ROCKS!!!!!!

I wish I had started a photo collections of lighthouses. There are a lot here and all of them are all different.

Once again we found ourselves in just the right place at just the right time. (This is not referring to the title of the blog.) We decided to "weather out" the winds and rain from hurricane Danny a few days ago on a mooring ball in New London, CT. That way we could swing as needed and not bang into a dock. By the way, our friends in the Caymans are welcome to this hurricane weather.

We returned from dinner ashore and dinghied out to the boat in a light rain. The first thing Lou did was start the engine to charge the batteries and check the dial that tells the "charge and discharge" rate on them. He couldn't believe the readings. After a summer of worry-free battery usage, he was seeing the dial jump from big charge to big discharge. Everything (including the refrigerator) was shut off and we went to bed by flashlights......HIS and HERS.

The winds weren't terrible that night but it rained harder than I can ever remember. Of course, the pounding rain was on the deck about 3 feet above my head.

Saturday morning we came to a dock and called a marine mechanic. Here's the really fortunate part........Carl came to look at the problem on Saturday and returned on Sunday to fix it (and didn't charge time and a half). He was a master mechanic in the Coast Guard and has traveled to the North and South Poles during his career. Our problem was not with the batteries or the alternator or some other expensive electrical malfunction. Instead, the vibration of the motor had caused a bolt holding the alternator to break and thus the wild readings at the meter. It's fixed, and we're on our way again.

8-31-09

It was a beautiful day after several rainy days. We had nice wind and could sail with the main and the head sail. What a pleasure! We weren't going far......we thought Fishers Island but that was only 30 minutes away. Then, we thought of Mystic, but we had been there by car and didn't need to go back by boat. So, we decided on Watch Hill, RI. These ports are so close here.

We took a look at the charts and headed for Watch Hill.

First we needed to sail around for a couple of hours to let the tide rise a bit. (This tide stuff adds an element to planning.) Then, we headed in. We got a bit confused as to whether Watch Hill Yacht Club was to the left where there were sail boats or to the right where there were more boats. In that moment of indecision we got on the edge of the narrow channel and ran aground in a rock field. I saw 5'2" on the depth sounder after we got stuck (we need 7 1/2 feet of water). I really believed that we would need to be towed off after the tide got higher (it was already rising). However, 2 power boats stopped and took the main halyard and pulled the boat over on the side to free the keel. The rail was almost in the water, but it worked. We were able to drive the boat back into the channel. WHEW! Of course, Lou will be checking the keel for "scars" when we pull her out for the winter.

I'm glad we're here. Watch Hill is a quaint town on Little Narrangansett Bay off Block Island Sound. We'll go in search of the restored classic carousel and the beautiful beaches here and explore with the dingy today.