Newport and all that jazz

Time certainly flies when you're having fun or not paying attention to the clock or calendar. But we left Block Island on Friday the 5th of August for the short journey over to Newport where we had a slip reserved in the Navy Marina. In addition to catching up on some boat chores we would be able to visit with some friends we hadn't seen in a while.

 

Castle Hill by the entrance to Narragansett Bay.

Downtown Newport from the water.

 
We couldn't get to the marina before noon so we didn't leave really early. As soon as we dropped the mooring ball it was snatched by one of the other boats standing by waiting for a mooring. There was little wind so we motored across Block Island Sound and stopped at Port Judith for fuel.  Then continuing on up the Narragansett to the Navy Marina and into our slip. One of the nice things about most of the military marinas is that everyone is very helpful. When we went into our slip we had about 8 folks turn out to help grab lines.

Friday was about the only time we had to relax of our time in Newport. We made a last minute decision to get a rental car for the weekend to do provisioning. So we spent most of Saturday running errands. One of the "to do" items was get one of our propane tanks refilled that had run out at Block Island. We have 2 tanks and I try to get the empty refilled as soon as possible so we always have gas in both tanks. The last time I got a tank filled was in Marathon in February.

Us with Stan.

Saturday night we spent with my college roommate Stan Greenwood who drove down from Boston to visit. We visited with him last summer when we were in New England. Sunday morning One of my son's former commanders, Kris Faught visited with us. We met him at my son Jeremy's promotion at Cherry Point back in the Spring. He's very interested in living aboard at some point so over breakfast we discussed the challenges and the opportunities of living aboard and cruising.

Monday our friends Ed and Diane O'Brien drove down from Massachusetts for the day. Their boat is in storage in Florida and the plan to get back to it in the Fall. We did sightseeing, had lunch at the Red Parrot and then sat on the lawn at the Castle Hill Inn and had drinks overlooking the Bay.

Us with our friends Ed & Diane.

View of the lawn at Castle Hill.

View of the Castle Hill Light.

When I originally made our slip reservation I made it for a Tuesday departure. However, in arranging our social bookings we found that we needed to stay over Tuesday. The manager of the Navy Marina told us we couldn't stay because he had other boats coming in. But, there were numerous empty slips but he simply said he had a boat coming in. So we left the marina Tuesday and went to the downtown anchorage and anchored.

View of the NY Yacht Club.

View from our slip in the anchorage.

Tuesday evening we met up with Greg and Sharon from an IP 45 Dream Catcher who we spent time with at Vero Beach and in Marathon. We sort of started with a happy hour at the Moorings, then had appetizers at the Revolving Door and finally entrees at the Lobster Shack.

Sunset of our last night in Newport taken from the Lobster Shack.

So our visit to Newport ended after spending lots of quality time with friends.  It's easy to see why people like Newport. There's always so much going on boaters and dirt dwellers alike. Good thing we missed the Jazz Festival.

Wednesday we had an early departure for our next destination.

Fort Adams as we left.