Battleship Cove Fall River, MA June 28, 2007

The USS Battleship Massachusetts (Big Mamie) was located in Fall River, MA as a museum several decades ago. We spent the afternoon on board along with a destroyer, USS Joseph P Kennedy, Jr, and the submarine, USS Lionfish, that are located there as well. On all three vessels they have opened up virturally every section for access even sections requiring climbing vertical ladders! Very impressive exhibition. The Masachusetts saw major action throughout World War II in the European and Pacific Theaters.

Looking down the barrel of the 16 inch guns. We were able to climb inside the gun turret work our way into the area where the guns were loaded. Later we worked our way down to one of the lowest decks (deck 5) in the ship to see where the shells and powder were stored and handled to be sent up to the turret. Once there it took awhile to find our way out. It was like working our way through a maze.

USS Lionfish

Joyce climbing up to the conning tower where the Captain executes battle operations.

The navigation and control center of the sub.

Newport, RI Wednesday 27 June 2007

The "Tall Ships"are here for a major celebration in Newport. This is largest group of ships since the US 1976 celebration. We spent the afternoon walking along the docks of Newport Harbor looking at the "Tall Ships". They were coming into port for the week-end festivities. Since this is Wednesday, we were able to walk amongst the crowds and take pictures before the many anticipated scores of people. Thursday through Sunday you will be able to board the boats . The ship with the blue ball on the yellow square and green background is from Brazil. On Sunday, there will be the "Tall Ships"parade of boats that will head out of the harbor down to the ocean and around the island.









This ship is from Columbia. We saw the sailors in their white dress uniforms walking along the docks. There are many scheduled activities this week-end such as a tug of war among the ships crews, heaving line toss and a bucket brigade and knot tying on the north lawn of Fort Adams. The ships are from all over the world. We also saw some of the ocean racing boats ( round the world racers) in the Newport shipyard.

We watched one of the ships come into port with the assistance of a tug boat helping them maneuver among the other boats and the floating docks. Other things going on at Newport this week are the Naval Command College 50th reunion. President George Bush will be attending the reunion tomorrow. We finished the day off by driving along Ocean Drive ( we rented a car for the day) gawking at the Newport Mansions and enjoying the ocean breezes, large green lawns, and beautiful scenery.

We love these beautify flowers which were hedged along the streets and roadways .

Tiverton, RI , Tuesday, 26, June 2007

On Monday when we sailed into Newport Harbor there were many beautiful sights to see. This is a typical light structure that was seen at the inlet into Narragansett Bay.

There was plenty of activity around Newport Harbor. A cruise ship was at anchor around Goat Island. You can see several motor boats and sail boats crossing back and forth in the bay.

This is one of several three masted schooners at anchor in the harbor. This one is decked out in flags and if you look closely you can see three people on the third yardarm on the forward mast.

We think this is the "old"Navy War College along the banks of Narragansett Bay not far from Newport. Talking about the Navy. On Saturday we had the marine radio on channel 16 and heard the Captain of a Navy Submarine which was headed into New London, Conn. to keep a secure distance from the sub as he entered the port. The Coast Guard was also alerting the boaters in the area to give a wide clearance. We have not seen any subs on this trip but in the past when sailing along the coast of Conn., near New London we have seen a sub. It is quite thrilling to sail past their tall conning tower-Yea Navy!!!

Two aircraft carriers at port next to the Naval College.

Tiverton, RI 25 June 2007

We pulled up anchor at 8:30 a.m leaving the "salt pond" on Block Island and headed out to the Atlantic Ocean to follow the coast along Connecticut and Rhode Island. The anchor came out clean and there was not too much traffic heading out of the inlet. We passed many sail boats, fishing party boats, ferries and freighters along the coast. The sun was out, the skies blue and the wind was light. Destination was Pirate Cove Marina in the Sakonnet River near the town of Tiverton. We expect to be here for a few days for repairs of our marine refrigerator. It keeps cold using shore power but not when we use the engine.

We passed along this pretty sail boat as it glided past our portside. You can see the coastline as we passed this boat.

Another sail boat just passing ahead of our bow. We were heading along the coast to Naragansett Bay and then north past Newport, Rhode Island to the Sakonnet River.

Point Judith Light House and Coast Guard Station.

One of the many Newport Mansions along the coast.

The "House on the Rock" with Newport Bridge in the background.

Block Island, RI 24 June 2007

We spent Saturday walking from the New Harbor Boat Basin to the town at Old Harbor. The fields were full of wild flowers and the cottages along the way had climbing pink and yellow roses as well as blue and violet hydrangea. Song birds and butterflies were a delight to hear and see. The cottages are beautiful gray shingles and some have the round stone fences or white picket yards.





We used the Harbor Boat taxi service to pick us up and take use to shore. You can see the taxi approaching our boat "Jabberwocky"











The white sandy beaches were crowded with week-enders enjoying the sun. This is a picture of the beach at Old Harbor which has many activities such as para sailing, kayaks and paddle boats for rental as well as bikes and mopeds. There is a ferry service that runs between Block Island and the mainland. Everyone was wearing shorts and tank tops. Gordon and I were still in slacks since we got acclimated to the warmer weather in Florida. It still gets down to 50 degrees at night while we are on the boat! We were used to 78 degrees water temperature and 90 degrees air temperature! However, we hear warmer weather is on the way!


The quieter side of town facing the Ocean and the higher cliffs of the island. Block Island was discovered by Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524 but named for Adriaen Block who arrived 90 years later and claimed it for his own. The cliffs on the southern side of the island are called the Mohegan Bluffs because the Manissean Indians drove the Mohegan tribe across the moors and over the cliffs to their deaths.

Gordon enjoying a fine day at New Harbor Boat Basin. We came into the harbor just at the end of Race Week-so harbor was full of boats coming and going!

Saturday, June 23 Block Island, R.I.

We are back in our old stomping grounds-Block Island which is 13 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. Twenty years ago, when we lived in Massachusetts this was a favorite week-end sailing destination. We left Cape May, N.J. on Thursday June 21 at 9 a.m. and arrived here on Friday at 5 p.m. This was a long run with several rainy brief cold fronts. Thursday night we had a period of lightening and rain between 10 p.m. and midnight. It was a good thing we reefed the main sail at sunset. When things settled down I was at the helm with the star light above us and the setting moon.

Ten miles off shore we passed late morning Atlantic City. Late at night North Jersey and NYC provided a background of light and I watched the lights of offshore fishermen trawling their nets. We also were on the look out for shipping traffic as we crossed 3 shipping lanes which enter NYC. We saw three freighters during the night. In the morning we watched the barometer go down again and another weak front went by.

The afternoon sailing was sunny with 10-18 knot winds but as we entered Block Island harbor the storm clouds gathered over the inlet and we had gusty winds as we came into the harbor. The challenge was trying to anchor among the many other boats in the harbor with rain and gusty winds. The third try was good with the anchor holding well. By 6:30 p.m. we were too tired to cook dinner so sandwiches and a tonic hit the spot! Looking at the run from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Block Island was 1200 nautile miles.

Cape May, NJ June 20, 2007

We left Hampton, Virginia on Tuesday morning the 19th of June at 8 a.m. It was not too long before we met outbound and inbound ships along the shipping channel. Several naval battle ships passed us on the outward bound trip. We also saw a very fast low to the water naval boat which Gordon believes may transport navy seals. A few large container ships soon followed us on our outbound journey as we hugged the outside of the channel to avoid their large wakes. There were several fishing tour boats that were in the channel and only moved out of the traffic lanes when the ships gave 5 blasts on their horns.

We had southeast winds 10-15 knots as we traveled up the coast with little traffic on the way. At night it was hazy but we had light from the quarter moon and a few stars that shone above us. Gordon put two reefs in our main sail as the weather forecast indicated thunderstorms. Around 4 a.m. were heard thunder in the distance and had a short but heavy downpour as we headed toward Cape May, New Jersey.

We decided to anchor at Cape May to avoid any inclement weather as the cold front passed us. As we entered Cape May harbor at 8 a.m. We skirted 4-5 fishing boats that were trawling their nets in the oyster beds. It took an hour to anchor the boat safely in the inlet behind the Coast Guard Station because of the depth of water and a strong current just outside the channel. We had long naps today and are preparing to head out tomorrow (Thursday June 21 solstice) and hope to make Block Island, Rhode Island by Friday at 5 p.m.

Hampton, VA Sunday June 17, 2007

Finally out of the intercoastal waterway and anchored in Hampton, VA. We sepent a couple of days here in early November on our way south and it is a convenient place to stop over.










We went passed a container ship depot on the way out of Norfolk












And of course the Norfolk Navy Yards.













We will be doing some preparation tomorrow for our offshore trip to Newport RI later in the week. It is about 350 miles from here.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

We left Coinjock, NC at 8 am and spent the morning traveling on the winding North Landing River following the intercoastal water way channel markers to keep in the deeper part of the channel. Almost all of the red and green channel markers which stand about 14 feet high had large hawk nests on the top of the marker. We saw many baby hawks being feed by their mother as she hovered over them on top of their nest. We passed through several draw bridges on our trip on the river-timing the ride so we did not have to wait too long for the bridge tender to open the bridge.

Our boat docked alongside the Great Bridge TownDock in Virginia. We had to wait 45 minutes to pass through the Great Bridge as it only opens hourly.

A picture of Great Bridge with tug and barge passing through and headed for the lock which lies just head. We are docked just ahead of the yacht "Starsong" which belongs to Gayle and Dick Glover who we met while we were at the Alligator River Marina.

Friday, June 15, 2007 Coinjock, N.C.

We left the Alligator River Marina by the Alligator Bridge, NC this morning at 9 am. We had head winds 12-15 knots from the north east and choppy seas 2 /3 feet as we crossed the Albermarle Sound. We headed off our course to ward off the choppy seas and the hobby-horse effect as we worked our way across the sound in amoungst the crap pots along our route.

Coinjock is a channel cut between two rivers. There are several marinas on each side of the channels with extremely long docks on the waterway. This is a popular stop over for north and south bound boaters.

The skies were cloudy all day with sprinkles of rain so we pulled into Coinjock Marina past the 50 mile mark on the intercoastal waterway instead of our planned stop at Great Bridge (the 15 mile mark) This is the first time since November during our trip south that we have had to put on our rain gear and long pants (instead of shorts) because of the cool winds and splashing seas! We will have dinner at the dockside marina-it looks like Prime Rib with a side of local seafood is the deal for the day! On to Great Bridge, VA tomorrow and then Norfolk on Sunday.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Hi Everyone,
We have been extremely busy for the last few weeks and not had time to attend to our blog. Sorry because we know you all enjoy reading the adventures of the Jabberwocky.

Actually we left Florida on 28 May and sailed to Charleston, SC and laid over for seven days. We need to go north to comply with our insurance coverage. The second day at Charleston tropical storm Barry came through and we had a wonderful time bouncing on a rather exposed dock. The folks behind us in a smaller boat actually left their boat and went to a hotel they were so uncomfortable.

We had a number of items for repair or complete and finally left Charleston around June 7 and came up to Beaufort, NC. Again we laid over for a couple of days and are now travelling in the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) headed for Norfolk.

Fort Sumter at the entrance to Charleston Harbor

The new bridge across one of the channels of the harbor.

Our first stop was Belhaven on the 11th and then we arrived at Alligator River Bridge Marine yesterday with about 84 miles to go to Norfolk. We tried to leave this morning a high pressure system had come in producing 15 to 20 knot winds from the northeast that prevented us from crossing Albermarle Sound this morning with very choppy seas and gusts to 30. We are hoping that conditions improve in the morning.

Our current goal is to get to Newport, RI in two to three weeks.

We have been updating the shiptrak website on a regular basis.

We promise to work on updates for the blog more frequently.

Thanks for reading.
Gordon and Joyce.