Sailing at last

We are anchored in a little harbour approximately 40NM east of Newport.  We arrived last night after a great sail from Jamestown.

The last week was really a bit of a roller coaster.  We managed to get all the work at the yard done by Friday evening and had our mooring booked in Jamestown for the next day.  We made final preparations on Saturday morning for cutting the ties to the dock, handed back the hire car and ran the last few errands to get in some supplies.  Then just before we left we test started the genset only to find a water leak from the exhaust hose in the engine room - what next!!!  Luckily it was a relatively minor fix which delayed us an hour and then we were motoring out of the NEB marina into the waters off Newport Island heading for Jamestown with Scott at the helm for the first time.

Finally at the helm

The wind was light and so we motored almost to the Newport bridge and then put up some sails and started sailing.  Onboard were the family and Heather and Robbo who were there to assist with the sailing as it was the maiden voyage.  It was a perfect day to be put on the water with 10 to 15 kts of breeze and given that it was a weekend it seemed like every man and his dog was out on the water.  There were sails everywhere, and not just small boats.  There are numerous yacht clubs having their regular races but then on top of that there are a fleet of 12m’s racing around, classic gaff riggers giving harbour tours, massive pleasure boats of the rich and famous just cruising around, ferries to and from the  islands, power boats of all sizes zipping around and commercial traffic which includes huge cargo vessels headed up the passage.  All in all it is not the place for the faint hearted and provided a fantastic refresher into the rules of the road.  

We sailed for a bit enjoying the spectacle and then picked up our Conanicut Marine mooring “G2” off Jamestown.  It was soooooo good to finally be out of the boatyard. Heather and Robbo left us to it so now we were also on our own for a day.

Owner takes a turn at the helm

Sunday -  Such a great day.  We decided to do nothing really today.  Got up early as we always seem to do now and hopped into our tender (Zodiac inflatable) and headed into Jamestown.  The tender is now essentially our car when we are in port.  Tied up at Conanicut Marine dock and walked into town for breakfast.  Jamestown is a really beautiful place, pretty small but really busy in summer and lined with weatherboard colonial houses.  It is full of holiday makers during the summer but after September pretty much shuts down.  Nic had found a wee place called “Slice of Heaven” and we sat outside to eat a delicious breakfast.  After a brief walk around (not brief enough for Calley) we headed back to Dulcinea and spent the rest of the day relaxing in the sun, watching the boats racing around us and carrying out some of the endless outstanding jobs.

Sam in his element

Later in the afternoon Sam and Calley tried their luck fishing using some squid bait we had picked up that morning.  Two small stingrays and two small stripey’s were the haul for the day but all were thrown back except for one stripey which had swallowed the hook which we then cooked up for Sam.  We finished the day off with a BBQ off the stern of the boat.  

It is amazing how things can change in such a short space of time - a week ago we were in the yard awaiting a haul out and today its like we are on holiday.

But as we mentioned before leaving this is no holiday.  We are really into phase 2 which is the familiarisation with the boat and sailing her.  The electronics associated with the navigation gear has yet to be properly commissioned and we have to make a time with the Furuno representative to get this done.  In order to facilitate this we decided to sail up the coast to Mattapoisett which was closer to Derek (our sparky) and the Furuno guys.  Heather joined the boat in the morning - she will be sailing with us for a while until we are comfortable with handling Dulcinea on our own.  Forecast looked ok and we headed off around 1400 to Mattapoisett.  Great sail - 15kts on the beam which gave us speeds up to 9.5 kts with the genoa and main out.  Towards the end the wind picked up and we had to gybe to line up for the harbour entrance.  First gybe and a painful reminder of how big and powerful this boat is.  The preventer got caught on the bimini and then released suddenly which made the boom slam over.  I had the main sheet in my hand and did not release quick enough and so got some nasty burns - Lesson #1: always let go of the rope.  Then coming into the harbour the wind had freshened and when we went to take down the main it got stuck.  After a bit of drama we managed to get it released and anchored in the mooring field around 19:30.

Dulcinea at Anchor off Jamestown

So here's hoping we can get the nav gear commissioned over the next day and get back to sailing.  Next big challenge looming over the horizon is the school for the kids - that may prove harder than commissioning the boat!!

Calley vs very large freighter

Newport Shoreline

Seamanship 101 with Robo