Hadley Harbor, Elizabeth Islands, Massachusetts

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Fri 13 Jul 2012 22:38

41:30.90N 70:42.06W

 

 

Tues, Wed, Thurs & Friday – 10th, 11th, 12th & 13th July

 

Tuesday morning, having said goodbye to Lady, we set off to New England Boatworks on Rhode Island as they had the cheapest prices to fill up with diesel, petrol and water.   As soon as we had finished fuelling up, the staff knocked off for lunch so we also took advantage of their showers for a swift wash under endless running water - what a luxury, justifying it by the fortune we had just spent on fuel.  

 

Then back to Dutch Harbor (American spelling actually) to re-anchor, this time to the west of the mooring field as we thought it might be a drier trip into the dock by dinghy.   Almost as soon as we had done so, a catamaran with all the rest of the bay to use chose from, anchored so close to us that we felt we couldn't leave Serafina until we were satisfied we wouldn't bump into each other.   Rob did mention this problem to the owner, apparently (as a shallow draft cat owner) he was worried about the depth.......    This anchorage is quite strange as the tide swirls as it reverses and  next door boats can be facing completely different ways. Extraordinary how people feel the need to anchor close to others when there is so much space around. Seems to be a standard problem out here.

 

Dave, Judy and her daughter, Jennifer came out for drinks and then we went to try out a newly re-opened Italian restaurant which sadly we could not award full marks to!

 

Wednesday we fiddled about on the boat and in the evening Craig took us all in to watch a very quirky film, Moonrise Kingdom, filmed locally starring Bill Murray, Bruce Willis and Frances McDormand in another old-fashioned cinema in Newport, followed by supper at a hugely busy Italian restaurant – well until 2100 hours when they all disappeared and we were again, the last out.

 

We caught the ferry to Newport on Wednesday morning ($38 for two for the return trip, so not as cheap as you might hope) captained by a very cheery Irishman and his effete assistant who talked me through all the possible shopping destinations!   We passed a fairy tale house called Clingstones (have a look at www.thedesignhome.com) built on rocks called the Dumplings on the way.

 

We then got the tourist bit  which was highly amusing, as we entered the harbour. Newport is known for the holiday cottages of the rich and famous, such as the Vanderbilts, around the turn of the 19th century – ‘cottages’ is a misnomer for vast edifices many in European architectural style.   One of these was owned by Stuart Duncan, a banker who imported Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and the chimneys are said to resemble to the sauce bottles.   Mrs Duncan was known for giving extravagant  parties, at one of which she presented each of her guests with a silver Tiffany spade and invited them to dig in a sandpit for treasure - and treasure indeed there was:  pearls, rubies and diamonds! 

 

Newport was formally colonised by William Blackstone and Roger Williams fleeing from the strict Puritans in Boston and Salem in the 1630s, and they were followed by other religious exiles such as Jews and Quakers.   It became rich during the 17th and 18th centuries a part of the unsavoury Triangle Trade (exchanging rum for slaves, who were sold for molasses in the West Indies to make more rum).   Nowadays Newport is a major world-wide sailing centre.   While we were in town we visited the International Yacht Restoration School where the fresh student intake start off rebuilding what seems to be an endless supply of lovely little shallow-hulled sailing dinghies, ‘Beetle Cats’ and then move on to huge projects, such as the 40m yacht, Coronet originally built with a marble tread staircase and a piano installed.   We did feel that possibly restoration was a slightly inaccurate description of what appears to be a wholly new hull taking place in the shed, surrounded by a gallery lined with all the old panelling, chairs and the original piano etc to be re-installed eventually.

 

After that we wandered around the town until Rob remembered that the American Najad agent is based there, so we managed to find his office and spent a happy half hour or so chatting to Alain Baines about the company and what is happening under its new owners, Nord West.   We took the ferry back in time for a quick grocery shop and then met up with my cousin and his wife, (Brooke and Wendy) together with Craig and Karene from Il Sogno for a final fish and chips at the Cafe.   This time the portions were so ridiculously large not one of us finished, but it was still delicious fish.

 

We bade goodbye to Il Sogno for a while and headed off for Buzzards Bay.   With insufficient wind we motor-sailed to Hadley Harbor which is a beautiful but small, almost totally enclosed bay on one of the Elizabeth islands and managed to squeeze into a gap between the only two other yachts there, having scouted around to look at the depths with the Echo Sounder and barely missed going aground.   The outer anchorage is a tiny area for deep keeled yachts.   We were then somewhat surprised at the amount of traffic passing in and out of what we could see was an inner bay.   We have finally surmised that there is something impressive tucked behind the hill which we can't see - and are too lazy to launch the dinghy for a better look, perhaps next time.....