We left Cuttyhunk and needed a convenient place for Michael and Lori to catch a flight back to CA. We headed to Bristol, Rhode Island, which is on the northern end of Narraganset Bay. Bristol has many things we were looking for — a large space to anchor with good holding, mooring balls, a range of restaurants, and interesting things to do and see. Bonus: there is a Maritime Welcome Center where we can have things shipped (Amazon).
We started off in a remote part of the anchorage but eventually moved to a mooring ball. The mooring provided a much shorter dinghy ride to the Maritime Center (key, because it is where we mostly use the bathroom) and it provided me with a respite from wondering whether our anchor would drag. (Moorings tend to provide a strong holding for our home and largest investment, which is tethered to what is basically a thick string).
As an aside, you may wonder why we use the Maritime Center’s bathrooms when we have three toilets on Haven. Sigh. Boat toilets — often stinky.
Bristol has lot’s of stories to tell. Houses are very old with plaques that state the name of the “original” builder and the date built. The oldest we saw was built around 1780. We saw places in Bristol that were honest about its history — homes built upon the backs of slaves. We didn’t see much about how we stole all the land in the U.S. from indigenous people.
Bristol was small with few good provisioning stores, so Debbie still needed to hitch a ride to the big grocery store, hitch a ride back with the groceries, get them out of the car and onto the dock, where I would pick her up in the dinghy. But Bristol did offer easy access to the important items, like beer and ice cream.
In every boating area in the U.S., there seems to be a Wednesday-night race. And so it was in Bristol. We were literally moored right in the middle of the race, with beautiful old wood boats and new racers with sleek grey sails zipping by awfully close to Haven. They were excellent sailors and did not crash into us or each other.
We visited Blithewold, a huge, old, mansion on the water with incredible grounds that has been turned into an arboretum. The house is open to the public, as are the incredible gardens. The variety of trees provided what felt like several different climates all on one property. Debbie was delighted with the wide variety of unusual plants. Everything was maintained and preserved, including the history of the home and the fancy, formal clothes of the owners. We spent a very nice afternoon. Instead of me botching the history, here’s their site which does a much better job than I: Blithewold Manor.
Set A Course 