The sail for Newport was not the best,
the northerly from the previous night remained and battling upwind on a tired
day is never enjoyed by Amanda. We
managed to cross the sound to Rhode
Island but spent the night a St Judith Point to
shorten the trip.
The next day meant we had to
motor sail into Newport
but we at least distracted by the stunning coastline. It is green and rocky with decorative
lighthouses and pretty houses along the shoreline. As you enter the main channel towards Newport, there are some beautiful properties along Ocean
drive but we were also treated to a beautiful boat – this is Columbus, we found out later that she won the
Americas Cup in 1953.
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| Columbus out for a sail - what a nice welcome to Newport |
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| Pretty shoreline of Rhode Island |
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| Entering the river approaching Newport |
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| Busy anchorage |
It was quite exciting
entering Newport
harbour, there are lots and lots of sailing boats and whilst we wanted to take
it all in we also had to squeeze into the anchorage which was already quite
busy.
Newport as a town is really
nice, there is lots going on along the water front but is you take some time to
get to the outskirts of the town this is also pretty amazing. We found time for a couple of runs away from
the water and found some lovely country lanes with some amazing houses and also
ran along Ocean Drive which is lined with spectacular mansions, they are lucky
to leave somewhere so peaceful with such a amazing views.
Along with sailing Newport is also famous for
being the favoured location for summer houses in the late 1800s early 1900s and
the mansions that were built during this period still exist and are
amazing. Although we did not visit one
the houses we did walk along Bellevue
Avenue which is lined with them. There is also a lovely cliff walk which passes
by some of these properties including the Breakers which was built in the 1800s
for the Vanderbilts but is now open to the public.
We spent much of our time
admiring the amazing boats, as the Americas Cup originated in Newport there are still lots of the historic
boats in the harbour, often used for charters, it was great to see them out
sailing so often.
We also visited Fort Adams
which is the largest coastal fort in the US.
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| Mark enjoying Fort Adams |
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| Fort Adams |
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| Fort Adams from the sea |
From a sailing perspective
Newport is not just great to see all the amazing boats but they are also so set
up for cruisers, not only are there lots of free dingy docks all along the
harbour but also a dedicated Maritime Centre which provided clean showers,
washing machines and free internet, all of which make your stay so much nicer
plus everything is in walking distance – supermarket, bank, post office,
hairdressers, almost has the feel of a village.
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| Wonderful Maritime Centre |
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| Pretty boat sailing through the harbour |
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| Watching the world go by |
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| Another neighbour - boat was used in Pirates of the Caribbean |
The weather had seen a
noticeable change over the week we were in Newport, the shorts were away and we were
wearing jeans and jumpers, so we knew this was to be our turnaround point. To allow us to see a bit more of the area we
hired a car for a couple of days. First
day we explored more of Rhode island, first we passed through Portsmouth
(another Portsmouth visited) which is on the same island as Newport and then
onto Bristol which is actually on a different island. Bristol
is a very pretty town/village, tree lined streets with traditional looking
houses and all beautifully groomed.
Another day out meant another café and here we had the best chocolate
brownie we had ever tasted!!
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| Bristol harbour |
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| Independence parade trial |
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| Pretty houses in Bristol |
The photo of the road and houses in just to give you a feel of the place.
Our roadtrip also took us
through Warwick and onto Greenwich
so it was a day of UK
place names! Our final stop was James
Town which is the island west of Newport,
very pretty place along very little there.
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