Spruce! Spruce! This is Clementine! Not heard over the radio but from behind us as we wandered along the street in Newport. A chance meeting with Australian friends Stuart, Kylie and daughter Sam; last seen in Barbados and at Christmas 2009 when they headed off for Bequia and us for Tobago. With their boat left further south they are undertaking a land based tour around the US and Canada in an RV, pretty much like a boat, it just doesn't float. We were amazed that Sam, now all grown up at age six, remembered us and the sandcastles we once built on a beach in the Canary Islands. A chance in a million encounter amongst folk in the cruising community.
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A nip in the evening air and no doubt that summer has drawn to an end and autumn is coming. Not enough of a chill to turn the New England trees a golden brown but a few early starters are to be seen. As we are here now until mid October maybe we will get to see the full colours of a New England Fall.
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17/Sep/2010, Newport - Rhode Island
Provincetown to the Cape Cod Canal began with a promising 20 knots breeze from astern. A poled out genoa and single reefed mainsail was giving a pleasant 7 knots of speed until.... as per normal in these latitudes changeability. Spruce entered the canal under engine with the erstwhile breeze a paltry shadow of its former self. A fast passage through to Onset hurried by the swift ebb current through to Buzzards Sound.
A brief stop at anchor and a dawn departure for the Newport area brought us out of the strong tides and along the coast of Massachusetts to Rhode Island. A initial stop at Dutch Harbour on the opposite side of Dutch Island to Jamestown and a chance to meet friends Bert & Marlene aboard Heimkehr; last seen in Bequia (Grenadines) in February. A lovely opportunity to share stories and experiences of our different routes to this spot.
Yesterday we brought Spruce round to anchor off Newport itself. Another reunion. This time with Catacaos who we were in Nova Scotia and Maine with up until 3-weeks ago. Also here are John & Caroline with their new catamaran, Discovery Magic, last seen in Bermuda 3 months ago. They'll be heading to Annapolis for the autumn boatshow there soon. Newport seems to be quite a gathering point for cruising yachts as they prepare to move south ahead of the winter weather.
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11/Sep/2010, Provincetown - Cape Cod
Today we are at the spot where the Mayflower first put in to shore after some 2 months at sea, crossing the Atlantic, to arrive on 21st November 1620. Today some 200 brave souls leapt into the sea on a fund raising sponsored swim from Long Point (the hooked bit) across to the town. A fleet of canoes and rescue boats ensured nobody succumbed to the cold waters, but surely much warmer than that November nearly 400 years ago. Us Europeans, caressed by the balmy Gulf Stream, forget just how cold it can be over here at the latitude of Spain;so easily forgotten how much kinder the climate is due to the warmth emanating from the Caribbean back in Europe. After all, in the summer one can sail to Svalabard and be in liquid ocean only 600 miles from the pole.
Much warmer ashore and a holiday atmosphere. Large crowds joining the fund raiser and enjoying the last of the summer warmth. A Classic car parade by local people and a generally relaxed ambience; tempered by flags at half mast in rememberence of the tragic events in New York of nine-years ago.
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... and Michael one of the canoeists acing as guide and rescue boat for the swimmers. This event has been going for 20 years and Michael, an Australian, has lived here for 25 years.
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... various monuments to the Pilgrim Fathers are scattered around the town. Particularly the large square shaped tower (see earlier photo) and this plaque. The Pilgrim Fathers stayed for a short while on the cape while scouting craft explored the area; they finally settled in Plymouth across the bay. The Thanksgiving Celebration held in late November is in memory of their first anniversary surviving as a colony. This was with assistance from the native population and at cost of the lives of almost half of those early settlers.
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