Page 13 - Yachter Winter 2019

Angela Rice’s latest US adventure on Catalina 38 Swallow...
SWALLOW GOES TOTOWN
With just a week to go before I was due in the US for my annual sailing trip on Swallow, the RSYC couple, whom Skipper Richard had invited to join us, had to back out. Over the years Swallow has gathered a group of RSYC friends who have joined us intermittently.A quick call to another couple offering a last-minute opportunity for an iconic sail to NewYork (from Wickford Rhode Island) resulted in expressions of wild enthusiasm
- followed by grudging acceptance that cancelling the next month’s commitments would let too many people down. I then threw the issue back over the Pond to Richard. By the time I arrived he had successfully tempted his localYC friends David and Ellen to be our crew.
the nearby Dead Eyed Dick’s restaurant, where the food was rather better than the name might suggest.This being the eve of Labour Day weekend, the place was buzzing. We were all surprised by an unanticipated thunderstorm as we ate on the (fortunately covered) deck - but enjoyed walking back to the launch in fresher temperatures. So far, so very good.
Our next day’s passage was calculated on the basis of entering the Ambrose Channel around 7am the following morning.This point is generally known as the Ambrose Light, which formerly marked the convergence of several major shipping lanes. Some years ago, however, it was carelessly demolished by a tanker, and replacement was deemed unnecessary, navigation systems having become more sophisticated since
its installation. So more correctly, it is the Ambrose Light As Was.This timing would permit us to catch the tide in the channel leading into NewYork City and also to navigate into the harbour in daylight.
The backward calculation from this allowed us a leisurely departure, so next
day we cast off from Block Island at 1150, heading towards Montauk at the Eastern point of Long Island.With a breeze
of around 16 knots from the East we motorsailed to the SW shelf, which extends 12 miles off Long Island, where we were able to cut the engine.The original plan had been to run parallel to the shore, but the
The demanding part was to be the overnight continuous passage from Block Island to New York. Richard’s wife Janet, a staunch Reluctant Sailing Wife, had gleaned from
the female grapevine that Ellen had mixed feelings about heading out into the ocean overnight. It was hard to assess whether this was actually the case, or whether it was a projection of the feelings of those who reported it, there being an abundance of RSWs within the local community. She and husband David, an experienced sailor, however appeared to us to be very enthusiastic about the project.
Leg one of our small adventure posed
no challenges. Casting off from Wickford RI on Thursday, 30th August, in bright sunshine, we looked forward to escaping the unusually high temperatures and humidity of the previous week. Swallow having
been prepared and provisioned by means
of dinghy shuttle trips from home to her mid-harbour poles mooring, we brought her over to the fuel dock to fill up with diesel and water and pick up David and
Ellen.The original plan had been to leave
as soon as possible after my English friends arrived in the US on 4th September, but
we were able now to take advantage of the earlier weather window which had opened up.We cast off at 1015 and headed through Narragansett Bay to meet the south-running tide under the Jamestown Bridge and then motored with its help to Point Judith, and the Atlantic. Here at 2pm we let out the sails and motorsailed for several hours in a light westerly wind to Block Island.
After picking up a mooring in Great Salt Pond, we swam off the back of the boat
in delicious not-too-hot but not-too-cold clear water. Perfect! Rinsed, dried and dressed we marked the cocktail hour in the cockpit, admiring the scenery and sunset. (As provisioner, I had been careful to obtain a detailed spec for our crew’s sundowner G&Ts. Morale is all!) A launch took us to
DEAD EYED DICK’S RESTAURANT,WHERE THE FOOD WAS RATHER BETTER THAN THE NAME
CRUISING REPORTS 13