East Greenwich

The caisson-type Plum Beach Light stands under the west end of the Jamestown Bridge.

Tuesday, 12 August

A brisk so’easterly coming over the island coaxes out the genny and Steadfast is off at 1212, a broad reach across Dutch Harbor and northbound up the West Passage of Narragansett Bay. The landmarks now are familiar—Plum Island, Conanicut Point, Quonset Point, Hope Island—until approaching Patience Island and Warwick Point. That’s where the fun starts, trying to pick out the green cans that mark the entrance to Greenwich Bay.

The forecast calls for rain to move in tonight and get serious tomorrow, spawned by the same system that yesterday soaked Virginia and the mid-Atlantic. So reciprocal privileges were invoked to snag a slip on the pier at East Greenwich Yacht Club. This is a luxury seldom enjoyed this trip and one which makes all the difference when the weather turns foul.

Warwick Point splits Greenwich Bay from Narragansett Bay.

Town Hall is three blocks up the hill from the waterfront.

But as welcoming as the pier at the club may be, getting there can be a challenge. Those green cans are low to the water, only a couple of feet tall, and like to hide against a dark chop or treed shoreline. There are only three guiding the way in from Warwick Point, each about a mile from the other.

Once identified, though, entry to long and narrow East Greenwich Cove is fairly straightforward, even as Steadfast continues under sail up Greenwich Bay. There’s enough boat traffic on a Tuesday evening to help, too, Steadfast completing the 12.9 mile run shortly before 1600.

A different sort of history hangs above the sidewalk in front of the Greenwich Hotel.

A short walk up King Street gives one the flavor of East Greenwich, more than 300 years old so, like virtually every New England town, a place with its share of history. There’s an impressive collection of unpretentious clapboard homes from the 1700s. The downtown area runs several blocks along Main Street and includes Town Hall and just about every manner of shop a sailor might seek, including the Greenwich Hotel with its mid-century neon sign.

Wednesday will be a lay day, then Thursday’s destination will depend on the wind. But no matter which way the wind blows in the meantime, Steadfast will be secure in East Greenwich, RI.

Steadfast out.