August 11 & 12 -- Point Judith Pond to Dutch Harbor on Jamestown Island; to Wickford YC

 Lovely slow sails both days -- sixteen and five miles respectively. Leaving the Pond we passed the fuel dock shown in yesterday's post, to which ILENE was first towed during the 2010 Nor'easter. On that trip, we had to be relocated when the marina operator feared that the wind pushing on ILENE would wreck his dock, though I think it was because he did not want his dock tied up for the three day duration of the storm. Today we also passed the dock to which ILENE were later towed,

where the Spectra Ventura watermaker was installed, and then nearby Green Can "7"  on the wrong side of which we had grounded in 2010.

But the 2010 saga is for another day, a tale to be told in the winter. In 2019 we motered south out into the Harbor of Refuge and at the end of the channel, when shallow water was no longer a concern, we  turned east, unfurled the genoa and sailed the rest of the way under Genny only. We went through the eastern entrance of the Harbor of Refuge, and rounded the lighthouse on the Point on a very broad port reach and then hardened sail on the way north to Dutch Harbor. We had left early, at 8:30, to avoid going out at low tide, and the shallowest depth we saw on the way out was 8.0 feet. We used only one sail to make sure we were slow enough to arrive at Dutch Harbor after the noon checkin time. 

We passed some lovely homes on the bluff on the western shore of Narragansett Bay and passed west of Sail Rock, which has its green warning buoy visible on its other side (the correct side) to the right of the rock in this picture. I'm not a daredevil; there was plenty of room twixt rock and shore.

What made this and the next relatively short and slow passage fun, you might ask. Well, the wind was generally weak and kept shifting in strength and direction. One minute we are close hauled and the next I was backwinded or had to ease sails out onto a beam reach. There were puffs and lulls. Our speed was as low as .8 knots for a couple of minutes and 7.2 knots at one other time.It is not how fast the boat goes but how fast it goes in the given wind conditions that make it fun, and with short distances and no deadlines, it was fun
Dutch Harbor is a large well run anchorage area with good water depth (16 feet where we were) on the quiet western side of Jamestown Island. The Harbor is a bay cut into the side of the island with another island, Dutch Island, off shore, providing some protection. Jamestown Island and others north of it divide Narragansett Bay into its eastern and western passages and we are in the western. We have been on moorings on the other side of the Jamestown Island, close to Newport during prior cruises. That side is infused with the tension and energy. Here in Dutch Harbor, things are more relaxed. We did laundry, had lunch at "The Shack" which is, well,  a very busy shack, serving Chipotle style food, only better. We  made a grocery run; Lene, is addicted to grocery shopping and I'm addicted to her so I go and carry. Lene learned that Sunday Night was Pizza night at The Village  Bakery Cafe, which serves pizza only one  night each week and only two types and one size. We met some nice folks while standing in the line for 45 minutes. Pretty decent pizza and quite the "experience".
In the morning we took ILENE to the launch dock to fill her port water tank with fresh water. The starboard tank is unpleasantly sulphuric. We emptied it and cleaning it will be a nasty task for me some rainy day soon. We also walked most of the way across the island, it is only 3/4 of a nautical mile wide at that point, on its main EW drag, Narragansett Avenue, for Lene to get a manicure and yes, a few more groceries.
At noon we took off for Wickford and specifically the YC there, five miles and 100 minutes away. The same sort of slow and steady sail, under Genoa only, in shifty winds as the day before with only two bits of excitement. The waters close to the Island on our path under the Jamestown Bridge

had a large area filled with lines of floating obstacles.

These were not shown on the paper or electronic chart and I'm glad we did not run into them at night. By day we successfully dodged them. The second issue is one I created and no harm was done. I forgot to uncleat the genoa furling line before tying a proper sheetbend knot to an extender led to the electric starboard coachroof winch. It is a strong winch which "untied" the knot.
We plan to spend tonight aboard and will explore Wickford tomorrow, a planned layday.
I have also been tentatively scheduling in our days between today and September 14, which is listed as: "Arrive back at the Harlem Yacht Club." Im planning nights in the many spots we want to visit. This schedule will definitely change extensively, including the fact that some of the tentatively scheduled ports may not be safe of suitable for ILENE.