A week of cruising New England

8/24/2026

Update:

We are in Wickford, Rhode Island on a mooring in Wickford Harbor. Tomorrow we are going to Philadelphia for a follow up at Wills Eye Hospital. My eyesight continues to improve so we are expecting this to be just a check-in appointment. We will take the train and stay for two nights in our favorite Holliday Inn Express. I am not eating any Philly cheesesteaks this trip, but we will visit the Thai food restaurant Grandma’s Philly for the curry puffs.

A week in the Cruising Life:

Things have been going well in New England, short hops and small towns. We decided to take a cruise around Buzzard’s Bay after visiting Newport. Al has been to spots in Buzzards Bay many times, but we got out the cruising guide to look up new places to visit.

Sunday August 16^th was a sunny day with light winds. We raised anchor in Newport harbor and sailed up Buzzard’s Bay to Hadley’s Harbor. The trip took 6 and ½ hours. Hadley’s Harbor is a small, protected harbor at the eastern end of Naushon Island. The island is owned by the Forbes family; it is in a natural state except for a few very nice houses. The public are allowed to anchor or pick up one of the free moorings provided by the Forbes family. There is one small area where people can go ashore, we only saw people with dogs go there. The afternoon we arrived it was very crowded; all the moorings were taken and every anchoring spot as well. Fortunately, a large boat left as we were motoring around so we anchored where he left an opening. People were finishing up their weekend fun, swimming off the back of their boats and enjoying the sunny weather. I was not terribly impressed, it was small, lots of people, but sometimes you have to wait for the good parts.

Monday August 17^th we woke up to rain, and it rained all day, so we spent the day cooking. I made chicken soup using the pressure cooker and Al made chourico and peppers for dinner. The most striking thing about this harbor was an experience of quietness I had on the night of the 17^th. The rain had stopped; there was no wind and after a lazy day I couldn’t easily fall asleep. I decided to just listen. Our berth is surrounded on 3 sides by ports that are a few inches above the mattress. I listened very hard. I thought I heard an engine in the distance, then a plane flying overhead, after that there was no sound. The lack of sound traveled in my ears and to the center of my head. It seemed to touch an ancient area that loved the sensation of no sound and at the same time longed for more. It seemed very right but I also felt sad because I knew this was a fleeting experience. The feeling was profound, as if a deep need was satisfied. I am hoping we can go back there.

Tuesday August 18^th we raised the anchor in Hadley’s Harbor and moved the boat across Buzzard’s Bay to the small town of Marion. The cruising guide described the town as lovely plus neither of us had been there. The trip took two and ½ hours. We picked up a free CCA mooring. Al is a member of the Cruising Club of America; they have a few moorings in the area for members. Marion Harbor is ringed with nice houses, the Beverly Yacht Club, one or two small marinas, the Harbormasters Office and the Tabor Academy. The harbor is filled with 1000 moorings. It was cloudy and rainy; we stayed on the boat and ate dinner onboard.

Wednesday August 19^th we went ashore in Marion and first checked in with the Harbormaster to make sure we docked the dinghy in the correct place. We have learned in these small towns you don’t want to anger the Harbormaster. Marion is a picture-perfect New England town. We had lunch at the Front Street General Store and then went to the main attraction, the Natural History Museum which was in the library. The best part was walking around the quiet streets checking out the colonial houses and their gardens. I love looking at houses. We went back to the boat and then had dinner at the Beverly Yacht Club. It’s a nice small yacht club with a screened-in back porch open for dinner. They even picked us up in their launch and brought us back to the boat after dinner. It was nice.

Thursday August 20^th we dropped the mooring in Marion and moved to Bristol Harbor which was a 9-hour trip. The consistent cloudy, rainy weather in the last 3 days had not been good for our solar charged batteries. We needed to get to a dock and plug in. We anchored for the night in Bristol Harbor and had dinner on the boat.

Friday August 21^st was another rainy day. We waited for the rain to let up and then motored over to the Herreshoff Marine Museum dock in Bristol. They only have 4 or 5 slips, so we were lucky to get one. The museum summer sailing camp was wrapping up another week of sailing classes. All the young sailing instructors came over to ask about our boat because it is unusual for New England. We gave them a tour and had fun chatting with them. After we tied up the boat Al and I walked to a tavern we like for a late lunch. We plugged in and the batteries charged up. We like to sit in the cabin on chilly rainy evenings and read or play double solitaire. I have read more books on this trip than I have in years.

Saturday August 22^nd was a day to do our chores but with a twist. We took an Uber to a laundromat at 8:30 am. Friends of ours from St Pete, who now live in Rhode Island picked us up at 12:30 and we all went to lunch in Bristol. Then they took us to the grocery store and waited while we bought some groceries. They took us and our laundry and groceries back to the boat; we put everything away and that turned out to be a full day. I believe we had another double solitaire tournament that night. I used to win every game, but Al is starting to win some now, too.

So that is a full week of cruising. It’s a beautiful area and especially nice when it’s not raining. We miss our friends from home, but we do have some friends here too, which is great.

Well, that’s all for this blog. Thank you very much for reading.

Love and Peace, 

Frances Lima

Newport, Rhode Island

 8/15/2026

Update:

We are in Newport, Rhode Island, a mecca for mega Yachts, sailboat racing and classic sail boats. A great pastime here is sitting in the cockpit watching the activity in the harbor. It is rare to see a boat that is not beautiful and well cared for. We are in the anchorage and it’s surprisingly not crowded. When we visited here 15 years ago it was difficult to find room in the anchorage because so many boats anchored here all summer. Now the Newport Harbormaster instituted a 14-day maximum stay. Most boats in the harbor are on a mooring and the mooring field is huge. Launches come and go all day to take people from their boats to town. Sailboats head out every day to race in the protected harbor nearby. During the week tiny sailboats with little sailors fan out from the summer camp bases to learn how to sail. Classic sailboats of every size are everywhere and are a delight to see especially if sailing. Today I saw a schooner leave the harbor under sail and towing a dinghy. I have never seen a cruising schooner before.

We have eaten at our favorite restaurant, Clarke Cooke House and we went to a great outdoor play tonight about the American Revolution. Yesterday I was shoe shopping in town by Uber and discovered that the Ulta store had a hair salon in the back. That was super convenient; they had time to see me right then. There is nothing too exciting or risky to report. No close calls and no overnight passages. I am not sure how long we can keep up this pace. We may be addicted to excitement and resort to doing something potentially dangerous again soon. Regardless, we are moving on to another harbor tomorrow morning.

The subject for this week’s blog is Middle-Class Boating:

I know they say the middle class is disappearing, but it was around a long time. Middle-class boating is a term I developed for the type of boating we and all our friends do. I have watched this level of boating for decades and feel I am an expert on the middle-class boater. I will describe it in detail since it is something not many people are familiar with and a dying breed. A middle-class boater is a person or a couple who work full time and decide to buy a fairly large sailboat. By that I mean a 30 to 50 foot sailboat that stays in the water full time, in Florida that is 12 months a year. The boater of this type usually cannot completely afford the boat but the lure of the sea and envisioning the fun they can have overrides reality.

Picture the systems in your house such as plumbing, electrical wiring, running water, refrigeration, bedding and storage and put them in a continually damp, saltwater environment that is always moving. In addition, the boat has sails, rigging, navigation equipment, steering mechanisms, computers, sophisticated batteries, communication equipment and one or two engines. The middle-class boater typically buys a used boat and learns how to repair and maintain all the above systems themselves. Middle-class boaters become expert bargain hunters. They scour boating flea markets, consignment shops and e bay. When they take these boats out on day sails or for the weekend it gets interesting to see what works and what doesn’t. This is why the camaraderie and companionship of fellow sailors is so strong. Boaters are always discussing their latest repair problem or new project. We have all kinds of mishaps and adventures along the way but are constantly learning.  We learn from our friends, take classes and always try to do as much as we can ourselves. It is like developing a second profession. It is a knowledge base developed over time and with experience. But this is the beauty of this type of boating. The boater can become independent, knowing they can fix problems by themselves out at sea. This is where the freedom to travel widely comes from.

My secret weapon is Al. He knows how to repair almost anything. He got started on this early in life, working on cars as a teenager. His repair and maintenance abilities just continued from there. He learned how to sail and then built his own boat. I am a good boater, but Al is the reason we can travel on our boat like this.

It is amazing what you can develop in life with time and experience and the interesting and beautiful times you can have as a result.

I believe that will be all for today. Thank you for reading!

Love and Peace,

Frances Lima

 

Cape May to Rhode Island

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 29^th. 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 30^th and motored out of Utsch’s Marina at 6 am on July 31^st. 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