Southern New England
- True North
- Jul 18
- 4 min read
Plans are subject to change. That is the lesson for this week. We had a deadline to get to Boston to get Andrew on a plane back home. Knowing that a schedule is the most dangerous thing on a boat, we built in a few extra days to allow some flex. We are subject to what the weather brings, and need to be able to adjust. So, no visit to Block Island, Nantucket or Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod this time - maybe the winds will allow that next time. We did have a great trip along the southern New England coast along Rhode Island and Massachusetts including stops in New London, Mystic, Newport, Wood's Hole, Martha's Vineyard, Onset, Plymouth, and eventually Boston.
New London - We needed a marina to fill up our water tanks and ride out a rainy, rainy day. The marina in New London was in an industrial area, with views of shipyards that build nuclear submarines. There were a handful of restaurants withing walking distance, but primarily it was the cheapest marina we found along the whole New England coast.
Not the most scenic marina, but it got us what we need. Mystic - Of course we had to stop in Mystic... Mystic Pizza of course! It is a great historic seaport town and has a huge seaport museum. We timed it perfect to get drenched on our dingy ride into town. We anchored way up the Mystic river - past a few drawbridges that took an hour or more to get through with the sailboat (the dingy could squeeze under them). Then we found the anchorage area was super small and shallow. There were two sailboats in the best areas, so we got 3rd choice. I'm pretty sure we were resting in the mud at low tide. We left before 5:00am just to make sure we didn't get stuck at low tide! Tides - that is the lesson for the week. We got used to the minimal tides further south.
Rainy day in Mystic. 
Mystic Pizza - they're still holding on to that 80's fame. Newport - The self-proclaimed sailing capital of New England (or maybe East Coast,.. US?). We opted for a mooring ball so we could be close to downtown. Good thing - there were so many boats there it would have been tough to find a place to anchor. We had mail shipped to Newport, so we needed to be close. Newport also had a shop to get some parts for the watermaker (reverse osmosis system to make drinking water out of seawater). Now that we are out in cleaner water, we can make our own water and not be required to stop at marinas!
Lots of boats - big expensive ones. Lots and lots. Pretty cool shopping area. Sunset in Newport
Wood's Hole - Well, actually in a bay across the channel. Beautiful, peaceful, and quiet after the busy ports we had been in the recent nights. We definitely will make it a stop in the future. Maybe for a few days next time.
Martha's Vineyard - This was definitely on the top of the list of places to visit. We found a place to anchor close to town (but also close to the busy road). We spent a few nights there so we could explore the island. The busses were free, so we opted for the all-day expedition on the various busses to see everything. I think there were 8 bus rides, but we got to see a lot of the island that I hadn't been to before. Pretty fun.
Stormy anchorage - Uh Oh. Calm morning sunrise Ring game at the Black Dog Tavern Clay cliffs at Gay Head Gay Head lighthouse
Onset - There is a shortcut channel across the arm of Cape Cod, so you don't have to go out and around. We needed a place to anchor close to the channel so we could time the currents. Onset is in the armpit of Cape Cod. It turned out to be a great little town and a beautiful place to stay for a while.
Plymouth - We've found that nearly every square inch of the bays are full of mooring balls - most of them private. It leaves very little space to anchor. The reviews of the harbor in Plymouth said there is only room for a few boats, and it is tight. We opted to anchor at a bay outside of the harbor. This meant we didn't get a chance to get into town to see the sights - too long of a dingy ride. Lesson for the week - if you want to see a town in New England, you might have to pay for a mooring ball or marina. Those don't seem to be available much (maybe it's just due to the size of our boat).
Boston - We somehow were completely lucky on our time in Boston. Lesson for the week - it's better to be lucky than good. We had reserved a mooring ball a few weeks prior. Turns out it was right downtown - minutes from all the top tourist things to do. We also timed it so we arrived on the last day of the Sail250 event, so all the tall sailing ships were docked around us. Also they had the final fireworks show that night. We had front row seats for it all! It's been fun to be travelling along the same path as these ships for the last month or so.
Sailing ships from our mooring ball Tall Ships Jill at the Boston mooring Dan at the Boston mooring Touring downtown Boston Front row seats for the fireworks on the upper deck Tall ships and fireworks Boston sunset Boston at night
We have been learning a thing or tow about lobster pots too... except for any rhyme or reason on where they are placed. It makes sense sometimes that there are a bunch of them around a point of land where it is shallower and rocky, but then they appear randomly out in the middle of the bay - miles from shore. Lesson learned for the week - if you mysteriously slow down while sailing and can't make any sense of why - maybe stop trying to adjust your sails and look to see if you are dragging a lobster pot! I got to do a quick snorkeling trip to untangle one. I'm glad we were sailing so it wasn't completely wrapped up in our prop. Also - the water is noticeably colder here...
It's been super fun having our son Andrew with us for the last few weeks - he definitely got a sailing experience! Now it's back to just the two of us. We are off to Portland Maine, but it might be a week or two before we get there are the rate we go!
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