There are two choices when moving along Long Island New York. You can go down the sound and then slide through NYC or you can go on the “outside” and just fly. Of course this is usually weather and time dependent. Moving on the outside is generally faster but will require cooperative weather.

On our trip north we were lucky enough to have cooperative weather. Actually we had down right supportive weather and for part of the journey we topped 7 knots.

The entrance to Newport RI is so easy it’s not really even worth noting other than just how easy it is. And once inside there is a large anchorage on the southern section of the harbor. We tend to anchor as close to the Kings Park Dinghy Dock as we feel comfortable. It’s right by the Ida Lewis Yacht Club and we found a good spot south of the electrical cables, east of Ida Lewis’ moorings, and a short dinghy ride to the dock.

There are a number of free and easy to use dinghy docks in the town and they are all fantastic. But our dinghy is a slow girl and so we try to get close to one so we don’t have to travel too far. That said we have used most of the dinghy docks in town but primarily this one and the Newport Maritime Center.

Newport Maritime Center has laundry and showers and the offices for the Harbormaster in addition to a lounge. When the season is running it’s an excellent place to meet other sailors and network. We however once again arrived just a few days outside of the season so they were closed. Which seems to be our theme. Last fall we arrived the last day they were open and this spring moving north we were leaving the day they were opening.

Even so Newport is a fantastic spot. Well protected and it’s good holding. We had three days of 20-30 knot winds which kept us on the boat (again our less than speedy dinghy) and we never moved an inch.

Newport has everything a mariner would need, the marine center, a close grocery store, hardware store, a UPS store to receive packages, and even propane (although you’ll need to rent a scooter to go and get it). The city also has some solid cafes and restaurants.

Cafe wise we like them all but tend to work from either The Nitro Bar on Thames St or Empire Tea & Coffee up on Bellevue Ave depending on what part of town we are spending time in that day.

We ended up leaving in absolute pea soup of a fog so that we could get thought the Cape Cod Canal during daylight which once again raised the call for AIS and also probably for the need to fix our Radar or buy a replacement.. I’m tempted to get the B&G bundle of new chart plotter and radar.