At 2:00 AM we carefully motored into Block Island harbor off the Eastern tip of Long Island. The fog was thick and anchoring was difficult as there were many hard to see winter sticks attached to mooring chains. The winter sitcks had yet to be replaced by the more visible mooring balls. As it was foggy and we had time to waste so as not to arrive at the dock before low tide, we got a few hours sleep safe in the foggy port before continuing on the final leg of our journey.
Our craft and crew resumed motoring at 7:00 am in thick fog. There were many blips on the radar so the situation was tense as we approached Newport Rhode Island on Narragansett Bay. The fog was lifting as we passed the Naval School proceeding up to our dock on the river near Providence. Several large container ships passed on our way up the channel. The tide was still flowing briskly as we approached the dock so we motored around the area passing a large marina waiting for slack water. It turns out that slack water comes 45 minutes after the official low tide so our wait was a little longer than expected. Mr. Cherry, our new neighbor in the next slip, was at the dock to aid the landing at 90 degrees to the river flow. A major problem in such an exercise is coordination as everyone has his or her own idea as to what is best. Captain Kevin was adamant that only his orders were to be followed, a policy that makes a much sense in such a touchy situation. Mr. Cherry had a friend who was a problem on the bowline, but no harm was done. We made it! The journey was fantastic with many thanks to the owners and captain.
While resting after docking Cherry mentioned that the owner of the slips had been found floating in the river so was not available for consultation. It seems that his estate now owns the facility. Once things were secure, we fired up the old jeep and headed to the airport to get a car and take our captain to the train.
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