Watch Hill, Rhode Island

Spread the love

I’ve been enjoying all the faulty weather reports because they’ve been wrong in a good way!

We had a pleasant ride down on Sunday and almost no rain yesterday, despite forecasts to the contrary.

But when I woke up in Jamestown on Tuesday morning, I could feel the wind rattling the boat and whipping across the docks and that was not in the forecast!

It was nearly cold, gray, and looked like rain. I checked the NOAA Buoys and all were reporting 15-20 knots out of the northwest.

It’s never good to wake up to a blow before 7:00. I told the crew to be ready to shove off around 9:00 in case things heated up and we had to crawl the 35 miles to Watch Hill.

Daunting Departure

As reported yesterday, Conanicut Marina put us in a very tight slip. Fortunately, when we came in there was very little wind. But with the morning gusts, we were not going to be as lucky on the way out.

The northwest wind was blowing back into the area where we were docked. I considered backing out, but the final opening was only about 40’ wide which left me 10’ on either side of Amazing Grace which was outside my comfort window driving backward into a strong breeze.

I had about 100’ square area to back into and turn around in order to exit bow first, but the wind would be pushing us into a 70’ Yacht about 6’ off our port side. Then once I cleared that boat, I’d only have 20’ behind me before the wind pushed me into a fishing boat.

I’m here to report no fiberglass was hurt making the following short video (courtesy of Miss Peggy).

Watch Hill Bound

The steady 15-20 knot wind was blowing out of the northwest, which meant the southern coast of Rhode Island was knocking down the wind-driven wave formation. And that enabled me to run at 28 MPH the entire way.

As the video rounding Point Judith shows, we did have big long rollers coming in from what was left of Ernesto.

This was Jake and Peggy’s first visit to Watch Hill and my first ride down the long, narrow, shallow channel into the boat basin.

Jake was amazed as I hugged the corner – 20’ from the beach and still showed 30’ of water on the depth sounder.

Our docking was rather exciting as we had to back into a piling lined slip with a strong wind pushing us away from the pier.

Once again, the giant (96” by 18”) AERE Fenders came to the rescue.

After some adjustments, we were secured to the dock, but the front third of the boat stuck out from the pier.

Jake was doing his Fantasy Football Draft at 6:00, which meant we’d be eating dinner late and thus lunch could be whenever.

With that in mind, I asked Dockmaster John if he knew anyone who could drive us to Andrea’s Beach Bar in Misquamicut and he handed me a card.

We took White’s Cab to Andrea’s in 2019 and it was quite an adventure. He had a reputation for showing up late, or not at all. And back then, there was no Uber in town.

There now is some Uber, but if you’re in Watch Hill, do yourself a favor and call Tanya at T&A Transport.

She picked us up at the dock, drove us to Misquamicut, picked us up after lunch, drove us to a grocery store, and brought us home for the cost of a round trip on Uber.

She is also a wonderful conversationalist!

Andrea’s Beach Bar

I’m not quite sure why I love this place, but I do. It’s truly on the beach with 270° of ocean views.

Mrs. Horne and Peggy walked the three miles and grabbed a table right off the beach.

Andrea’s sports a 3.5-star rating on Yelp, but that’s probably because you have to pay a little more for the beach view. Everything I’ve ever eaten there has been delicious.