August 20. We’re here in Dutch Harbor, RI. It’s a little nook on the west side of Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay. There’s a small marina with a mooring field and we’re anchored just to the north of the field.

The trip over from Block Island was a short trip of a couple of hours of motor sailing in very light wind. We were supposed to get here a day earlier but we needed an extra night to rest after our “big” night in Block.

The shoreline here is different from what we’ve seen so far on our trip. The shore is strewn with rocks and boulders. Its kinda creepy thinking that there might be more lurking just below the surface waiting to ruin your day. It does make for beautiful scenery though. On our way up the bay there was a rock marked on the charts that we were keeping a sharp lookout for. When we finally saw Whale Rock it turned out to be bigger than the boat, so it’s unlikely that we would have missed that one.

A twenty minute walk up and over the island takes you to the east side of the island with a view of Newport on the far shore. As you reach the peak of the island you come to both the grocery store and the liquor store. At least carrying all the provisions back to the boat is a downhill affair.

We spent the evening on an internet friend’s boat. We had never met Scott & Julie but had followed their adventures as they refurbished their classic 40 foot sailboat. I wrote them to ask advice on anchorages since these are their home waters. When we got here we were invited over to their boat to join a gathering of their family and friends. We hit it off very well and enjoyed the evening immensely. After a few hours we went back to the Veranda armed with advice and local knowledge about the surrounding waters.

A quick word about the weather, COLD. We can’t get over the low temperatures we’ve been encountering as of late. People here say this is very cool for this time of year. Yeah, that’s nice but it doesn’t change anything, its fricken cold. We thought we’d head north until the end of August but if this keeps up we’ll be turning this baby around in 2 or 3 more days.

Tomorrow we’re off to Cuttyhunk or Hadley Harbor near Woods Hole, Mass. Depending on how well the day goes. After we see both of those places we’d like to get to Martha’s Vineyard. If the weather warms up we’ll probably make Nantucket as well and if not, than nope we won’t.