Emily, Reinhart, and I spent our first morning in Newport bringing Maia to a dock to clear immigration back into the US. I’m pretty sure the officer could have cleared us over the phone and wouldn’t have bothered coming down from Providence, but it was a particularly gorgeous day and she must have been looking for any excuse to get out of that office. We brought Maia back to our primo spot (i.e. wifi signal) in the anchorage and spent the rest of the day touring the Newport waterfront, which was absolutely teaming with tourists…in a good way. Kris arrived via taxi at the Ann Street Pier on Thursday night with a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon in hand and a raging thunderstorm threatening overhead. He and Reinhart managed to make it back completely dry as the thunderstorm passed just offshore.
Friday was also particularly gorgeous (maybe this is typical Newport weather) and the four of us hit the Cliff Walk trail in Newport, which winds along the ocean side of the Newport turn-of-the-century Mansions. The views of both the ocean and the legendary summer homes were stunning. As is appropriate on the first full day of summer, we were doused by a summer rain while walking on the street side of the mansions; which wasn’t too much of a nuisance since the rain falling on the canopy of huge alley oaks and high stone walls with decorative iron gates was a delightful scene. We tearfully dropped Emily off at the Marriot to catch a shuttle to the airport in Providence on Saturday. She stayed the longest time of any of our guests yet, 12 days, but it seemed like a much shorter period of time. We were thrilled she was with us for our passage from Bermuda to Newport and hope she can come along again.
Saturday evening we were sitting in the cockpit discussing what to do with our evening in the hopping town of Newport, when we were surprised by the approach of a dinghy with two smiling faces. It was our friend Michael of Splendido who we spent time with in the islands. I had just been fretting that we hadn’t contacted him yet to fill him in on where we are and what our plans are, but he said it was easy enough to check the blog and use the coordinates. We really had intended the coordinates for folks to find us with google earth but it’s a hundred times better when someone finds us with their dinghy. Michael and Daniel came aboard and Kris whipped up the first (and second) batch of his new blackberry martini, dubbed Maia. Michael and Daniel then invited us over for dinner and copious amounts of wine and we discussed Splendido’s introduction into the charter business. Michael will spend this summer taking customers to Newport, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, etc. aboard his elegant 57’ Beneteau. Please check out his website at www.splendido57.com.
The next morning Splendido was off to Cuttyhunk and the three of us hit Newport on bikes. We biked around Ocean Avenue and had cocktails on the blustery Castle Hill Inn lawn while watching the daysails and the backstage action of the airshow taking place further up the Narragansett. The day was gone before we knew it, and we prepared the boat for a Monday sail. Monday we were off to Martha’ Vineyard and had a good reach all the way to our anchorage, Lake Tashmoo (N41 27.37 W70 37.50).
Lake Tashmoo is a peaceful anchorage about a mile walk from the quaint tourist town of Vineyard Haven. The water is shallow and warm and much better for swimming than the typical New England waters. We visited the Library and charming shops of Vineyard Haven on Tuesday and found out from the local bike shop where we should spend our evening. We were back at the Vineyard Haven bus stop at 8pm to catch a ride to the whimsical town of Oak Bluffs for lobster dinner at a waterfront joint called Coop deVille. We followed dinner up by listening to a fantastic band and playing pool at a local bar and ended the evening hopping on the wrong bus with a stalker for Kris in tow; luckily, the bus driver pointed us all in the right direction and dropped us off at the correct bus. We liked Oak Bluffs so much that we rode our bikes there on Wednesday, and then on a little further south to stately Edgartown to watch the wacky 3-car wooden ferries cross to Chappaquiddick. The next day we biked the country roads of the rest of the island, enchanted by the low stone fenced farms and hilly scenery, ending up at the multicolored cliffs on the western tip called Gay Head.
We reluctantly said goodbye to Martha’s Vineyard on Friday and set sail for Nantucket. We are currently anchored in the harbor at N41 17.0 W70 05.0 and will fill you in on our exploits and post some of Kris’ great pictures in the next few days!
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