Last week in Newport, Now in Baltimore

Our last week in Newport was a whirlwind of sight seeing with Frances' parents and getting ready to travel south. Fran's parents are experienced travelers so we were ready with plans and information. We did touring around Newport and saw the Breaker's mansion, Trinity church, the Seaman's institute, Fort Adams, Doris Duke's museum and the wharfs on the waterfront. We checked out the surrounding towns of Bristol, Jamestown, New Bedford, Fall River and Tiverton. We went to the Heresoff museum the Whaling museum and on a Lighthouse cruise. And of course, we stuffed ourselves with good food everywhere. It was so fun to show them the places we have been enjoying the past three months. Hopefully we will all be back next year to do it again.

Beavertail Point is one place we visited. It looks out over the Atlantic. This scene is typical of New England around Newport. The rocky coast with men fishing in the surf, a lobster boat in the middle ground and an international sailboat race going on in the background. A helicopter is flying above the race taking photos.

A fashion tip for men in Newport. For years Frances made fun of these red pants Al has. However, you see them them every day in Newport, pants and shorts. They are Breton Reds, mostly worn by sailors. They fade from red to pink but that does not stop any guy from wearing them.

Frances has had a promotion lately. But she thinks it is one of those jobs with a fancy title and no change in duties!

Carrying with us lot of good memories we left Newport Wednesday, September 21st. One of the best things about our summer was meeting Mike and Terry on This Side Up. They are going to catch up with us soon! Also Al will miss getting to see his family.

We sailed straight to the Delaware Bay in just over 48 hours. Two days later we sailed to Baltimore.

Always looking for history, we sailed past this marker of the spot where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner in the Baltimore Harbor.

So we have started the next phase of our trip. We are getting ready to travel south to the Caribbean. In November we will head straight south from Virgina to the BVI's with a group of sailboats. It is a transition to spend the winter season in the tropics.

We still feel very fortunate to be on this trip. The experiences we are having make it completely worth the effort. We are so appreciative of our family and friends that are cheering us on. The trip is turning out to be a very enriching experience.

Frances and Al

From Maine to Provincetown to Newport

Our last few days in Maine were spent in Rockland. Like most harbors in Maine Rockland is a "working" harbor. Pleasure boats are  the minority. We were mixed in with lobster boats, large fishing boats and a Coast Guard station.

This red lobster boat was moored next to us. They left every morning before we even got up. Frances' conclusion after seeing so much lobstering is that the sea floor in Maine must be solid lobsters. 

We got this photo in Maine of a seal in the cove where we spent the hurricane, Seal Bay.

We left Rockland September 2nd and sailed to Provincetown, Mass. getting there at 10am on the 3rd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Provincetown's claim to fame is that the Mayflower stopped there first before heading to Plymouth. They built a huge tower monument to recognize this event.

One of the main things to do in P-town is walk up and down the main street. It's a great place for people watching. They call it the Key West of New England.

The beach nearby is one of the best we have ever seen. It's immense with incredible dunes.

We are back in Newport now and hoping the weather is good next week for Fran's parent's visit.

 

Cruising in Maine

Despite the visit from hurricane Irene we have had a wonderful time in Maine. We weathered the storm in a cove called Seal Bay in Vinalhaven. There were 15 other boats there too so we got to know some new people and saw some folks we had previously met in the Bahamas. We had 40 to 50 knot winds with no waves so it was not a problem to ride out the storm on two anchors.
Other than the break to deal with the hurricane have been enjoying the beauty of Maine. The towns are small with incredibly friendly people but on a boat you can easily get to some remote and peaceful places with no town at all.
We have primarily visited Mount Desert Island and Rockland. We stayed in Southwest Harbor which is a very small town with a large number of lobster boats in the harbor. The town was fun to visit. We bought some jelly from a lady who sells it in front of her house on the road to town. We then anchored in Somesville Harbor. The photograph above is the anchorage in Somesville as the sun was setting. From Somesville we toured Desert Island by bus. The Acadia National Park is there, this is Al on the pink granite shoreline in the park.

We are now in Rockland, the largest town we have visited in Maine. The harbor is a mix of working fishing boats and pleasure boats. One of the highlights of our visit has been the Farnsworth museum with a large collection of Andrew Wyeth paintings.

We did get caught in the fog on our first day in Maine but the fog has mostly stayed away since then. This is a schooner in Bar Harbor with the fog rolling in. Right down the street it was sunny at this restaurant covered in lobster bouys.







We have been fortunate to have friends in this area who are also cruising this summer on their sailboat. Alan and Judy have shown us around the local waters and we have had a great time with them here. We are going to hate to say "good by" to them and to Maine.

We are leaving in the next day or two to sail straight back to Cape Cod and from there to Newport.

One last photo...a sunset over Southwest Harbor.