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We have now moved Pandora to Narragansett Bay for the month of July. Our home port will be Wickford, a town that we would dearly love to move to eventually. Our good friend Eric Collins, with his brother Chris, runs a wonderful old time marina called Pleasant Street Wharf, a place that looks much like it did 50 years ago. Their website is in keeping with it’s laid back nature and is unpretentious as they are. Where else will you see cookouts every weekend where the owner is there drinking beer with the rest of the gang. And, if that’s not enough Eric has a beer tap in it’s own fridge (kegerator?) in the back of the shop so he, and his friends, will never be without a cold one. Eric’s wife Sandy is a real estate agent so perhaps she will sell us a house one day.

We will be making weekend trips from Wickford through July until we move Pandora to Maine in early August.

On the 4th we went out on Eric and Chris’s 40′ lobster boat to watch the fireworks. There was a wonderfully eclectic mix of folks on board including a tie died shirt clad bagpiper. That’s not something that you see every day. What a great time we had.

We also went to Jamestown, right across from Newport but a lot less busy. We picked up a mooring in Dutch Harbor about a 3/4 mile walk on the other side of the island from town. The harbor in Jamestown is fairly open to the east and the boat traffic kicks up a chop that makes the boats bob at their moorings and on the dock. Never the less, there are a number of very nice boats on the waterfront. Two that really stand out are a small coastal cruiser that looks like it would be right at home on the Inter Coastal waterway headed to Florida for the winter. The real winner ihowever is this dark blue beauty. Who needs a mirror when you have the hull of this one to gaze into? What a stunner. It was built in Germany in the 40s. I wonder what sorts of stories it could tell?

Not all the boats in Jamestown are big and shiny. This massive wooden catboat Kathleen was built a few years ago by Beetle Boats and is ably sailed by her owner. Check out pictures of the build at their site. Last I heard, the boat didn’t even have an engine. Well her sail is big enough to get her home in even the lightest breezes. It makes me wonder what he does when the wind really pipes up. Scary to think about.

A few visitors aboard Pandora in Wickford. It was funny but this sparrow came back time and again over the weekend and made quite a racket. I wonder what he/she was looking for.

On the other hand, our cocker spaniel Riptide knows exactly what he wants from us. It’s a good nap and many runs ashore between meals. Not a bad life and what a great guy he is.

Today I am writing this from Potter’s Cove across from Bristol where I spent last night with my friend Bryce. He sprung for a great load of lobsters, steamers, corn on the cob and massively large shrimp last night for dinner aboard. What a feast. hToday we are going to head 10 miles up the bay to Newport for a very different experience ashore. More to come on that.

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We have spent the last two days at Watch Hill RI, located at the very eastern most point of Long Island Sound. From here we will probably head for Block Island. Our visit here allowed us to participate in a rendezvous with some friends from the Corinthians for a cocktail party at the Watch Hill Yacht Club. The club is located at he head of the harbor and commands a great view of the goings on as boats come and go from Watch Hill. The town is tucked along the water on the side of a hill. It’s very scenic and looks like a throwback to years ago. Here’s a shot of town and the yacht club. It’s really a pretty town.

We went for a walk on the beach and watched the waves crashing on the shore. It wasn’t a bright and sunny day but at least it wasn’t raining. As the waves ran up and down the beach they left wonderful patterns in the seaweed. These shots remind me of my son Christopher who loves taking pictures of detailed patterns in nature.

Aphrodite is an amazing old commuter yacht that was rebuilt in Brooklyn Maine a few years ago. Brenda and I saw it in the shop when we visited there. She is now ported out of Watch Hill and is clearly the bell of the harbor. I can’t even imagine what this restoration cost. She is amazing at 80′ of gleaming bronze and flawless varnish and paint. Click on Aphrodite and see some information about this remarkable boat. She has hosted Franklin Roosevelt, Spencer Tracey and Katherine Hepburn just to name a few. A real treasure.

>On Friday afternoon we visited the Wooden Boat Show held at Mystic Seaport. It’s been years since we have gone to this show in spite of my being a subscriber to the magazine, Wooden Boat for nearly 30 years. There should be a slideshow of the event on their site soon, I would think.

The show brings together wooden boat entusiasts from all over including private owners as well as vendors. The number of wonderful old and new wooden boats made it tough to say what I liked best. However, there were two large yachts in particular that are worth mentioning. Enticer is a vintage Trumpy yacht from the 30s that’s privately owned and also available for charter. The link above is a convenient way for you to arrange a charter for yourself. At only $14,000 per week plus, plus it’s a bargin for these trying economic times.

Interestingly, Enticer’s home port used to be Dolphin Cove in Stamford where Brenda’s parent’s Jack and Mary lived. It’s a small world.

The master suite on Enticer. Yes, a bit nicer than on Pandora.

A proper galley. Yes? I want one of these.

l loved this gadget. Well, it’s actually more than your run of the mill gadget as it’s a screw maker. The company exibiting had this machine making screws all day long. They said that they have something like 40 machines doing this all day long at their factory. The machine was a marvel as it picked up screw blanks, put them in a mandril and cut the threads. After that an arm picked the screw up and dropped it in a bin only to begin the process all over again. What a wonderful machine to watch. The machine was about 100 years old and a sight to behold. It’s hard to believe that someone can make a living selling fastenings made in the US these days. They are Goulet Specialties and are located right in CT. Unfortunately, they don’t have a photo of their machines running on their website.

Here’s a shot of another wonderful yacht that we were able to board at the show. Canim was open for inspection. Perhaps we will charter her one day. Not… Interested? Check her out at the Canim site. Don’t delay as prime weeks are going fast. So many boats to choose from. So little time…and money. Bummer about that. Besides, she only has three sleeping cabins. Totally unacceptable!!!

After leaving Mystic we headed over to Watch Hill, RI for a Corinthians rendesvous and cocktail party at the Watch Hill Yacht Club. It’s nice to have friends with connections. Today Brenda and I are planning to go for a walk on the ocean side of Napatree Point where Long Island Sound connects with Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. We may head over to Block Island on Monday or perhaps somewhere else. We will have to see what the weather holds. For sure it will include a bit of rain as it has for every other day for the last month. Well, you know what they say… a bad day on the water beats a good day at work.

>Last weekend my son Rob spent some time on Pandora with two friends. We headed out in spite of a miserable weather forecast. It was really not looking too good with a better than 50% chance of rain each day. And it was raining cats and dogs as we drove into Mystic. However, as this trip involved one of my doc friends, Joe, flying in from Pittsburgh and the threat of having to reschedule for late September we took a chance and forged ahead.

The plan was to meet in Mystic CT on Thursday night after work. However, the forecast was for 100% rain followed by a 50% chance for the next few days. Yes, it was just pouring when we arrived in the early evening. As it was just too wet to get on board Pandora without getting soaked we opted for rooms at the lovely Day’s Inn Mystic. Actually, it was actually very nice and not expensive at all.

Joe and his son Luke arrived late due to delayed fights and trains but we all made it and were ready for our weekend out on the water.

I wanted to head over to Matituck Long Island and some winery visits but the idea of doing this in the rain just didn’t appeal. Instead we opted to head from Mystic to the CT River and up to Selden Creek, one of my son Rob’s favorite places anywhere. Rob had grown up visiting this place and he wanted to go in Pandora.

When I think about a 50% chance of rain I tend to think that it’s only about half likely to rain and even more likely, half no rain. Well, as luck would have it, at 10am on Friday morning the rain began to stop and we headed out to board Pandora. The rain actually held off and conveniently only came down at night. No problem there.

A short while later we headed down the river and out toward the western end of Fisher’s Island. In spite of (or more likely because of) a forecast of SE winds about 10-15kts, we entered the Sound against West winds of the same speed. Why is it that the weather guys are always wrong? This meant a beat against a 2kt tide and a headwind. Well, it was only about 15-18 miles to the River mouth, we were on. What a great sail it was.

Now, here’s something that you don’t see every day. A nuclear sub leaving New London. Wish we were closer. I’ll bet that they wouldn’t have felt the same way.

We reached the mouth of the river just as the tide was turning to give us a nudge up the river to Selden Creek.

About 8 miles up the river, Selden Creek is so narrow you can’t believe that the water is deep enough for a boat on the scale of Pandora. I kid you not when I say that the total width isn’t much more than 75-100′ from bank to bank. Fortunately, it’s quite deep with about 10′ of water all the way so after a three point turn going bank to bank, we set the hook.

The only way to anchor there is to set the main anchor off the bow and back toward a cliff on the shore that has a convenient ring cemented into the face. This way you can tuck along the bank and yet still be in water deep enough to stay out of trouble. Here’s a few great shots of where we were. What a great place.

All snug with an anchor and stern line tied to the cliff.

Now, here’s something that you don’t see every day, a mast in the trees. And yes, the trees were really that close.

Imagine this view of the marsh after dark. The entire surface carpeted with thousands (millions?) of lightning bugs. It was just amazing. We ate dinner in the cockpit and watched the scene unfold as it became dark. It was easily the most magical scene I had ever seen. Bummer that I couldn’t get a shot of it.

The view early the next morning without a breath of a breeze. Just amazing. Hard to believe that we were so close to salt water.

The forecast for Sunday included Gale Warnings so we headed back to Mystic to the mooring and a final dinner of local lobster.

In spite of the weather forecast we only saw rain in the evenings so I guess that the glass was indeed half full.

Brenda and I plan on boarding Pandora again later this week for a week of vacation over the 4th of July. We expect to take in the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport, a Corinthians rendezvous at Watch Hill and then we will be off to Block Island, Newport and ultimately to Wickford Rhode Island.

More to come and I can’t wait. The weather seems to be improving with a promising forecast for the weekend.

Wish us luck.

>My younger son Chris and his friend and fellow physicist Mohan from U Rochester joined me for the weekend on Pandora. We rendezvoused in Mystic on Friday evening and had dinner at Mystic Pizza, made famous the the movie of the same name starring Julia Roberts. It’s certainly the only pizza joint in the country showing that movie in continuous loops 20 hours a day. I believe that was the role that launched Julia Roberts career. Chris, now living in NYC, the pizza capital of the universe, declared the pizza substandard but OK. It was made more palatable by the hot fudge sunday that soon followed.

Most lighthouses that we visit are very informally operated but in true New York State Historic Park Service fashion, they had a ticket booth, gift store and a large staff made up of dedicated middle age guides with wireless headsets and uniforms. The staff had everything a National Historic Landmark could want except perhaps knowledge of the site beyond what they got from the site informational flier. I was amused, while at the top of the light to hear one women’s question of “where did the light house keeper sleep” answered by a somewhat perplexed guide “I guess that he slept on the floor here”, pointing to the landing at the top of the stairs. She went on to explain that the keeper’s home was down the stairs and down the road a bit. Certainly he didn’t walk the 100 yards from his home to the light multiple times a day. She also, in a completely authoritative voice stated that the “light was very efficient and didn’t even need electricity to be seen”. A fact not hard to imagine as the light was commissioned in the 1700s, a long time prior to the advent of electricity.

The view from the top of the tower is really something and given the fact that the site itself is on the top of a very high bluff, you can easily see Block Island and CT. Unfortunately, for safety reasons, you can only peek out on the balcony but it’s great none the less.

from the old light unit as it seems that the Frenchman Fresnel did some important work in optics back in the 1700s. This lens unit was a very impressive massive unit of bronze and glass. A true work of art and it must of have weighed a ton as it was over 6′ in diameter. The trip up to the top is not for the claustrophobic.

Another famous visitor to the area was Teddy Roosevelt who’s Rough Riders came to the area following the Spanish American War to be quarantined due to yellow fever and malaria. I guess that’s why there are unexploded bombs in the woods, something that is clearly posted in signs all over the place once you are off the main road. The message is clear and not something that you see every day. Chris and Mohan were terrified.