Day 17: Newport to New London, CT

Hey everyone, we have made it safely to New London, CT – and early enough in the day for me to post with some video We have avoided Bill Laziness for at least this evening. Anyway, here’s the video I captured this morning before we left Newport:

So as you can see, fun times in Newport. Make your way out there if you ever have a chance. As for today’s trip, it was relatively uneventful. Calm seas, decent wind. We sailed for a while but had to keep tacking to head in the right direction, so when the wind died down again we dropped our sails and just motored on. The current helped us a ton and we hit about 9.5 kts in this tanker.

Captain Pete and I are probably about to start scavanging for foodstuffs pretty soon. I’ll report back on our level of success at doing so in the morning before we leave. Tomorrow I believe we are heading for somewhere in western Connecticut, perhaps Bridgeport.

- Bill, First Mate of the Audrey Marie

Day 16: Onset to Newport, RI

Alrighty everyone, we got up and ready around 5:30 am and shoved off by about 7:30. Our destination was the ultimate sailor’s town: Newport, RI. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see more than about 100ft in front of us! A thick, “pea soup” fog had rolled in overnight and we nearly abandoned sailing at all. But, with me at the bow and Captain Pete at the helm yelling back and forth in communication, we made it through just fine. Once we got out of the harbor and into Buzzards Bay the fog started to clear. We even got the sails up later, though we had 20 mph gusts so we had to reef them.

We made it in to port, tied up, and were immediately bashed into by a powerboater who was tying up behind us… after disposing of him and his family (just kidding) we walked up the dock and looked for food. A little place called the Red Parrot took us in, though we had to go through three hostesses to get a table (one on each floor). It was like something out of a comedy movie.

Anyway, Newport is an awesome little town. The rich have invaded it for the summer months, though, so in addition to the quaint shops there are Lambourgini’s and Bentley’s parked outside. A bit strange, but that’s alright. In any case, it is a place you should not miss if you are in Rhode Island.

We’re off to New London, CT today – I’ll throw up some video in a few of the harbor at Newport. Take care!

- Bill, First Mate of the Audrey Marie