Narragansett Bay Sailing
Moderator: bobdugan
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Markst95
- Posts: 628
- Joined: Aug 5th, '08, 10:04
- Location: 1972 Typhoon Weekender "SWIFT" Hull #289 Narragansett Bay, RI
Narragansett Bay Sailing
Anyone sail in the upper section of Narragansett Bay? I'm considering getting a mooring off of Riverside at the mouth of the Providence river.
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JWSutcliffe
- Posts: 301
- Joined: Jul 29th, '08, 22:41
- Location: CD 31 Oryx, hull #55, based in Branford CT
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Duncan Maio
- Posts: 180
- Joined: Feb 5th, '05, 22:01
- Location: Cape Dory 27
We sail out of Bristol, but live in Barrington and know a number of folks who sail out of Barrington, Cove Haven Marina and moorings in Bullocks Cove, and the Narragansett Terrace Yacht Club over there in Riverside. It's a wonderful part of the world, and the sailing is great. I commute 100 miles round trip each day during the week, for the privilege of living here on the weekends. 'Nuf said.
I'm not sure about access, and it seems like some spots can be a litte exposed to the weather, but no more so that lots of other areas along the bay.
I'm not sure about access, and it seems like some spots can be a litte exposed to the weather, but no more so that lots of other areas along the bay.
Duncan Maio
s/v Remedy
CD27 #37
Bristol, RI
s/v Remedy
CD27 #37
Bristol, RI
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valenteach
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Dec 15th, '06, 12:41
- Location: '80 CD33 Sloop Hull #8 Sanderling
My CD24 Trawler is in Bullock Cove. I can almost see it from my house. It's a wonderful area. I also have a deep water mooring south in the Wickford area (where someday my CD sailboat will be). You should be fine with a Ty anywhere in that area in terms of depth for a mooring.
The western edge of the Riverside Terrace in the Providence River would probably be better than the cove. You could sail onto and off of the mooring directly, as opposed to puttering in and out of Bullock Cove and the channel. The only downside is exposure to the wakes from the channel if you want to hang on your mooring and tan. There are many big gas guzzler cabin cruisers commuting past Conimicut Light like a parade on any given weekend/holiday headed south (makes a washing machine for small boats).
Even with your Ty you'd want to stay conscious of the depths while sailing that area especially if you cross the sand bar west of Conimicut Light as many sailors do to avoid the traffic in the channel. Those sands shift a bit each year, and invariably somebody is sitting on the sand heeled over waiting for high water.
Also, by the book tankers/supply barges inbound and outbound of the Providence River require a clear 500 meter security zone around them on their approach to Conimicut. I've heard skippers get a little stressed in light wind when they can't get out of the way quick enough or don't want to have to veer off their course and lose valuable time waiting for the big thing to go by. I'm not sure about that zone rule when they are in the River or if a right of way does anything to that rule. Just good to brush up on that because they don't always go as slow as you would think they would through the River.
But there is ample room on either side of the channel for sailing even north of Conimicut Light as long as you have enough depth. So if you live in the Upper Bay area this is all stuff that just makes life interesting on the Bay, but if you live somewhere else there may be advantages to another location closer to where you are.
The western edge of the Riverside Terrace in the Providence River would probably be better than the cove. You could sail onto and off of the mooring directly, as opposed to puttering in and out of Bullock Cove and the channel. The only downside is exposure to the wakes from the channel if you want to hang on your mooring and tan. There are many big gas guzzler cabin cruisers commuting past Conimicut Light like a parade on any given weekend/holiday headed south (makes a washing machine for small boats).
Even with your Ty you'd want to stay conscious of the depths while sailing that area especially if you cross the sand bar west of Conimicut Light as many sailors do to avoid the traffic in the channel. Those sands shift a bit each year, and invariably somebody is sitting on the sand heeled over waiting for high water.
Also, by the book tankers/supply barges inbound and outbound of the Providence River require a clear 500 meter security zone around them on their approach to Conimicut. I've heard skippers get a little stressed in light wind when they can't get out of the way quick enough or don't want to have to veer off their course and lose valuable time waiting for the big thing to go by. I'm not sure about that zone rule when they are in the River or if a right of way does anything to that rule. Just good to brush up on that because they don't always go as slow as you would think they would through the River.
But there is ample room on either side of the channel for sailing even north of Conimicut Light as long as you have enough depth. So if you live in the Upper Bay area this is all stuff that just makes life interesting on the Bay, but if you live somewhere else there may be advantages to another location closer to where you are.