It is all go here.....

Serafina
Rob & Sarah Bell
Mon 2 Jul 2012 00:42

Thurs, Fri, Sat & Sun – 28th, 29th, 30th June & 1st July.

 

Thursday was to be our first adventure:  joining a friend, Joe of Craig's near Newport and going on his boat to watch some of the America's Cup sailing - the last day involving all the boats before the semi-finals.   So we set off from his marina but after a mile of so there was interesting coughing from the engine and then nothing.   We were adrift in the middle of the channel and no wind.

 

So the men swiftly started burying their heads in the engine, Craig and Rob doing a nifty job on changing the fuel filters;  and then they tried to bleed the fuel pipe which involved Craig crawling down into the cockpit locker (very full) and under the floor.   Subsequently we have discovered he has done a large amount of pot-holing so I now have less sympathy for him, but it certainly wasn't a space I would have squeezed into!

 

It becomes very apparent that we have actually run out of diesel much to poor Joe's mortification!   So Joe rings Tow Boat US (a marine run insurance for disabled boats of all types in all sorts of predicaments) and we settle down to our picnic, still drifting on the tide.   A very nice rib turns up and tows us back to the marina where we refill and get the engine going again, but it is really too late to get back down to the race course.

 

And this was the day that Team New Zealand capsized dramatically and took another hour to be righted - what a sight to miss!   So we consoled ourselves with a very nice sushi dinner - Rob's first experience of raw fish, and delectable he found it too.

 

On Friday Craig had checked out the headland opposite Newport, Fort Wetherill on Conanicut Island, as a possible viewing point.   As we expected that everyone else would have the same idea we got there for 1030 hours (racing started at 1400 hours), but as it had been drizzly all morning there weren't too many people to begin with - and they had all brought their own chairs so we were lucky enough to claim the only very smart fixed bench there.   So we sat there getting hotter and hotter in no wind, watching a very ambitious man (with the help of Craig's bit of rope) erect a very unstable tarpaulin as a sun shade on the top of the little hill beside us - the very best spot, but Karene also suspected it would be full of ticks when we checked it out - while his wife totally ignored him and prepared her serious photographic equipment.   Unbelievably, despite good gusty winds by the end of the afternoon this thing did not take off or maim anyone.   There was also another character who, just as the race boats appeared on the course, decided to fly a large free-form kite - and he then raised a small camera up the string to take aerial photos of the fleet.   In fact the people ‘watching’ was almost as good as the sailing, especially the 70 year old 'blonde' in a white towelling bikini......

 

It was quite fascinating racing:  the course has been laid out for maximum television benefit rather than sailing's intricacies - and it was in the narrow channel between the island we were on and Newport.   Many spectator boats had VIP flags flying and were allowed to loiter just off the course - how none of them were walloped by a passing race boat it was hard to understand.   From our raised vantage point we could easily see all the course except for the very top end and with the help of binoculars could watch all the activity on board the boats.   We saw the two semi-finals, sadly both won by the US teams which seems a shame for the final;  and then a further race with all the boats including the hastily repaired boat of Team NZ who lost to one of the US teams on the finish line, despite one of their dagger board mechanisms failing and having to effect a repair during the race, with the handicap of having it down at the wrong times while they worked on it!

 

Saturday I felt we could not sail around any longer with such a grotty looking hull so set to cleaning it from the dinghy.   I did momentarily consider the swimming option but it was far too cold.   Meanwhile Rob went off with Craig and Karene for some speed-shopping and a quick look at Bristol.   By the time they came back the anchorage around us which has been completely empty except for us, had 24 new neighbours and some fun anchoring to watch!  It became obvious that going out for supper might be a bit of a bun-fight to find anywhere as this is a holiday weekend with July 4th celebrations next week, but after a drink on board Il Sogno, Craig maintained that we were now late enough to go in and miss the prime-time 8 o'clock bookings.   And so it proved, we managed to find a table at the Oyster Bar and were the last customers in there at the end of the evening (when they started hoovering we took the hint!) -  the Americans do eat very much earlier than Europeans:  lunch is 12-1230, supper at home here would probably be at 1800.

 

On Sunday Dave Enstone came to pick us up and take us to his gorgeous home on the north east corner of the island.   They live overlooking the busy East Channel of Narragansett Bay with stunning views and equally beautiful grounds.   They are both keen gardeners so this was the sort of garden we are used to, not a wide expanse of lawn.   We were invited for brunch with friends of theirs but were still there at 1600!   Judy and Dave have also acted as a post box for us, so we were able to pick up most of our packages - the vital lobster pot buoy knife has not arrived yet though.  On the way to Dave’s house, he called in at Zeek’s Creek to pick up some ‘shrimp’ and Rob took the opportunity to discuss fishing with Zeek who was happy to give all sorts of information including a near live demonstration of cutting a fish’s throat to get it to bleed out and preserve the meat!

 

When we returned to Serafina we discovered that our new neighbours were now OCC members and when we looked them up, they were also Port Officers.   So accepting our shouted invitation, Ami and Bob paddled over from their boat (Scallywag II) for a drink and lots of chat mainly about the EMYR and Turkey where they had spent 2 years.  

 

Tomorrow we head for Bristol where they have the longest tradition of July 4th celebrations and we are joining up with more American friends of Craig's with whom he had done the Salty Dog rally up from the BVIs, to Bermuda and then the USA.   And yet more eating and drinking will be done - Rob is bewailing this situation, but certainly not slowing down at the partaking of all this incredibly generous hospitality.