Well, we pulled it off. My wife, my 6 year old son and I sailed from Pt.
Judith, RI to Block Island, spent 5 nights on the boat there (in a marina),
and made it back. We wanted an adventure, and we got it.
First of all, I had called ahead, asking about the boat ramp and was told
that it had easy access to Pt. Judith Harbor. I was assured that there were
no low, non-opening bridges to deal with. We were initially going to leave
on Saturday morning, bright and early, since Pt. Judith is a 3 and ½ hour
car ride from Lee NH. However, the marine forecast for Saturday included a
small craft warning, so we postponed our departure until Sunday.
When we got down to Pt. Judith on Sunday morning, the first glitch we
encountered was the boat ramp. Access to the harbor was under a fixed bridge
with a 12 foot clearance. Having never raised the mast on the water, we
fretted for a few minutes, but then just decided to go for it, motor under
the bridge and anchor somewhere in the harbor while we raised the mast. As
luck would have it, there was an empty mooring just in the harbor, and
although we felt guilty about using someone's mooring without asking them,
we tied up to it for about 5 minutes. When we were done, the wind was
perfect for just dropping away and sailing down the harbor. Once we got
outside the harbor, our course was SSW, and the wind was almost directly
behind us at about 10 knots. Unfortunately, we don't have a whisker pole,
and in order to keep the sails full we had to sail a series of broad
reaches. Although I couldn't measure it directly, I estimate that we
couldn't sail any further off the wind than about 140 degrees. Although the
seas were wonderful, our progress was slower than expected, and it took us
about 5 hours to cover the 13 miles. We ended up motoring the last 2 miles
since we were all getting a bit antsy, and we were not at all familiar with
the harbor and marina.
When we arrived, we felt a nice sense of accomplishment. Now, Block Island
isn't what I'd call blue water sailing, but it is 10 miles from the nearest
land, and the fact that my family worked together to get us there made us
feel proud of our accomplishment. What good feelings we had were somewhat
offset by the conditions of the marina we had reservations at until the
following Saturday. Not only did the structures (both docks and buildings)
need a lot of work, but the whole staff was overworked and didn't seem very
courteous or helpful. We decided that we would rent a car, rather than the
ubiquitous mopeds, so we could get around and see the whole island.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were beautiful, and we spent most of the days
at the beach. My son loved it, the waves weren't too high, and my wife and I
could relax and let him play without having to keep too close an eye on him.
About this time, those tropical storms were brewing in the Caribbean, Dennis
among them, and although we weren't concerned about them coming up to New
England in such a short time, the general weather patterns were causing
forecasters to call for cloudy weather for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday,
with a chance of showers, rain, or thundershowers. We decided to try and
leave on Thursday, rather than risk getting stuck later on the weekend.
Thursday morning, the marine forecast was for 10-15 knot winds out of the
southeast, and seas 1-3 feet. In the harbor, it was blowing around 15 knots,
but we decided to give it a try. We set off with a reef in the main, and the
jib furled to about 85% of its full area. Outside the harbor, the winds
were stronger, probably 20-25 knots with gusts over 30 and the seas were
much bigger. Our course was NNE, but the winds were out of the east rather
than the southeast. We took in more jib until less than half was showing. We
were having a rough time with it, and after we got north of the northern
tip, the waves came in from the east. We saw swells over 8 feet high, and
due to the tricky currents the seas were getting confused and starting to
break. We needed to put in a second reef in the main, but the idea of one of
us up at the mast while we were rolling 60 degrees didn't so good. So, we
turned around and went back to the marina.
Friday started out foggy, but at least the winds had abated and veered to
the southeast. I went to the marina showers and when I came out, it was
sunny. We took advantage of it, cast off and had a much better sail. The
winds and seas were much more comfortable (even a bit too calm - about 10
knots), but the skies clouded up for most of the trip and we got rained on
for about 2 out of the 4 and ½ hours it took us to return.
All in all, it was an adventure. We were THE smallest boat in the marina
(there was a 24 footer, a 29 footer, and everything else was over 36 feet)
and we had made the trip in relative safety and comfort. We certainly tested
ourselves and the boat and learned how to cope with adverse conditions.
Returning to the harbor on Thursday was convenient. Had we been unable to do
so, for whatever reason, we would have had to put a second reef in the main,
and steer a course to avoid the beam seas. Not wanting to take 6-8 hours to
cross the sound, we turned back. We also learned that although the Potter is
a big 19 footer, it's still only a 19 footer. There is no standing headroom,
and supplies for a few nights can take up a large amount of room. But it is
a wonderful boat. Tough, easy to sail, and a good teacher. Have a good Labor
Day weekend, and boy, that Monterey Bay sail sure sounds nice...
Andy Krumpe
P19 "Great Wight"
Portsmouth, NH