Newport
10 September 2009 | Newport, RI
All day we were pointed into the winds on our way to Newport. Initially, we were only making 2 knots into the wind (we normally get 6-7 knots). Things changed dramatically as we put the sails out (reefed) and started tacking: we shot up to 8 knots. Even though Newport isn't so far from Block Island, our late start and tacking into the winds made for a late arrival. We got to our mooring on the north side of the Goat Island causeway bridge about 6pm.
Newport is a real sailing mecca. The harbor is full of moored sailboats. There were all sorts of little sailing dinghies cluttering up the harbor that we had to give way to since we were under power.
Newport is also the place I had helped Miles sail his Super Maramu, Ladybug, to. We had arranged to have dinner with him and his wife Lisa, where Dana and Mark (especially Mark) was able to ask all the questions that had been nagging him about the Northfork. Much was learned.
The next day, we enjoyed driving about Newport with Miles and Lisa. They gave us a great introduction to Newport and dropped us off near the harbor after lunch. We stayed another couple of days waiting for some navigation chips to arrive at the post office that we had bought several weeks before; they were being forwarded to us by Dana's mom. Since entering the Chesapeake several months before we had run out digital charts on the Northfork's plotters; we had been using Mark's laptop with an external GPS and Mark's iPhone for alot of our navigation. With the chips, we would be able to switch back to using the ship's navigation systems and just use the laptop for planning.
We spent a day at the Newport mansions. Mark enjoyed the Breaker's and Rosecliff mansions and then left Dana to go to 3 more of them while he ran some errands and went to a coffee shop.