Our mail went walkabout in Newport.

We are anchored at a familiar spot in Onset Bay (map), just off the Cape Cod Canal and near the hamlet of that name in the town of East Wareham, Massachusetts. I had hoped to get this post done, or at least started, on our way out of Newport, but we were in fog the whole day and I could not divert my eyes. I was able to get a bit of it done yesterday on the short cruise here from New Bedford.

This souvenir shop in Newport speaks for the entire town, methinks.

We had a very quiet and calm night in New London after my last post, with just the sounds of the trains. I know that bothers a lot of people, but we rather like them. On Tuesday morning I tendered ashore and walked up the hill to Fiddleheads, a coop grocer that had most of what we needed but was on the pricey side for non-members. I walked back along State Street, taking in a bit more of the town.

State Street, looking downhill to the waterfront.

It was another scorcher of a day and we ran the gen on and off all day to keep cool. I aligned the engine yet one more time, and hammered out a post on the electrical changes I've been working on. A big thunderstorm system was bearing down on us, and we hemmed and hawed about going ashore for dinner, but we got a break between rain showers and figured we could just squeeze it in if we went to the closest joint. That was The Social Bar + Kitchen, which had an impressive array of drafts and decent food. After dinner the storm risk had dropped and we strolled back the longer way past the train station.

An impressive array of draft handles at Social. I can understand why they can't be using the branded ones. Look closely to see how they indicate the ones that have "kicked."

Wednesday morning we went ashore for a quick errand run to get gas for the dingy and beer at the nearby C-store. It was another no-go day for crossing out of Long Island Sound, but we briefly contemplated going as far as Fisher Island to stage for the crossing. We can get ashore at the yacht club there and walk to the lone restaurant on this reclusive island, but ultimately we decided we were very comfortable in New London and just stayed put, heading back ashore for dinner at Mi Casa, which had acceptable if not remarkable Mexican fare.

Construction has begun on the new USCG Museum next to the train depot in New London.

Thursday turned out to be The Day for making the crossing, and we decked the tender and weighed early. That put us against the flood but it was not too bad. The swell picked up once we were past the protection of Fisher Island, but again not too bad, and we were at our preferred anchorage in Newport Harbor, near Ida Lewis Rock, by 4:30. The anchorage was packed, with really no room for us to squeeze in, especially with storm winds coming, so we circled north of Goat Island and dropped the hook in the more spacious Anchorage 3 (map) instead.

Vector-on-Thames.

With a near-weekend arrival I had made dinner reservations, which now of course were at the wrong end of the harbor. We dinghied back under the bridge and all the way to the Maritime Center to have a shorter walk to @ The Deck, on Waites Wharf, the only casual joint I was able to book. There are lots of better choices in Newport.

This enormous jack-up rig for building offshore wind farms dominated our view across the State Pier, itself full of wind turbine parts.

You can draw a straight line over open water from Anchorage 3 all the way to Bermuda, and when the wind clocked around just before bedtime we started to roll at our natural period. I can sleep through that, but Louise can not, and she had a miserable night. We were still rolling in the morning, and with Ida Lewis likely still full, we called the harbormaster to see if they could fit us on a mooring in the calmer part of the harbor. One had just opened up, so we weighed anchor and followed them in to a ball (map). They really pack them in here and it felt like a tight fit to us, even though the harbormaster said it was a 65' ball.

Passing Latimer Reef Lighthouse, north of Fisher Island. This calm would soon yield to big Atlantic rollers.

The short run was just enough to heat the engine up for the oil change I was planning to do anyway, and so after lunch I went down to the engine room to get started. Somehow I had neglected to restock the oil filter after the last change, and I ended up doing the whole change without it. I drained the old filter and put it back on in case we needed to start up quickly, and called the local Napa, who said they could have one first thing in the morning.

Our view from Anchorage 3. We assume the red, white, and blue lighting was leftover from July 4.

At 3:30 we met good friend Bruce at the recently reconstructed Elm Street dock, which, ironically, is adjacent to Anchorage 3 and thus we crossed the harbor and went under the bridge in the other direction. He whisked us off to Jamestown, being the consummate tour guide en route, where we were joined at their house by Dorsey and the inimitable Scotties Maisie and Ollie, fresh from the groomer. After settling the dogs in, the four of us piled into Dorsey's very racy car and headed off to Pasquales for dinner. This is apparently one of their go-to places, and a single thick-crust pizza and a couple of salads fed all four of us.

Get thee to a …

It was a great evening and really nice to catch up with them, as well as to get some dog love. Dorsey dropped us back at the dock. The rest of our evening was calm and quiet, even when Louise turned in. But by the time I was heading to bed another slight swell was making its way even into this part of the harbor, and a short time later Louise retreated to the saloon, where she could sleep athwartships on some cushions.

We kept passing this $100M superyacht, Sherpa, a Feadship built as a "shadow yacht." Military styling extends to a number stenciled on the bow and an unfaired hull.

That had her well-positioned to hear the 4:45am Mayday call about a boat on fire in the mooring field. After putting eyes on it some half-dozen moorings away, she came down and roused me in case we needed to beat a hasty retreat. I was glad I had put the used oil filter back in place, and I made a quick check of the engine room before coming upstairs. By the time I had everything ready to go, put clothes on, and headed up to the boat deck to try to snap a photo, the fireboat was already on scene. Evidently the occupants, a couple with a dog, had self-evacuated by dinghy and called 911 when the fire broke out around 4:30.

Yacht fire as seen from our boat deck,

We were never in any danger either from the fire or from the very toxic smoke that burning boats produce, and after the fire was mostly out and our cortisol levels had come down some, I went back to bed. After lunch I had a short walk in town, and Bruce was kind enough to meet me at the dock to take me to NAPA for my filter, and also swung me by the Amazon locker and Walmart for a few items. I was back home just before dinner

Zooming in just a moment later the fireboat is already on scene.

While I was out and about, Louise was able to make dinner reservations at Stoneacre Brasserie. A place that leans toward French cuisine is never my first choice, but we needed reservations on a busy summer weekend, and it was decent, with a nice patio in full shade. After dinner I installed the new oil filter, after topping it up with fresh oil. Louise jury-rigged the bed with some extra cushions in case she again needed to sleep athwartships.

New NAPA filter, left, is clearly different from the old Wix filter, right. Wix had been supplying NAPA, but it seems Baldwin is the new supplier, even though NAPA's part numbers derive from Wix.

We have a big trip to California coming up in less than three weeks, and I spent a good part of Sunday working on travel reservations. We already had flights, and we've got a marina for the boat, but I needed to start nailing down hotels, cars, transfers, and the rest of it. In the afternoon I took another walk around town, and Bruce again picked us up at the Elm street dock to whisk us off to the house for a home-cooked meal. Dorsey and Bruce outdid themselves and we had such a good time that it was after dark by the time Dorsey dropped us back at the dock. We expected to be leaving on Tuesday and so we said our goodbyes.

Enjoying dinner with Dorsey and Bruce on their lovely deck. Bruce and I finished that Pinot Noir with no help from the ladies.

Our friends Dori and Bob aboard Liberdade had arrived to the harbor Sunday afternoon, taking a ball not far from ours, and Monday after some more travel planning we made arrangements to meet them for an early dinner in town. It ended up being six of us, plus Cali the dog, at Diego's, including their friends Ann and Bob aboard Changing Course. We had a great time catching up and making new friends.

Aquasition is a $15M, 142' superyacht just two moorings away from us. She charters for $150k/week, and yet she's using this ratty 10' dinghy here in the harbor, because 10' dinghies dock free, but their big tender would be $0.50/ft/hr. This is the only time that our tender was nicer than the superyacht tender next to it.

Tuesday our mail was scheduled to arrive sometime between 10:45 and 12:45 at the UPS Access Point at the Staples, a short ways from town. I originally planned to get it via either e-bike or public transit, depending on actual arrival time, so we could leave the harbor by 1:30 with enough time to make our next port, with weather deteriorating over the next few days. Bruce generously offered to pick me up and drive me to Staples instead. As long as we were getting the mail there, I also had some more Amazon items sent to the locker, but those were already a day late and unlikely to be delivered in time.

Bannister's Wharf. This is the crowd early in the day.

All well and good, but that delivery window came and went with no actual delivery. In the meantime, we had to clear off the mooring by 11 and so we dropped lines and headed over to the anchorage by Ida Lewis, where a very nice space had opened up right next to the yacht club (map). Good for the afternoon, or longer if we ended up having to stay. After the delivery window closed we got an exception notice from UPS about a delay, and so stay we did, as these sorts of exceptions never end up delivered on the same day.

This shot out the pilothouse window shows how close we anchored to the Ida Lewis Yacht Club, built atop the eponymous rock.

I ended up spending the afternoon walking to the Ace Hardware and the Stop and Shop to pick up some things that I would have grabbed on the way out to Staples, a trip that was starting to look unlikely. We walked to Sardella's for dinner, hearty Italian fare with a nice bock on tap, a local institution. We had a few rolls at bedtime and ended up employing the athwartship sleeping strategy, although in hindsight I think they were wakes from a couple of large ships leaving the bay.

The bar at Sardella's, from our table.

Wednesday morning, with no further updates on our tracking, I persisted until I reached a live person at UPS, who admitted the package was lost and we would have to file a claim to open an investigation. UPS always imagines these are merchandise, but in this case it was a 90-day supply of prescription medications, the same ones we had so much trouble getting filled, and my paperwork from Douglas County, Nevada to officiate our niece's wedding.

This painting, perhaps 3' tall, adorns the men's room at Stoneacre Brasserie. I checked with Louise, who reported no beefcake decor in the ladies' room.

Our window to cross the open water from the mouth of Narraganset Bay to the relative protection of Buzzards Bay was rapidly closing. We already missed the good part of the window Tuesday afternoon, and if we did not leave by mid-day Wednesday we'd likely be pinned down for another few days. While we now had a good spot in the anchorage instead of a $57/night mooring, the prospect of losing so much of our buffer leading up to our flight was daunting, and with the likelihood UPS would find our package before the end of the day nearly zero, we reluctantly weighed anchor and got underway, resolving to have UPS do the right thing if and when they ever found it, or rent a car if need be and drive back to Newport.

Sunset over Conanicut Island from our anchorage near Ida Lewis.

The timing of this last-minute escape was such that we pushed against max flood to get out of the harbor, and I hugged the shore in the coves to stay out of the worst of it. As we came around Rams Head we could see fog starting to envelop the Castle Hill Lighthouse, and by the time we rounded Brenton Point we were fully engulfed and running the fog horn. The fog was with us all the way into Buzzards Bay and we had all eyes scanning the fog bank and the radar scope. We managed to pass several center consoles fishing in the thick of it close aboard.

Approaching Castle Hill Light, just starting to be enveloped in fog.

Fog or no fog, these were the best sea conditions for the foreseeable future, and we pressed on to New Bedford, where we popped out of the fog bank as we made our way north toward the hurricane barrier. It was a bit of a lumpy ride until we were in the lee north of the Elizabeth Islands. I would have preferred to press on to Mattapoisett, but with winds S-SW, we did not feel it would be calm enough. There is no anchorage north of the barrier in New Bedford, so I booked another mooring. Underway I had managed to get a copy of my paperwork from Douglas County emailed to me by the county clerk, and Louise was able to re-order her prescriptions through a different mail-order pharmacy. 

Approaching the hurricane gates. The bosun has her mooring lines and boat pole ready on deck.

After making our way through the hurricane barrier we headed to the mooring field, where they put us on the same ball we had the last time we did this (map). With four footers forecast on Buzzards Bay for Thursday, we had booked the ball for two nights. We tendered over to where the dinghy dock was supposed to be, but found only ladders on the main pier, so that's what we used. We walked straight to our old standby, Moby Dick Brewing, just a block from the waterfront. On a short stroll around town after dinner, we discovered they'd relocated the dinghy dock to the north side of the state pier from its former spot to the south.

The new dinghy dock is this first float on the police dock.

Thursday morning we awoke to the news that the package had been found and was out for delivery. I spent hours on the phone with UPS and our mail service trying to get it stopped and re-routed to our next stop in Onset, and by the time I was done that was arranged. I called the Staples to let them know they should not accept it if UPS tried to deliver it anyway. I found another Staples in Fairhaven to take my Amazon returns, near a grocery store for the items I could not find in New London, all an easy bus ride away.

This two-story rooster sculpture outside the YMCA appears mostly made of flotsam. Note the buoy in the wattle.

After lunch I headed to New Bedford to buy a discounted bus ticket (ID required) only to learn that the county buses are free until next year sometime, a fact omitted from the agency web site. That meant I could have caught the bus on the Fairhaven side and saved myself a half hour, but as long as I was here I just boarded at the depot in New Bedford. Walking through town I found the main drag and a couple of side streets closed off for some kind of festival.

I spotted this similar chicken mural elsewhere in town on my bus ride.

As long as I was out and about I stopped off for a haircut and browsed Harbor Freight looking for some tools I need to continue with the engine alignment, but it was a long afternoon. And, of course, I was on the bus when I got the text saying that, notwithstanding an agreement to the contrary, UPS had delivered our package back in Newport. I really wanted to be back in front of my computer before I called them back for the next steps.

It's classic cars all the way down.

When I finally made it back home I found Louise a miserable wreck. The wind shift had sent some sort of allergen our way and she was hit hard, with antihistamines providing only marginal relief. She was in no shape to go out, so I dinghied over to the boat ramp in Fairhaven and picked up takeout at Wah May after stopping at the town pharmacy for more Loratadine. After dinner I went back to New Bedford to stroll what turned out to be a classic car show. I also brought my growler, hoping to fill it at Moby Dick, but I learned that MA does not allow them to fill any growlers but their own.

They drew a good crowd on a nice evening.

Yesterday morning again started out with phone calls to UPS. They could not answer why it was delivered when they said it would not be, but they thought they could retrieve it and move it along to East Wareham, where we are now. With that handled I headed back ashore via the massive fueling dock at SeaFuels to fill the tender. I grabbed a breakfast sandwich at Mirasol's Cafe Express right by the dinghy dock before hoofing it to the package store in search of beer, but I came away empty-handed. We decked the tender to make our 11am checkout.

Miss Teen New Bedford and Miss New Bedford greeting some admirers.

With some time to kill before the tide was favorable in Buzzards Bay and the canal, we stopped at the marina dock to fill our water tank and offload trash and recycling. They were very pleasant and the marina facilities have been renovated since our last visit. We shoved off the dock and headed for the canal a little after noon.

If you recognize this, you're old like me.

We had the hook down here by 4pm and last night we tendered to the town dock and walked up the hill to Marc Anthony's, an old-time pizza joint that only takes cash and hands you your draft beer in a plastic cup. We scored one of the few four-tops; most of the room is filled with long community tables. The pizza is very good and it has become one of our go-to places here.

I counted two stages and four DJs around the show, just barely out of earshot of each other. This band was playing The Twist when I passed.

We can't get any more online status for our package, but my call with UPS this morning suggests it's back at the distribution center and will be on its way here shortly. We're camped out right here in Onset until it arrives, and then we need good weather to cross Cape Cod and Massachusetts Bays to make it to Boston Harbor. We're happy to be here, where we have all-around protection, a few eateries and stores, and both the anchorage and the dinghy dock are free.

Customs are not my bag, but this billiard-mobile cracked me up. Not a regulation table, but still. No idea how they level it.