was a nice swell left over from Hanna and Ike much further south, the 5 to 8 foot waves were gentle and glassy.
Tuesday morning the on the VHF the NOAA forecast for a strong cold front to pass over us. There were warnings all along the NY and NJ shores for sever T-storms and strong winds. We stowed things,’ the laser printer’ and put away the office, took the sails down and waited. Waiting is always the worst part. We were almost to Montauk, NY when it finally hit us around 2pm, about 25 miles offshore but by that time it had lost much of its energy. We had only 25knts of wind and a lot of rain. I did manage to sail for a few hours!
The storm clouds were amazingly beautiful and somewhat unnerving. Although the storm had lost much of its punch the clouds were still trying produce havoc. A few times we saw waterspouts try to form and just a few hundred feet above the mast.
By mid afternoon the winds again decided to die, but the seas were big and sloppy. I was forced to cut on the motor again and burn some of our dwindling supply of fuel. We decided to make for Block Island that evening and refuel before heading to Newport.
We arrived about 10:00 pm and tied up to the fuel dock. Now I have made landfall in unfamiliar harbors at night, but I really try not to. This time I had to cross my fingers that the chart plotter was right and make a go of it. With no wind and an outgoing tide and the fuel gage pegged on empty plus a reassurance from the dock master that it was an easy channel we went for it. It wasn’t a walk in the park but I picked my way through the moored boats and safely tied to the fuel dock. Only the next morning did I see the utter mine field we had come through and on leaving the channel the rocks just outside the rather small channel markers. Lucy again, good chart plotter!
The next day we finally had a great sail arriving in Newport around lunch. For those of you from this part of the world I’d like to say how beautiful it really is. For someone used to sailing the uncrowded waters and gunkholes of the Carolinas, sailing into Newport was a real treat for us. So many boats, beautiful homes and landscapes! There is a buzz about the harbor and so much to do and see.
After catching the (almost) last available mooring in the inner harbor we set up our booth for the show.
Hope to see you at the Newport International Boat Show!
