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| Newport Harbor |
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| Newport Harbor |
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| Mast so tall it almost touches the clouds |
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| Cliff Walk |
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| Mansions on Cliff Walk |
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| Cliff Walk |
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| Cliff Walk |
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| Mansions on Cliff Walk |
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| An Irish Pub and Atletic Club offers a wedding package for real. They do a few a month. |
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| A real boating town, all free and they have a floating pier in the middle of the harbor where you can get water for free. |
Newport RI is where the real sailors sail, 50, 60 foot yachts "sailing" through a very crowded mooring field and not hitting anything.
June 20th we departed Newport RI east to the Elizabeth Islands, a chain of islands 20 miles east of the mainland. Our first stop was Cuttyhunk, a very laid back small island for vacationers. Not much to do but to stop by the raw bar shack, purchase some fish for dinner and head back to the boat.....The Rawbar shack will come around and deliver shucked oysters if you choose....We took ours back to the boat since Cuttyhunk is a dry town and we had to have a beer with our oysters.
June 22nd- We traveled north along the Elizabeth Islands and landed in Hadley Harbor, Naushon. This is near an area called Woods Hole, a small town where The Marine Biology Institute takes up several blocks of the town. We were hoping to pick up some groceries but they were only open Wednesday-Sunday due to the lack of hired help. We saw help wanted signs throughout New England. While at Hadley Harbor we were able to pick up a free mooring ball, some communities offer them, they typically can cost between 25-80 dollars per night depending on location. While moored in Hadley Harbor we did catch up with some friends from Harborview in Baltimore.....enjoyed some paddle boarding and kayaking.....the islands are private but you can catch some shoaled sandy areas at low tide.....Hadley Harbor is a great protected spot to be, protected from and wind, waves and current.
June 24th- Off to Martha's Vineyard we go....another 20 miles farther east....Martha's Vineyard basically has 3 ports....Vineyard Haven, Oak's Bluffs and Edgartown.....we choose Edgartown on the southeast side of the island. Well it's a busy town full of shopping, bars and restaurants......The homes are beautiful and the flowers in NewEngland are incredible brilliant. I believe its the warm sun and cooler temperatures. The barkeep in a local pub told us they call Martha's Vineyard the million dollar island and Nantucket the billion dollar island.......so, off we go to Nantucket
June 26th- Nantucket.......yachts...yachts....and more yachts.....money doesn't whisper, it screams......Nantucket has one town......a very large harbor.....the majority of boats in these islands are on moorings......with the large change in tides, picking up a mooring ball is easier....we dinghy to shore or they offer a launch service as well. We had high winds when in Nantucket so sight seeing by dinghy was NOT ideal....but we sure did a lot of walking around town admiring the beautiful victorian homes.
June 28th - We departed Nantucket and traveled back to Hadley Harbor for 3 nights...We did face some crazy currents and confusing channel markers with some nearby rocks which gave us some unwanted excitement but we figured it out.......We did some chores...repainted some white trim and revarnished the aft rail.....The weather was perfect ....sunny, 75 degrees and no humidity. I've enjoyed the weather immensely along with an occasional swim. Skip would prefer at least 80 degrees. Hadley Harbor is the only area when we're not spending $$$$$....Abby also gets a treat to run the shallow shoals at low tide.
July 1st....wow...hard to believe we've been cruising for 5 weeks.....We departed Hadley Harbor, travelled north up Buzzards Bay to the Cap Cod Canal.....A seven mile very wide canal, beautiful trip and out to the east side of Massachusetts to Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic. I even saw a seal pop his head upend look around. No whales yet.......We had a glorious warm and calm day on the ocean and settled in Scituate Harbor just south of Boston. The only fireworks display is in Boston.....the small towns cannot have displays since its against the law....Certainly different than the Baltimore area.
Today, off to town for groceries and laundry. This harbor does make a great stop for cruisers....hardware, laundry, groceries and a pedicure just 1 block from the dock......
