April Adventure

[JeffM]

Very late departure Friday night for me and two of my boys: getting a boat out of storage, rigged for sailing, and then loaded for a weekend cruise is a lengthy business! Left the ramp at midnight and motored the few hundred yards to an anchorage in Battleship Cove. Anchored between the battleship Massachusetts and a raucous waterfront bar that kept us awake into the wee hours. (One a.m. bedtime is a clue that Mom is out of town for the weekend.) Aron (12) and Stephen (6) slept in the bunk on the port side of the cb, while I had the narrower starboard side to myself. My tarp roof helped keep us warm, but I still got cold feet in nighttime temperatures that dropped nearly into the 30s.

A late night led to late rising, and a late departure after oatmeal, warm cinnamon rolls and coffee. We steered Beatrice Ann southward under the Braga Bridge and out across Mount Hope Bay. Sakonnet Harbor, at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, beckoned; it is a nice little town and a gateway to the

[JeffM]

A few more photos.

[Norman Colter]

Thanks for the report Jeff, felt like I was right there with you. Great pics. Love the sunset.

Norm

[Tom Lathrop]

Guess what those boys will be telling their sons about.

[JeffM]

A few more. (Different paper camera I had to wait before developing.) All taken Sunday morning in Fogland Harbor.

[brian watkins]

An excellent article, with some very happy pictures. John, Susan, Titty and Roger would all approve, and I'm sure Nancy and Peggy would identify with pirates cove, even though you didn't have a war. I love seeing these kinds of stories. I think an editor could put together a good book filled with chapters like this on open-boat cruising. Something like "Sailing Small" (ed. Stan Grayson, published by Devereux), which focused on small yachts (17-25 feet). Between this group, all the Stephenson fans next door, the Oughtred forum, and the various Yahoo groups, there are a lot of good stories out there. Most of them are not the "I braved the North Atlantic in mid-Winter!" type, but the kind of inspirational weekends that remind us that adventure can usually be found right in our own backyards.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

[kmrmike]

Jeff, great trip and story. Being from So. Attleboro I vaguely remember some of the places you mention (been in Florida for some 24yr). I've often thought what it would be like sailing to Martha Vineyard or Nantucket one day....Maybe someday!!!....Thanks for the article..Mike

[rattus]

Great story, Jeff - the kind of adventure I wish I had more of with my kids!

Question: noticed the trolling motor on the stern. What speeds and life do you get out of that?

Mike

[JeffM]

Thanks, I agree: we ought to have a story collection! Mike, I have my eye on the Massachusetts islands, as a matter of fact. Before long I hope at least to weekend in the "Southeast Corner" (the coast between Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay), and I'm thinking of cruising farther afield as well. And Mike, the little 27lb thrust motor is borrowed and rather tired, getting me at best 3kt. But it came in very handy the first night when I hadn't the time or patience to sail to a nearby anchorage, and then getting me out of a tough spot coming in to the ramp on our return.