Having already adventured alone between snow-covered river banks, it was time to plan an adventure for all three of us. I wanted to take advantage of Surprise's peculiar capabilities as a fully-enclosed boat, and that meant working within her limitation as a boat suitable for more protected waters. I chose a two-night trip in upper Narragansett Bay. Life interfered, the trip was off, and the chosen day was all but over when I suddenly decided we could get awy with going out just overnight. With all that had to be done, we didn't push off from Oakland Beach ramp until almost 1am.
Our planned anchorage off beautiful Goddard Park was only a couple of miles away, but winds were almost vanishingly light and on the nose. To make matters worse, the leeboard wouldn't go all the way down--difficult to fix when your children have collapsed in a sleepy heap between you and the uphaul that might be jammed. I finally woke the boys and dropped the hook in about 8 feet of water in the lee of the park. Trevor did his usual good job of readying the beds while I fired up the stove to prepare hot water bottles that would warm our sleeping bags. We finally closed up the boat and snuggled into our beds at about 4am.
I got up only when I couldn't figure out how to keep the sun out of my eyes without suffocating in my sleeping bag. It was after 9:30. For once, Stephen wasn't up with the sun, casting about for something to eat or do and generally being an unwelcome distraction from sleep. I got water heating for coffee and oatmeal, and the boys ate a lazy breakfast in bed. While I lounged with my coffee cup, Trevor read his book The Birchbark House and Stephen pronounced himself pleased with his new bunk and our little adventure and then snuggled back into his sleeping bag.
We finally got the cabin squared away (by the expedient of stuffing all bedding into the forepeak) and got the boat rigged and anchor up some time after noon. We sailed around Sally Rocks and beached the boat at the park at dead high tide. I sent the boys off to explore while I returned to the boat to figure out how to keep her from grounding on the falling tide in our absence. An anchor on the beach and another in a foot or two of water managed to keep her in shallow enough water that I could keep my feet dry in my rubber boots but still be assured that Surprise would still be afloat after a little walk. Goddard Park is a beautiful place and worth a drive down. It has lovely paths still trodden by horses--we saw several from the water afterwards.
We only stayed an hour or so at the park, since I was determined to try to get to the head of nearby Greenwich Cove--a place I'd never sailed to despite all my past sailing in that area. It promised access to a good eatery we might patronize for lunch. Back aboard and under sail once more, we headed around the point and into the teeth of a strengthing wind. We fought our way nearly to the end of the cove, getting knocked down once along the way. (When the starboard windows were all but submerged for a moment, Stephen decided he WANTED TO GO HOME--but he soon got over it, mostly. Trevor and I, who had seen Surprise neatly recover from worse, were more relaxed.) I disappointed Trevor, who had been looking forward to lunch in a restaurant, by deciding I did not want to anchor the boat here is such strong and fluky winds. Instead we headed out of the cove and started for our ramp.
I got up only when I couldn't figure out how to keep the sun out of my eyes without suffocating in my sleeping bag. It was after 9:30. For once, Stephen wasn't up with the sun, casting about for something to eat or do and generally being an unwelcome distraction from sleep. I got water heating for coffee and oatmeal, and the boys ate a lazy breakfast in bed. While I lounged with my coffee cup, Trevor read his book The Birchbark House and Stephen pronounced himself pleased with his new bunk and our little adventure and then snuggled back into his sleeping bag.
We finally got the cabin squared away (by the expedient of stuffing all bedding into the forepeak) and got the boat rigged and anchor up some time after noon. We sailed around Sally Rocks and beached the boat at the park at dead high tide. I sent the boys off to explore while I returned to the boat to figure out how to keep her from grounding on the falling tide in our absence. An anchor on the beach and another in a foot or two of water managed to keep her in shallow enough water that I could keep my feet dry in my rubber boots but still be assured that Surprise would still be afloat after a little walk. Goddard Park is a beautiful place and worth a drive down. It has lovely paths still trodden by horses--we saw several from the water afterwards.
We only stayed an hour or so at the park, since I was determined to try to get to the head of nearby Greenwich Cove--a place I'd never sailed to despite all my past sailing in that area. It promised access to a good eatery we might patronize for lunch. Back aboard and under sail once more, we headed around the point and into the teeth of a strengthing wind. We fought our way nearly to the end of the cove, getting knocked down once along the way. (When the starboard windows were all but submerged for a moment, Stephen decided he WANTED TO GO HOME--but he soon got over it, mostly. Trevor and I, who had seen Surprise neatly recover from worse, were more relaxed.) I disappointed Trevor, who had been looking forward to lunch in a restaurant, by deciding I did not want to anchor the boat here is such strong and fluky winds. Instead we headed out of the cove and started for our ramp.
We were in more open water by 3:15 and found that the wind had whipped up some real chop in the shallow waters. We put the front door into place, but found that a little spray still made it over the top. As I fought the tiller and the boat's tendency to round up, I began to wish I had reefed; it was too late for that now. Fortunately the boat steadied and her motion eased when I turned downwind for our destination. We hit the ramp soon after 4:30 and managed to get the boat onto the trailer and the car off the ramp before the tide dropped too far. On the ride home, we finally had leisure to munch some of our snack food
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