We had a thirty five mile cruise back through Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound. We were hoping to have some Watch Hill oysters , since we were going to be there. The trip was pleasant and uneventful, with the last hour winding back in to Little Narragansett Bay which is quite shallow on either side of the channel. Once we got to the anchorage area, we saw there were several boats already anchored, but there was plenty of space. We found a spot and dropped anchor staying far away from the others. There was a nice long, sandy beach close by to walk Frank, which had the Atlantic Ocean on the other side. The town of Watch Hill was about a half mile dinghy ride away. The thing about Watch Hill is that it’s where wealthy people who don’t want the commotion of the Hamptons or Nantucket go to keep themselves tastefully tucked away. Once we were settled in we swam for a bit, then decided to head in to town. We couldn’t find any place that sold the namesake oysters except for some fine dining options, and they were quite expensive there. That was a bit disappointing. We walked around town for a bit, then found a place for lunch. We ordered some sandwiches and sat in the park overlooking the water to enjoy them. On the way back to the dinghy I stopped at the town dock to inquire about water. We needed to fill our water tanks on Klondike as we were getting pretty low. The dock hand told me we could pull in and he would just charge me an hours rate (@ $10/hr) and we could fill up. I talked it over with Lauren and we decided we should go ahead and fill up today as the dock hand said the guy working to tomorrow may not be as agreeable to it. We returned to Klondike and prepared to go in for the water. We pulled anchor and went in to the dock. Just as we were approaching another boat pulled in and took up the whole dock. We just waited for a bit, then the boat moved back to give us some room. He was waiting on guests to take out for a sunset cruise. We filled the tanks and got everything in order, then headed back out to the anchorage. We went to about the same spot but a little closer to the beach.
Day 2- We went back to town so we could walk around. Taylor Swift has a house here, so we walked there. The house towers over the town and is impossible to miss. The previous owner, Rebekah Harkness was known for her glamorous parties that brought in the likes of Salvador Dalí and other celebrities, and was known to fill her swimming pool with champagne. She owned the house from the 1950s until her death in 1982. Taylor purchased the estate for 17 million dollars cash. Swifts recently released album, Folklore, features a song called “the last great american dynasty” which recounts Harkness’s legacy and parallels Swifts experience in the town, The house is next to another beautiful beach which we hung out on, but we didn’t plan well as we didn’t have our swim suits. We then walked over to a cool lighthouse which was an easy walk. By mid afternoon we were back on the boat, swimming and floating on our rafts. Tomorrow we plan on going to Mystic, Connecticut…
