... and a picture of the coopers workshop. Barrels were the orginal form of containerisation. All sorts of good scould be stored in standard sized casks which made stowage easy. The shape enabled easy movement by one or two sailors aboard ship.
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01/Oct/2010, Newport RI
22:30 local time and blowing a hooley! The winds blew from the South this afternoon, so much so the cruise liner anchored in the estuary dragged anchor (see photos below). Then a period of calm and into the evening the wind reversed direction and has blown at Force 7 gusting to 8 for a while. The remnants of a tropical storm passing by on itway north from the Caribbean.
Spruce is lying (bouncing about) to about 50 metres (160 feet) of chain with our 20 Kg (44lb) Spade anchor well dug into the mud and shell seabed. So far holding well.
The first photo shows her blown broadside on to the wind...
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.... and eventually she manages to turn head to wind behind Goat Island.
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Kinda feels like stalking, following the blog of perfect strangers for months (living the cruising life vicariously through others while I'm grounded ashore), and then seeing their boat anchored in Newport!
Who knows, in this funny ole' world, maybe someday our boats will end up anchored in the same harbor.
Fair winds
01/Oct/2010, Newport RI
Although a bit frustrating to have a longer wait here than planned it is nice to have time to chill-out after 3 months of being on the move for most days. One thing we are trying to do is process some of our camcorder material. Here is a short clip from our time in Bermuda about 3 months ago.
The photo shows some of the super-yachts ahore being made ready here at Newport for the Caribbean winter season. One of them is the J-Class vessel Hanuman which we last saw in Antigua during Classic Week in April.
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28/Sep/2010, Newport RI - USA
Spruce and the Sprucettes will shortly return to Blighty. Our summer cruise from the Caribbean to the North Eastern US Seaboard and Canada will soon draw to a close. Original intentions to return to the Caribbean via the Bahamas after a summer in more Northern shores have been modified in favour of longer term cruising plans.
The past sixteen months, interspersed with the odd flight back to the UK, has been a fantastic experience: so enjoyable we just want to carry on with the cruising lifestyle. Before heading off to the Pacific Ocean we have decided to change for a boat with a bit more space. Our adventures of the last year have revealed additional items of equipment we wish to embark and that means more stowage capacity: not least scuba gear after our good fortune to try out the sport in the Caribbean with friend "Welly", a British Sub-Aqua Instructor.
Spruce has done us proud. Our little green boat has brought us safely through gales and calms and across the Atlantic Ocean. She has performed stoutly through thick and thin and shown us the benefits of thorough preparation before departure: fewer maintenance issues than some and sufficient spares, consumables and tools to deal with the minor inconveniences that inevitably crop up when putting a vessel through its paces day after day. The learning gained has been invaluable; all relevant for cruising further afield and living for longer periods independent from shore based support. Our experience has dramatically increased with an additional 10,000 miles logged, upping our mileage over the past 30-years by some 50%. Sailing in temperate latitudes has been extended to cover both sides of the North Atlantic; with the tropics added to highlight the importance of water supply, ventilation and awnings.
Our passage to the UK has now been booked aboard a Sevenstar ship; the MV Snoekgracht due to call at Newport for loading on about the 10th October. We will be craned aboard to take passage with Spruce back to Southampton: just 20 miles along the coast from our home port. We are both quite excited at an opportunity to witness how a commercial freighter operates and gain a different perspective; seeing how professional seamen live their lives will be an interesting contrast to the more leisurely past year spent with the cruising community.
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26/Sep/2010, Newport - Rhode Island - USA
A chance meeting and a super treat while ashore and strolling along looking for the route to the cliff path; we asked a passing couple for directions and they took us for a tour. Mark and Ann generously invited us back to their home and then introduced us to their open-top VW Beetle: a completely unexpected delight to drive past enormous mansions of Newport as Mark and Ann gave enlightening commentary. Names such as Vanderbilt, Eisenhower and Kennedy featured prominently in a "Who's-Who" of American history. Most enjoyable to whiz round the ocean coast with the wind in our hair and the autumn sun bathing us in a warm glow.
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