6th July was a glorious day; we were invited to the US Naval War College
for lunch on the terrace at the Officers Club and a tour of the museum by Capt
Tim – we met Tim and his lovely wife Nicki with their two boys on 4th
July. We shared stories of travel and living in foreign countries and became
instant friends. A graduation was taking place that afternoon so the place was
buzzing with brand new officers from all over the world in gleaming white
uniforms – it was like being on the set of Top Gun.
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| Lunch with Tim and Nicki at the Officers Club |
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| Naval War College |
The college is the oldest war college in the world and is
very proud of it’s history and academic performance, which focuses not just
strategic warfare but prevention of war and statesmanship. The museum took us
through the history of the college; which dates back to 1884, Naval activities
in the bay area and the history of naval warfare. The torpedo displays were
amazing, and e were interested to learn that controlled testing off Fremantle
in 1942 was able to identify a defect in the primary Torpedoes used in world
war II – 17000 were then used in the war and they remained in the US Navy tool
box for nearly 40 years. Having sailed through the torpedo testing area on the
way into Newport, they obviously continue to test these weapons at home too!
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| Andrew & Tim at the War College Musuem |
It poured down the next day and we were glad to be tucked up
on a mooring behind Goat Island, we did a few boat jobs and then had to go
ashore to collect our new Wifi Antenna from Oyster, as the rain cleared a bit
we took the chance to explore Newport Shipyard. This is not a shipyard like I
have ever seen before (and yes I have seen a few) – the marina and yard was
packed full of the worlds most beautiful sailing yachts, including most of the
J Class yachts. There was gleaming varnish and crew polishing and cleaning
everywhere.
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| Velsheda |
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| Ranger |
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| Svea |
We enjoyed a final day in Newport, did some provisioning and
had a great seafood dinner with Jonathan and Gabbie on Aqualuna. Then we set
sail for Martha’s Vineyard early on Sunday morning. It was really exciting to
see the harbour entrance that was shrouded in fog when we arrived and then we
were treated to a display of unique kites as we sailed up the coast. The trip
was actually more of a motor sail as we needed to pass through the stretch of
water called Vineyard Sound by 2pm when the current would turn against us, this
managing tides thing is weird after so many months without them but shooting
along at over 8 knots is nice.
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| Fort Adams at the entrance to Newport Harbour |
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| Beaver Tail Lighthouse that we visited |
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| Kite Show - I love the whale |
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| Sailing into Vineyard Haven |
Along the way there was a race and a beautiful old classic
yacht was dismasted with 20 people on board – the Coast Guard was very
impressive and on the scene within about 15 minutes, together with the various
towing organisations that operate in these waters. We later saw the Sophie
being towed into Vineyard Haven. We had expected Martha’s Vineyard to be really
busy so when we arrived to find only two boats at anchor we were pleasantly
surprised and got a great spot fairly close to the yacht club.
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| Athena - we last saw in Nuka Hiva, French Polynesia |
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| Sophie Looking a bit sorry for herself |
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| We anchored just off this beautiful home |
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| Vineyard Haven Yacht Club |
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| Bridge opening into the lagoon |
I called the yacht club to see if they would welcome us –
when they said they didn’t have a bar I thought it was probably just a small
club – we later found out that Vineyard Haven is generally a dry town –
although the Black Dog Tavern is one of a few exceptions. We saw the Black Dog
boats sailing in the bay, went ashore to find many shops selling blackdog merchandising
and learned this was the first pub in town established by a retired Navy
Captain in 1971 who had a black dog who he used to sail with, now a brand in
it’s own right on the island. Aqualuna joined us a bit later and brought
Lobsters along with them – another fabulous night of laughs. Next day we
explored town and found some fun shops and learned that this was where Jaws was
filmed – the local cinema was running it every Friday through summer!
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| A feast on board Aqualuna |
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| Town Beach in Vineyard Haven |
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| The Blackdog Tavern |
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| Now that is a lobster roll |
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| Upside down shop.... |
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| A bit spotty |
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| This was the entry to a store |
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| Not sure I am ready to watch it again |
We spent two nights in the Haven and then moved around to
Edgartown where we took a mooring right in the river which looked to me a lot
like Beaulieu in the UK, with beautiful houses with manicured gardens leading
down to the waters edge to the dock with a boat tied on it. This is a great
place with a really lively, touristy town, a welcoming yacht club and lots of
great seafood restaurants. We had our final dinner with Aqualuna in the yacht
club before they headed off south to layup the boat in Annapolis, and took a
cycle trip to the near by town of Oak Bluffs.
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| Edgartown Yacht Club |
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| So pretty |
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| Around this lighthouse was a children's memorial - sad but also nicely done |
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| This is how to take your pashmina ashore in the rain |
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| Askari on the river at Edgartown |
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| Edgartown Yacht Club |
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| I love this boat house |
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| Dinner at EYC with Jonathan and Gabbie |
Oak Bluffs is famous for being a Methodist camp ground that
then developed these really cute ‘Gingerbread Cottages’ all around a central
tabernacle, it also has the oldest merry-go-round in America. We opted to leave
town before the community sing later that night! On the way back we called into
a local brew pub - Bad Martha’s before
long we had made some new friends, we all shared a few different beers and had
a fun evening with Mac the dog too – Andrew was giving a new t-shirt by Josh to
remember our time in MV.
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| Oldest Merry Go Round in America |
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| Oak Bluffs Wharf |
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| More cottages |
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| The Tabernacle |
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| Cottages |
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| At Bad Martha's |
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| Add caption |
We had mixed weather while in Martha’s with a strong cold
front coming through – nice to be tucked up again. It was amazing as we had
been doing laundry on the boat and within minutes the temperature just dropped
dramatically before big clouds arrived and then strong winds and rain. All the
big yachts anchored outside were allowed into the harbour to anchor where the
ground is usually protected – I am not sure if the harbour master invited them
but it was good to see.
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| South shore of Martha's |
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| Oyster Farmer in action |
We had a great morning out exploring Katama Bay and the wild
South Shore Beach with a picnic until sandflies drove us back to the dinghy. We
had a lovely chat with an Oyster farmer on the way back – that looks hardwork.
We also fitted the new wifi Antenna so we should be able to get better
connections now as this one is powered – one of only a couple of things we
think we messed up when specifying Askari.
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| A up the mast and right now I am uploading using free wifi - great job! |
As we left Martha’s on Saturday we passed by Le Grand Bleu anchored outside – complete with her ‘Toy Yacht’ on deck – we wondered if she
was there for the regatta that day…. The Toy looked as big as Askari – LGB is
one of the largest superyachts in the world and was owned by Roman Abramovich
until he gave it to a friend!
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| Le Grand Bleu |
