Newport, RI

We left our favorite Cuttyhunk Island on a sunny blustery September 17.  We are now officially starting to head home from this season’s cruise. The wind was coming out of the north and autumn was definitely in the air.

We passed a beautifully restored 1920’s cruising boat, a Mathis-Trumpy yacht (not “that” Trump) as we left the harbor.  It was originally built for a daughter of Woolworth.

We decided to head for Westport, MA which had been recommended to us by Andy as a charming New England town.  It was only a two hour cruise so we thought we would check it out and decide if we wanted to stay there or go further.

We had read that the town had mooring balls in the harbor so we found one and tied up. We were amazed by the strength of the current and Jonny was a bit nervous about the mooring ball because it was secured by a line and not by chain. However, we boarded the dinghy and headed for what looked like a dinghy dock so we could explore the town.  We couldn’t find a proper town dock but we did see a number of empty docks that didn’t look like they were private. We tied up to one that was next to what looked like a restaurant that wasn’t open. As soon as we tied up, a woman came out yelling that we couldn’t dock there, it was private.  We asked her if she could tell us where we could dock and she said she didn’t know. When we pushed her about a nearby spot she said we couldn’t tie up there either. The only place she could tell us about was a marina that was much further away and in a place that we didn’t want to be. So we took off and cruised around to find another place. But although there were a lot of nearby docks they all seemed to be taken in that pickup trucks were parked next to the open spots.  Apparently the owners were out on their fishing boats.  We finally found a little place to tie up. Jonny went to talk to the harbormaster while Lynn went to throw away a bag of garbage. As Lynn tossed the bag into a trash can on the dock, the same woman ran out of her house again and started yelling to not use the garbage can. I answered that there was garbage in it and she said, that’s my husband’s - don’t use it! So out came the garbage bag. In the meantime, Jonny learned from the harbormaster that the mooring ball we were tied up to was only for residents and we should have called for permission.  (Most places we go allow you to take a mooring ball and then a boat comes to collect payment or the boater finds the harbormaster to pay him). Jonny asked if we could keep our dinghy there for an hour while we walked through town and then we would leave.  He replied, “Well, since you’re already here I guess it’s all right.”  We’ve never encountered such rude people in the many towns we’ve traveled to over the years!  

So we took a quick walk through the small village. It was very pretty with lots of historic markers on the homes and lovely gardens.  For the record, we did encounter one friendly woman who greeted us kindly.

We saw only one commercial establishment, this historic inn.

We headed back to Zendo and climbed aboard to continue our journey and find another place to stay for the night.  As we resumed our cruise, the wind continued to increase and we decided that the best place for us to go was Newport harbor. It’s a very safe and secure harbor and if the weather is too poor to travel the next day, we would be in an interesting place to explore.

We passed the famous “cottages” of the rich and famous lining the waterfront and entered that busy harbor. 

As always, it was filled with lots of beautiful boats, especially sailboats.

We found what we thought was a good open spot to drop our anchor and by 3:45 we were settled in.  Since it was getting colder and more unsettled we chose not to dinghy into town and just hunkered down for a cozy night.  The lights of the super yachts surrounding us were pretty spectacular!

Cuttyhunk Island,MA

We were excited about our upcoming port of call, Cuttyhunk Island!  We left our Port Judith anchorage on Tuesday, September 15 at 11 a.m. It was a beautiful sunny day but the temperature was starting to show signs of cooling with temperatures in the high 60’s. It was a pleasant cruise going through Narragansett Bay and getting into the western end of Buzzards Bay.

It took about 4 hours to get to Cuttyhunk and then another 45 minutes to go around the island to enter its very protected harbor.  There were not too many boats there, but it had an extensive mooring field.  We tied up to one of the mooring balls, the eyelet variety, which is a bit trickier, but all went well.

Cuttyhunk is part of the Elizabeth group of islands that are located just north of Martha’s Vineyard. Most of them are privately owned by the Forbes family. Cuttyhunk was the first English settlement in New England but only lasted 22 days!  The Cuttyhunk Fishing Club bought most of the island in 1863 and its members included Jay Gould and others like him. Their guests included Theodore Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland and William Taft.  Now the island is sparsely populated with only 52 full time residents.  It attracts boaters and fisherman to its lovely harbor. There are very few tourist accommodations - a couple of inns on the island, and a few homes available to rent scattered over an area  2.5 by 1.5 miles.

That night Jonny went for a paddle while Lynn prepared meatloaf for dinner. All of a sudden a boat pulled up with two young women selling raw oysters, clams and shrimp cocktail! So that took care of the appetizer course of our dinner - delicious shrimp cocktail.

On Wednesday, we packed a picnic lunch and took the dinghy in and tied up at the town dock.  The townspeople we met were very warm and friendly and very careful about Covid (as is almost everywhere we’ve been in New England).  No wonder they are doing so well in their recovery!

Our plan was to spend the day hiking around the island.  There are lots of trails that line  the waterfront and roam through the woods.  We took one trail up to the highest point of the island and had an incredible panoramic view.

Some of the trails took us up cliffs where we could see across to Gay Head, the sandy cliffs of Martha’s Vineyard.  Most of the “roads” were really just dirt paths and the only paved roads were in the tiny village area near the harbor.  The only vehicles we saw were a few golf carts and one pickup truck.

Scattered throughout the island are bunkers that were used during World War II by the U.S. Army. Two hundred fifty soldiers were stationed on Cuttyhunk to watch for German submarines!

The village center included lovely natural shingled homes and an inn with amazing stonework. 

A small market was only open to on-line orders while we were there.  The restaurant (in the owner’s yard), a small museum, the town hall and the school were all closed.  But at the town dock one can get a take-out breakfast and order lobster dinners to go, which of course we did!  That evening, the raw seafood boat came by again but we were clearly satiated with our lobster.  We are definitely taking advantage of our favorite New England seafood on this trip!

Point Judith, RI

Our visit to New London was drawing to a close. On Monday, September 14, Lynn finally joined Jonny on his long morning walk through New London.  As he loves to do, Jonny pointed out the landmarks of his youth as we walked through this small city of 25,000. The downtown has transitioned to be one of restaurants and galleries and a much more limited number of retail shops and businesses.  

New London has had its share of up and down economic cycles but it manages to continue to make improvements with new buildings and neighborhoods under renovation. We passed the site of his family’s jewelry business, Mallove’s, which has moved to the suburbs and many older more historic buildings.  And we saw another of Nathan Hale’s famous red schoolhouses.

We returned to Zendo in time to shove off at 10 for the four hour cruise to our next destination, Port Judith, RI. It was a lovely cruise along Long Island Sound.  The weather was clear and sunny in the 70’s with a touch of autumn in the air.  We passed many beautiful homes lining the waterfront.

As we entered the long inlet towards Point Judith we saw a lot of people sunning themselves on the beach (while we wore sweatshirts)!

We were planning to meet Jonny’s cousin David for a picnic dinner. He and his wife Bobbie have a summer home near the RI shore. Unfortunately Bobbie was unable to join us but we arranged to meet David at a nearby marina.  We cruised up the inlet towards the anchorage we had selected in Point Judith Pond.  We found a perfect spot in this large but protected area with only a couple of other boats at anchor. After reading and relaxing on board for a couple of hours, we took off on the dinghy to meet David.  

David met us with a delicious array of local “delicacies” including an order of the now famous Rhode Island calamari.  We found a picnic table at the marina and had a great time catching up with each other’s lives after not having seen each other for a few years.  Afterwards we dinghied back to Zendo using a flashlight to guide us on the 20 minute ride through the moonless night.