Rhode Island to Massachusetts

Sunday, June 30 - We woke up to a very overcast sky, which explains why we slept in until 8:00 as the sun was not shining into the boat at the usual 5:30 a.m. I made granola then we dinghy’ed to land to pay for the mooring and take Pepper for a walk. For lunch we took the dinghy to Stephen and Mary Beth’s boat, they also have a Catalina 470. Kevin and Stephen have been conversing on the Catalina 470 Facebook group page for years and this was an opportunity to meet them. We then went to lunch at Evelyn’s Drive-in seafood restaurant, it was nicer than the name suggests! A rain storm was looming on the horizon and we scurried back to our dinghies and boats just in time before the rain and high winds came.

Monday, July 1 - We woke up to a bright sunny sky! Last night it was looking like we would be motoring in the rain but at 7:40 a.m. as we left the mooring it was a beautiful morning. We motored out of the Sakonnet River with the wind behind us at 10 knots. At approximately 9:30 we pulled out the mainsail, followed by the jib with a reef. We were on a port tack sailing close haul with 30 knots of wind. Kevin turned the motor off at 9:45 and we were able to make good time for about an hour. Then the winds and waves combined against us and the passage became rough and slow, we were struggling to do 4 knots. Kevin turned the motor on at 10:45 and we were able to go almost 4.5 knots but still very rough with high waves and heeling over at 25 degrees. At noon we tacked to the north, putting us on a starboard tack, that picked the speed up closer to 6 knots. About 15 min later we tacked back to port and as I was looking at the coastline the thought of aborting occurred to me as the ride was still very uncomfortable and, given how slow we were moving, it was going to be a long day. About 15 min after that Kevin said we were going to abort! My thoughts exactly! We anchored near New Bedford, MA at 1:41 p.m. The area was nice with homes on the water and 2 small beaches. It did get a little loud as the night went on as the area seemed to be where all the teenagers drove around in their cars playing loud music, but down below it was fine.もっと詳しく