[cthoops]

We are getting very excited about our upcoming two-week cruise. Five weeks and two days to go, but who's counting?

This is our second year with the boat (third year sailing) and last year we went to Block Island and back. This year we're feeling a bit more ambitious, so I thought I would lay out our itinerary and ask for tips or helpful suggestions.

Mr. Cthoops works on Saturdays so we're heading out on a Sunday. The tentative plan at this point is:

Sunday: Groton to Block Island
Monday: Block
Tuesday: Block
Wednesday: Block to Dutch Harbor
Thursday: Dutch Harbor
Friday: Dutch Harbor to Wickford
Saturday: Wickford to Bristol
Sunday: Bristol
Monday: Bristol to Battleship Cove
Tuesday: Battleship Cove to Newport
Wednesday: Newport
Thursday: Newport
Friday: Newport to Block
Saturday: Block to Stonington
Sunday: Stonington to Groton

A few notes: We aren't wedded to any of these things, and can easily cut something out if the weather dictates a change or we just feel like hanging out a bit more. I was thinking of going from Newport straight to Stonington, but Mr. cthoops would prefer to go back via Block for more favorable prevailing winds and also not to have a sunrise-to-sunset marathon sail at the end of vacation. Newport to Stonington is approx. 33 nm and our much-loved sailboat isn't exactly speedy - even less so when she's towing a dink - so I see his point. Finally, we don't have an overnight anchor (it's on the list of off-season purchases) so we're sticking to moorings on this trip. Next year we'll be able to overnight at various anchorages.

Too ambitious? Too much? Any off-the-beaten path suggestions of things to do in Newport (which we've been to numerous times)? Restaurant suggestions or must-see for any of these places?

Any info from those who have done it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Minnewaska]

Sounds like a great trip. Here's some restaurant suggestions......

Block Island. Love Eli's. It's a small place on a side street off the main drag in Old Harbor. Naturally, you'll go to the Oar, I think it against the law of nature not to.

Bristol. For Italian go to Robertos, excellent!! German to Redlefsons, very good but only a few actual German dishes. Pub casual, then Aidens is a must!!

Dutch Harbor. As I said in your other post, walk the one mile over to Jamestown. Try the new Simpaticos. Great atmosphere. Fish's is over the top, expensive but good, more formal, if that's your speed. Spinnakers ice cream shop is a must! There is also a taco stand at the Dutch Harbor marina. It's beyond belief good, even breakfast burritos.

 

[Minnewaska]

I'm not going to get preachy, but you really should have reliable overnight ground tackle for a trip like this. Sept is a much slower time of year, so you should find moorings, but what if you don't. The pressure to arrive early to be sure I got a mooring would take the buzz off sailing for me. Many of the places you're intending to visit have very good anchorages (Block, Dutch, Bristol for example)

 

[chef2sail]

Sounds like a great trip. Here's some restaurant suggestions......

Block Island. Love Eli's. It's a small place on a side street off the main drag in Old Harbor. Naturally, you'll go to the Oar, I think it against the law of nature not to.

Bristol. For Italian go to Robertos, excellent!! German to Redlefsons, very good but only a few actual German dishes. Pub casual, then Aidens is a must!!

Dutch Harbor. As I said in your other post, walk the one mile over to Jamestown. Try the new Simpaticos. Great atmosphere. Fish's is over the top, expensive but good, more formal, if that's your speed. Spinnakers ice cream shop is a must! There is also a taco stand at the Dutch Harbor marina. It's beyond belief good, even breakfast burritos.

agree with Minnies assement of Eli on Block along with Aldos gelatos...best I have ever had

Robertos i Bristol is good also.

I will be up on Naragansset Bay the weeek after you will be there and also Stonington. We leave the Chesapeake for there on August 14

 

[billsull]

Looks like a great itinerary - a lot of nice short hops. I should do the same on my next trip!

Finally, we don't have an overnight anchor (it's on the list of off-season purchases) so we're sticking to moorings on this trip.

I agree with Minne regarding the anchor situation. You're welcome to borrow my little CQR from my B24 (15#) or my slightly bigger CQR (20#) from the Seawind if you'd like to carry a little peace of mind with you on the trip. What the heck, you can have the 44# Manson if you really want to sleep at night!

Just send me a PM if you're interested. I'm just down I-95 from you in Old Saybrook.

 

[cthoops]

Thanks everyone for the restaurant suggestions.

As for the anchor, we are now rethinking our plans to hold off on buying an overnight anchor until the offseason. I have to admit, in researching the trip some of the descriptions of the anchorages had made me wonder if we might be missing out, and it would be good to have for the peace of mind.

Billsull, that is such a kind offer - yet another example of how I love the sailing community - but I think we may just bite the bullet and head over to Defender tomorrow morning instead.

 

[jimrafford]

You are missing out.
If you had an over night anchor you could anchor in the inner harbor at Pt Judith instead of sailing up wind all the way back to block. Not talking about the harbor of refuge at the entrance. Way up inside. Beautiful spot. Not well known because most chart books don't show it. The anchorage is in front of Johnathan Island. It's a bit of a motor up to the anchorage but it's very protected and quiet. We stop there instead of block on every trip to Cutty.
Jim

 

[cthoops]

You are missing out.
If you had an over night anchor you could anchor in the inner harbor at Pt Judith instead of sailing up wind all the way back to block. Not talking about the harbor of refuge at the entrance. Way up inside. Beautiful spot. Not well known because most chart books don't show it. The anchorage is in front of Johnathan Island. It's a bit of a motor up to the anchorage but it's very protected and quiet. We stop there instead of block on every trip to Cutty.
Jim

Jim,

It crossed my mind yesterday that with an overnight anchor we could stop at Pt. Judith instead of heading back to Block. Thanks for the tip on the inner harbor. It sounds much nicer than the harbor of refuge.

 

[eherlihy]

If it were me (and it is not), rather than visit Battle Ship Cove, I would head down the Sakonnet to either Fogland, or Third Beach. You could stop at the Boat House restaurant in Tiverton along the way. I have only visited Fall River by land, but I don't find the industrial waterfront appealing.

 

[jimrafford]

The inner harbor is an undiscovered gem. All every one sees is the commercial docks and the outer anchorage. BTW a very close friend owns Johnathan Island and has archers Oyster beds around it.
If you like war ships and haven't been there, Battle ship cove is incredible. They have a large PT boat exhibit, sub, cruiser and the Battle ship Mass. You won't believe how much teak is on the deck! It's 6" thick IIRC. When we went ya few years back there was a restaurant w/ docks right there. The dockage was free if you ate at the restaurant. Not sure if it's still there.
The Hershoff museum in Bristol is another must see.
Jim

 

[Minnewaska]

If it were me (and it is not), rather than visit Battle Ship Cove, I would head down the Sakonnet to either Fogland, or Third Beach. You could stop at the Boat House restaurant in Tiverton along the way. I have only visited Fall River by land, but I don't find the industrial waterfront appealing.

This is a good recommendation, just be sure you can get under the new 24/138 bridge.

Third beach is often rolly, but you can dinghy into the beach, if you like that sort of thing. Love Fogland! Peaceful, huge anchorage, no moorings, no marina, beautiful. No where to go ashore, so good place to plan to BBQ.

Glad to hear the OP is buying overnight ground tackle. Opens so many more options and bailouts. Highly recommend a new-gen: Rocna, Manson Supreme or Mantus. You'll never buy another, I'm sure.

 

[eherlihy]

This is a good recommendation, just be sure you can get under the new 24/138 bridge.

65' vertical clearance should not be a problem for a 24' Bristol.

Interesting about the inner harbor in Fall River. I have not seen it, but now will make the effort to check it out.

 

[fallard]

Jim,

It crossed my mind yesterday that with an overnight anchor we could stop at Pt. Judith instead of heading back to Block. Thanks for the tip on the inner harbor. It sounds much nicer than the harbor of refuge.

We've anchored overnight in 20 ft at the south end of the Harbor of Refuge at Pt Judith and had no problems. It is a convenient stop, depending on conditions, between Fishers Island Sound and Cuttyhunk. Just need to avoid the shallow area to the SW.

We have anchored in the Salt Pond as well, but it was a significant detour for just an overnight stop. You may get wakes from the fishing crowd in either location, BTW, particularly inside from the smaller boats leaving early in the morning.

Agree with others that Third Beach (on the north side of Sachuest Pt) is a great place in prevailing conditions.

 

[tatracy]

Tavern by the sea, as well as the Wickford diner are both good eats are not overly formal in Wickford. Depending on your time planned to stay In Wickford they have a very nice public transient dock.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cthoops]

These suggestions are all great - thank you everyone!

We stopped at Defender on the way to the boat yesterday to get a Danforth 12# hi-tensile anchor, chain, and line. We'd prefer a new gen but we don't have a way to keep it on the bow without adding a bow roller. Given our future plans for a bigger boat, a new gen didn't seem practical for our situation (right size for this boat = undersized for next boat and no desire to pony up for a new gen twice).

I'm looking forward to the new world that's going to open up for us now that we'll be able to anchor places overnight. But I'm also glad that we have a month to practice before we head out, given that we are anchoring novices.

 

[Minnewaska]

You bought a decent size danforth for your boat, but there are a couple of things you should keep in mind.

First, they can be tough to set in some conditions. The good new is, you'll find appropriate conditions for the danforth in several of the places you'll go. They are much better with a heavy chain. I'm going out on a limb and thinking you didn't buy all chain, but the first 20-30 feet off the anchor are important. It holds the shank down in low-moderate winds and provides chafe protection at the anchor connection.

Be sure to use proper technique. This is what we do. Add the distance from the top of your bow to the depth of the anchorage at high tide, not just when you arrive. You will ultimately want to let out 7 times this distance in rode. The more the merrier, if you have more and there is room to swing. When you get the boat stopped, bow into the wind, drop 2 times that measurement. Wait for the wind to blow you back and you see the bow begin to straitened back into the wind, as you likely have fallen off the wind while drifting. When the bow starts to come around, you know you've straightened the rode, so let another 2 times out. Again, wait for the bow to come around. With 4 times out now, you should be able to get a set by puting the engine in idle reverse. All you're doing at this stage is seeing if you can bury the flukes. If you seem to stop (check a fix spot on shore), put the engine back in neutral and continue the above procedure of dropping 2 times, until you get out all you want. By the way, you can tie threads into a three strand rode at whatever interval you like to know how much you've payed out. Once your 7x or more is out, put the engine in reverse at high rpms. You want to know you're not moving like this. If you are set, it's cocktail time. If not, it's do over time. If you have to start over, try to relocate a little bit, if you can, as conditions can vary greatly in short distances.

If you have a smartphone, get an anchor alarm. You should not bet your life or boat on one, but they can be extraordinary peace of mind. The good ones will show your location graphically and draw a persistence line of everywhere you swing. In any wind at all, you will swing side to side, which can make it harder to tell if you're dragging. The persistence line should show you drawing an arch that isn't moving backwards.

Finally, the bummer. A danforth has a really hard time resetting itself and not considered a great overnight hook. If there is a good wind that shifts 180 degrees, it will pull out and need to reset. Best to anchor with a danforth, when you don't expect the wind direction to change by more than 60 degs to either side or so. If you do expect more wind change, you can set an alarm and go up on deck. The easiest way to reset, if you have the room, is to fire up the motor, put her in idle reverse and hope she grabs. If she does, up the rpms to dig it in. If she doesn't, you have to pull it up and start over.

Enjoy the practice.

 

[cthoops]

Thank you for sharing your anchoring technique, Minnewaska. We will be committing that to memory. I had read that Danforths don't do well when the wind shifts, but I didn't know how much of a wind shift was a problem so I appreciate your take on it. Do you have any anchor alarm apps that you particularly like?

You are correct, we did not buy all chain. I wanted to get 50 feet but Mr. cthoops (aka the human windlass) balked, so we settled on 20 feet of high test chain and 225 feet of 8 plait rode. We're thinking that should suffice for our present purposes.

 

[Minnewaska]

I have an iPhone and iPad. If you're droid/etc, you'll need someone else to recommend. Just be sure to get one with a graphic persistence line. I particularly like Boat Monitor (running right now), but last I checked, you could no longer buy it in the US Apple store. Don't know why. I've also used Anchor Watch and liked it. I recently downloaded Boat Sentry, but haven't tested it yet.

Your road/chain combo is pretty good and having to haul by hand is a definite factor! Let me know if I can be of any further local help. Have a great trip!!

 

[chef2sail]

I have an iPhone and iPad. If you're droid/etc, you'll need someone else to recommend. Just be sure to get one with a graphic persistence line. I particularly like Boat Monitor (running right now), but last I checked, you could no longer buy it in the US Apple store. Don't know why. I've also used Anchor Watch and liked it. I recently downloaded Boat Sentry, but haven't tested it yet.

Your road/chain combo is pretty good and having to haul by hand is a definite factor! Let me know if I can be of any further local help. Have a great trip!!

Follow Minnies techniques and you will be fine. Remember the measurement times 7 is from your bow roller the bottom at high tide....not just the depth of the water.

Also in areas like yours with reversing currents it may be qdvantangous to have a kellet down the line as you dont have 50 ft of chain to help prevent the anchor rode from keel wrapping. Reversing currents will also mean you anchor will either turn 180 degrees or reset, so stay vigilant with that Danforth.

We use "Drag Queen" as the anchor ap

Dave

 

[T37Chef]

Hey, I have a 35# CQR like anchor that's yours if you pay shipping from Maryland.