Crowds?

[Maryanne]Kyle's crowds have yet to arrive, but they are coming. We have seen very few boats out on the water as yet, but the evidence of them is everywhere; the mooring balls are so thick in many areas, it is hard to imagine how one would navigate around them all with boats attached. So many of these boats are sailboats, I have never seen such a density of sail boats to motor boats except at a sail boat show! Although we are very much enjoying having the place to ourselves in these last few weeks, it is also sad to think we won't see Rhode Island in the summer, when all these boats are out on the water on a sunny weekend.

We have "moved" from Portsmouth, Virginia. In Portsmouth, at the Southern end of the Chesapeake Bay, and along the Elizabeth River (Hampton Roads Area) we have been exposed to an area full of traffic from the HUGE naval bases, cargo terminals, coal docks, and even cruise ships - i.e. a REALLY busy area for tugs, cargo shipping many other BIG vessels. Rhode Island is different, although we have seen some big shipping here in Rhode Island, it is a tiny fraction of what we are used to in Hampton Roads, what is most different here is the recreational boating, and the number of sail boats in particular. Our 2008 Reed's describes the area as "jammed with moorings" and "among the busiest recreational boating waters of the East Coast". Hampton Roads of course has sailboats, but not nearly as prolific as here in RI. A sailboat in RI feels really at home, and so do Kyle and I.