Hi John,

Pretty big area along the southern side of the harbor, from Ft. Adams in. you must stay to the south of a line of tall white No Wake markers, there are moorings interspersed thru the area, but there's still plenty of room. Got a bit tight in there during the Show, but I was still surprised how much room there was. It's a bit deeper than I'd like for a place holding so many boats, 20-25 feet mostly, but the holding is excellent. Everyone was swinging with the changing wind that weekend, and 2 fairly fresh fronts came thru while I was there, producing a pretty stiff breeze out of the N... Nevertheless, I never really saw any dramas related to boats dragging, which surprised me a bit, given the number of boats and conditions...

But you want to try to find a spot as far E as you can, I was pretty much right off the Ida Lewis YC in the middle. First, you'll be closer to town, but more importantly, you'll have more protection from Goat Island in a NW breeze after the passage of a front... When I left early Sunday AM in a brisk northerly behind the front that had passed the night before, the boats to the W of Ida Lewis were pitching pretty good, amidst a sizeable chop...

I hadn't been to Newport with my boat in a few years, I'm always impressed how welcoming it is even to sailors like me on a budget. You really don't have to spend money to hang out there, and the Maritime Center at the foot of Ann Street is fantastic. Nice dinghy dock, a large facility with many tables, fast Wifi, TV, laundry and showers... It might be closed by the time you get there, however, I believe they only keep it open thru Columbus Day...

Ian on RUFFIAN told me a nice story. He and Fiona were returning to their boat one night, but they hadn't expected to be doing so after dark. As a result, their dink had no running lights, I don't think they even had a "torch" with them. Just as they got underway, they met up with the Harbormaster out on patrol...

They were expecting to be hassled for not having the dink properly lit, I think they might not have had any PFDs aboard either, so they were expecting the worst... But instead, the guy simply asked them where there boat was, and escorted them all the way back out there to make sure they got back safely...

I also ran into the Austrian couple on NOMAD that I had met in Nova Scotia, they showed up in Newport just before I left. They were blown away by the Maritime Center facility, they loved Newport and I'm guessing they probably hung out there for awhile...

Just beware this guy anchored right off Ida Lewis... he ran a Honda generator all day long, every day, only turning it off when he returned to the boat at the end of the day, naturally... No effort made to reduce the noise, putting it down on the cockpit sole instead of leaving it out on deck would have had a measurable effect, for instance... I'm sorry, but seeing a Honda on the deck of a beauty like that, well... that's just WRONG... (grin)

best regards,

Jon