A classic light marks the shoal at the southern tip of Hog Island.
Saturday, 9 August
The thing about Bristol—that is Bris-tul, Ah-Rye—is that it doesn’t have that “touristy” feel about it. Sure, there are visitors, passing-through as for instance those aboard the little sloop Steadfast. But coming ashore, the feeling is one of authenticity, that those on the streets—on a bench outside the Dunkin’ Donuts or leaving Aidan’s after a frosty beverage—live somewhere near here. In other words, downtown Bristol is not all about tee-shirts and salt water taffy.
Bristol’s a fairly short run from Wickford, about 13 nautical to the nor’east, past Jamestown, round the south end of Prudence and up the east passage to Hog Island before turning into Bristol Harbor. Once upon a time, a fifteen-year-old spent an all-to-brief summer on Hog, just about the best summer a kid could have. That was the first experience with the ways of a boat of any kind and the seeds planted for sailing sailing many years later.
Saturday, for example, there was a semi-successful attempt to do as much of this leg as possible under sail. With today’s wind, or lack thereof, the hour-or-so of sailing was at a blistering pace as much as 2 knots, at times. Not the speediest leg of the trip but pleasant, nonetheless. And it’s remarkable how much longer a tank of diesel lasts when sailing.
Its industrial past remains evident along the Bristol waterfront.
Wide and deep, the approach to Bristol is simple. It might well be an ideal destination but for the fact that the harbor’s open to the so’west, i.e., the direction from which the wind typically blows this time of year. Still, it’s got to be a pretty good blow to set the harbor rocking so there’s a good-sized fleet moored here.
Cap’n Talbot made a statement when he built his house on Hope Street in 1807.
Thames Street runs along a tidy waterfront that features a winding pier-like “boardwalk.” But the main drag is Hope Street, one block up from the harbor. The centerline on Hope is painted red, white and blue for the Independence Day parade and stays so all year. Hope features its own collection of impressive homes from the 18th and 19th centuries, historic churches, the imposing granite Colt Memorial School, and the kinds of shops and restaurants any town might have. Not a tee-shirt shop in sight.
It’s been fifty years since your correspondent last stepped ashore in Bristol Harbor. Of course, much has changed since then, including your correspondent. But Bristol still has the feel of a working-class town, albeit one on a lovely harbor.
Steadfast out.
God speaks often. We just need to listen for His voice.
At Sea with Steadfast 
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