Washed up in America
41:28.81N
71:19.99W It’s 10pm local time and the A little too fast, actually, because we don’t really
want to arrive too soon. With no
moon at the moment, the nights are pretty black and we would prefer an early
morning arrival with good light for anchoring. So we’re flying less canvas to slow the
boat down, and things are pretty peaceful.
There’s a fishing boat in the
distance, its working afterdeck lit brightly for safety. And a coaster overhauls us as it chugs
slowly eastwards towards After nearly 5 days at sea, it feels strange to be so
close to land. Looking at the
charts, the names of the surrounding places read like an American social
history. To our left is Long
Island, with It’s hard to believe we’re only a few hours from any of them. Hopefully we’ll visit them all in time, though our cruising itinerary for the next few months is still in its infancy, sort of nascent, err… well, not actually conceived yet. But that’s cruising for you – kind of flexible, you see. As fickle as the wind, our plans can (and do) change, moulded by weather, the books that we read so avidly on passage, the music we listen to and the friends that we make along the way. For the cruising fraternity is a sort of floating village, a mobile community of largely like-minded adventurers that is always generous with help and advice. We’re excited to be arriving in The passage from But as I write, a mist has descended. Fog! There’s an eerie loom reflected around our navigation lights by the moist air. Everything is becoming damp to the touch, and I put on a pullover. The fishing boat ‘disappears’ at a distance of about 2 miles, but soon visibility is only 100 yards, and we watch the radar and AIS closely as we approach this busy port. We count off the buoys one by one - Narangassett B, Brenton Reef, Butter Ball, each passing close enough to appear out of the mist, sounding a mournful bell or whistle… for whom the bell tolls… The day brightens, and with the rumble of the anchor
chain in the safety of We slowly prepare to go ashore to clear customs. Once the fog has lifted enough to be able to find our way back to the boat, that is…
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