Thursday was a series of records on Prairie Gold, but more
of that later. We set off at 8:30am with the wind still at a good pace.
Navigating the narrow channel around the islands was interesting to the
visitors – very narrow channels and as you pass the tip of Bassett’s island,
you can see the submerged sand just beneath the surface of the water as a
distinct yellow zone. I wouldn’t like to come through as a novice in a storm.
During our navigation through this area we saw a Hinckley sloop that, based on
its speed, was a local. We were to see more of this boat.
As we rounded Scraggy Neck we hoisted our sails and put on
our seatbelts. We had a long one tack sail with maximum speed of 8.8kts
(theoretical hull speed of 7.4). The wind was perfect as we were able to sail
with full sail all the way to Newport. Our Hinckley friend sailed closer to the
southern side of Buzzards Bay that allowed us to out pace them. Then they
joined our heading and followed about 2 miles behind. We ended up with this
relative positioning for the whole sail.
Normally when we vacation we turn off the computers,
phones…. This time we have a lot of work going on so we decided to sail anyway
(the other choice was to stay home). While on a Beam reach and with the
Atlantic rollers coming in we hosted a Webex team meeting from the boat under
full sail, with 6ft waves. Yolande vomited three times, once during the webex
(fortunately she muted her phone). I could get into this life (not Yolande
vomiting although it does happen) but the life of being at sea and remotely
connecting to keep the pay check coming in.
We docked in Newport at Newport Yachting Center where the
Newport boat show is held. As we docked a Hinckley docked to. Yes the same
Hinckley.
Across the parkway from us
We love Red Brook. The channels are a little hairy though.
ReplyDelete