Fall weather on the New England coast is often challenging. The first hints of winter winds chase away the pleasant summer breezes. The prudent mariner will try to keep a safe harbor at his lee, somewhere to duck into when wind and sea get up. Patience is the watchword. Having plenty of boat projects, good food and books to read is essential. Waiting for a "fair chance along" as the schoonermen of old used to say. Thus Whisper remained pinned down at Block Island for an extra day.....Darn, what a place to be stuck! :-)
On leaving Block Island, Whisper found herself addled by light, shifty breezes and the unpredictable current patterns of Point Judith, RI. Several hours of tacking back and forth (remember, a sailboat can't go straight into the wind) with little headway frustrated Whisper's skipper. As the wind died completely, I gave in and cranked up the diesel breeze.
We crossed the mouth of Narragansett Bay in time to watch a large fleet of America's Cup yachts racing off Newport. As the light of day began to fade, I pointed Whisper's bow towards sheltered anchorage near the mouth of the Sakonnet River.
The last time Whisper entered the Sakonnet River was at night, in a snowstorm with a crew of dead tired, seasick, smelly guys. It was at this point we encountered a tugboat towing an unlit barge. Had it not been for the radar seeing through the snow what our eyes could not this story would not have been written. The river looked far more inviting on a warm autumn afternoon.
As the night progressed the wind shifted from west to east, leaving Whisper on an exposed shore. Anxiously I checked our position relative to the shore and other boats through the night. The wind built to near gale force making the motion aboard hellish, but also making the weighing of anchor and moving to better shelter a near impossibility. So we hunkered down and waited for that fair chance along.
The next day dawned bright and breezy with wind favorable for a dash up Buzzard's Bay formed by the SE Massachusetts coast and the islands including Martha's Vineyard. Buzzard's Bay has a well deserved reputation for challenging sailing and this day provided no evidence to the contrary. But, with the wind and current behind us, Whisper fairly flew to the western entrance to the Cape Cod Canal where we waited for a favorable current the next day.
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