Time flies.…it has been two weeks since we arrived in Newport…where has the time gone? We did some exploring around the Newport area including the 4th July in Bristol. We did the 5km cliff walk that takes you in front of all the massive estates at that are perched on the water’s edge overlooking the ocean. Some are impressive…some are just gaudy. We did a lot of socialising with sundowners on a different yacht most nights. Aura hosted about 12 people one evening that included both old and new friends. We worked on our plans for exploring the New England coast, Long Island sound and New York (thank you Cindy & Neil). We also worked on our recently replenished wine stocks (big thanks to Ken for helping out when we ran out!).

Newport Sundowners

Newport Sun Rise

We treated ourselves to lunch at the New York Yacht Club that has an impressive club house in Newport. The club is grand building on the hill that overlooks Newport harbour. We enjoyed a casual lunch of lobster rolls and wine with Tourterelle (Ian and Ann) and Ocean Blue (Leslie and Derek). The day was picture perfect with not a cloud in the sky. Perfect for enjoying the incredible view over Newport and walking through the gardens.

It was time to leave Newport and explore some of the anchorages on the Elizabeth Islands. We had booked Aura in for some maintenance work in Marion the following week so had a few days to do some exploring with the first stop Cuttyhunk.

We decided on a 6am start…keeping in mind that the sun rises at 5am. What started as light fog turned into rain with very little visibility. It was cold…Kim in her musto and socks and Si wearing his beanie. I’m sure our friends in Grenada and BVIs are enjoying a warm summer in the Caribbean. We’ll acclimatise soon enough and on that note, swimming in these waters for us is a brief experience.

We made it safely to Cuttyhunk outer harbour and anchored in 3.5m of water. The inner harbour is a marina and mooring ball/buoy field. Fortunately the fog lifted by the time we arrived but was back again by late afternoon. We had a lovely fish curry on Tourterelle and the fog gave the harbour a very eerie feeling. The next morning water droplets dripped from our insect mesh dripped onto our bed. It wasn’t raining, just an excess of moisture in the air. That morning we heard (Channel 16) of two incidents with yachts colliding with fishing boats.

We eventually braved the fog and took the dingy to town for a walk around the village…not that we could see much. We still had a pleasant walk up the hill and then across to a rugged beach. The fog lifted soon after lunch. On our way back to Aura we stopped by Ocean Blue who told us of an anchorage near Woods Hole, the aerial photos looked gorgeous. We picked up the anchor at around 3.30pm in light wind and set sail (with the motor running) for Hadley’s Harbour.

Cuttyhunk

Hadley Harbour is special as it is a natural harbour with incredible beauty. On arrival we anchored in the outer harbour but the following morning we ventured into the inner harbour and dropped the anchor south of Bull Island. The entrance to the outer harbour is protected by a reef and the inner harbour is flushed clean with a smaller entrance that is protected by a dog leg. The morning was gorgeous…even ventured in for a swim and managed to stay in for longer than a few seconds. We took the dingy for a ride around the harbour only for the weather to quickly change to cold and rain. One minute I was in my bathers, the next I am in long sleeves and socks. We did host a sundowner with Ocean Blue (Derek and Leslie), White Ibis (Billy and Jade) and Perigee (David and Leslie). Si made expresso martinis and margaritas. These did help warm everyone up.

We enquired with the ferry man about taking a short 1.5nm trip across to the mainland village of Woods Hole but we were advised that the ferry is for private use only as they only service the local home owners. So that put an end to our plans for a visit to the town’s bakery and to access some free Wi-Fi.

Hadley Harbour

A new day and a new plan, well as we say each plan is written in the sand at low tide. We lift the anchor and motored towards Red Brook. Inside the inlet we found a comfortable 4m depth on the lee side of Bassetts Island. For us, the channel is not to be navigated at low tide. We entered on a rising tide and the same for the exit. Inside is a small anchorage and ½ a mile across the bay are two marinas with a large mooring field. We had read about a seafood barge/restaurant, it wasn’t what we expected so burgers and beer it was. On our return to Aura we were stopped by the Harbour Police as Helios, our dingy wasn’t registered. I made it clear that we were foreigners with a loud greeting “G’ Day”. They were understanding and kindly informed us that we needed to have life jackets (PFDs) in the dingy. We acknowledged his request and told them that we’d comply. A little over an hour later, we needed some extra Wi-Fi so I ventured back to shore, to send some documentation by fax to Customs. Oh yeah, on entry we didn’t receive our “Cruising Permit” from Customs and after multiple emails etc. we’ve trying the old fashion FAXing of documentation. Our friends have now being successful with this method so we’re also giving it ago.

Well on the return to Aura guess who gets stopped by the Harbour Police…again. I see the same officer and smile nicely. He asks “do you have a life jacket?” I reply “yes and I have my handheld VHF and a personal EPRIB!”. ”Great,” he says “it’s a no wake zone; it’s a 5 to 6 knot limit in these waters”. “OK, sorry about that”, I reply (yep I had some wake as I wasn’t on the plane and doing less than the speed limit). He goes onto saying it is about being an excuse for stopping the noisy jet skis. I think he just wanted to bail up the Aussie for another chat and make sure I’d complied with having a PFD. Anyway he smiled and replied “Stop breaking the law, this isn’t doing any good for Australian & USA relations” I smile and waved and I toddled even slower back to Aura. How popular am I?? On return we watch multiple other dinghy’s on the plane, motor launches in displacement mode creating a wake, that only a wakeboarder would enjoy ……not that it matter…the sun is shining and the chilly north wind has gone. Time for a quick swim ;- )

Passage to Red Brook

Floating Birds Nest !

Bassetts Island