8/8/2026
Hello!
Update: We are in Bristol, Rhode Island, anchored in Bristol Harbor. We plan to stay in the Rhode Island, Massachusetts area for the remainder of the summer. The weather is great and there are dozens of picturesque towns and harbors within a day’s sail.
Leaving Cape May:
My eyesight continues to improve and the folks at Wills Eye said it was healing well at the follow-up on July 29th. We did walk to the Philadelphia Reading Market for sandwiches and Bassetts Ice Cream before driving back to Cape May the same day. We turned in our rental car on July 30th and motored out of Utsch’s Marina at 6 am on July 31st. The weather was clear and warm, and looked good for an overnight trip to Block Island, Rhode Island. I am happy to report it was an uneventful trip!
Several hours
into the trip we noticed a sailboat behind us on the AIS. AIS (Automatic
Identification System) is a live tracker. If a boat has a tracker, and most boats
do, they show up on our chart plotter as we travel. The system gives you
information about the vessel such as their name, type, speed, and if you are on a collision course with the vessel. The collision information is very helpful so you
can change course and not collide! The boat behind us was a sailboat named
Angelfish, about our same size and speed. After a few hours Al called them on
the radio. We learned they were also on the way to Block Island, so we checked
in with each other from time to time during the night and the next day. It was
such a calm ride I thought I was on a cruise ship. The boat hardly rocked at
all during the entire 22-hour trip.
A short stay in Block Island:
Block Island is
a popular Rhode Island stop for boaters and tourists. It’s 9 miles offshore and
has a few nice lighthouses and beaches plus bars and restaurants. We stopped
there in 2011 in the early spring and loved it. I think we were the only boat there
in 2011. Our new friends Angelfish have a lot of recent experience cruising in
New England. They decided to anchor in Block Island. We motored into the inlet
lined with small boats pulled up on the sand banks enjoying the sun and busy
with boats coming and going. The entire harbor was packed with boats; I even
saw a mega yacht docked at the marina near shore. We attempted to anchor
several times in the designated anchorage but there was just no room. We then
went over to the mooring field and picked up a mooring. The two boats on either
side quickly yelled over that the mooring was reserved so we dropped it. We
then called the Harbormaster on the radio. After a short wait the Harbormaster
pointed out a mooring we could use. We
hooked up to the mooring, and shortly afterwards while paying for it we were
told we had to be off the mooring by 10 am the next day. It was a Saturday and
the busiest time of the year for Block Island. New Englanders who keep their
boats on land all winter and endure that cold season like to make good use of
the spring and summer when the weather gets nice. We decided to leave Block
Island the next morning and head for quieter harbors.
Wickford
Our next stop
was Wickford Harbor, Rhode Island. The entire harbor had probably 300 boats in
total and was the typical New England type place we wanted. In Rhode Island the
shoreline looks natural in most places and where there is a house or a building
it is attractive, usually with colonial type architecture. We picked up a Wickford
Yacht Club mooring ball. The club is a low-key place that has a clubhouse,
dinghy dock and 5 moorings they rent out to the community. Our friends Joy and
Mike picked us up from Wickford and spoiled us with good food, sightseeing and
laundry services for 3 days.
Bristol
We are now in
Bristol Harbor, anchored next to Angelfish. We finally met them face to face. They
are a couple about our age who have been cruising on their 45-foot sailboat for
5 years, going up and down the coast of the US. We plan to spend more time with
them to get to know them better and trade sailing stories. Al has family here so
we will be visiting them as we travel around the area.
I am planning to write uneventful and boring blogs like this one from here on out! Since Al grew up in this area, we are in familiar surroundings plus we are not facing any daunting challenges. I will try my best to keep it interesting though.
Thank you for reading. Please keep in touch.
Love and Peace,
Frances Lima
