Day 13 Sunday August 5, 2007

I slept in this morning and it felt good. As I was asking my dad if he wanted a second helping of oatmeal he suggested that we leave right away. After listening to the weather reports all morning he said it sounded like there was a good window opening up for the next couple of days. I think we both wanted to see a bit of Newport and we decided we were running low on fresh groceries and despite our seemingly endless supply of canned spam and canned corn …we decided to go in and stock up. Of course we had to leave right that instant to catch the next shuttle into town. And of course we both new ‘groceries’ was just an excuse to ride the shuttle across the neat-o looking bridge into the unexplored Newport.

However it did need to be a quick trip. The shuttle ride was interesting…actually I’m not going to lie, it was hilarious. As more and more quirky men climbed aboard the conversation ranged from whether or not babies came from the storks or was it pelicans? And the man wearing the bright red hat with a crab head and legs sticking out was sure to correct another gentleman that no pelicans don’t gather in herds but rather flocks. They talked about local politics and the local pub that they all denied going to because it was nothing but trouble, etc., etc.

The friendly and helpful driver dropped us off conveniently close to the grocery store. We shopped/wandered for almost an hour and then packed up what we could in my backpack and three plastic bags. After just missing the shuttle we decided to walk a mile or so down the hill to the main touristy area near the bay. By then it was a little after noon and our tummies were rumbling. Did I mention that Newport, Oregon is the Dungeness crab capitol of the world? Now you know why I really wanted to take a trip into town!! We found this little café/ fish market where they served crab and ordered one big one to share. It was delicious!! SO good. We made sure to time our lunch right with the shuttle and were about 10 minutes early to the pickup spot one block away. I looked around, what could while I wait? As I my eyes fell upon an ice cream/coffee shop I had my answer. I walked over and ordered myself mint chocolate chip ice cream on a waffle cone, because I deserved it! Then we watched the fishermen unload crates of fish onto the dock below us. It was amazing watching this one woman cleaning, skinning and filleting these fish in seconds. Then our shuttle came and whisked us away.

By 3pm we had the main sail up and were cruising out of Newport under the bridge. This had been the most interesting place stop so far and it was our shortest visit. I would like to comeback sometime and wander around the downtown area more, visit Nye beach, the lighthouse/state park area, and dine at more of the highly recommended seafood places.
After we were a distance from shore my Dad and I resumed our game of Gin Rummy for awhile. The seas were 4-6 feet again not spaced far enough apart and soon enough the pitching and swaying of the boat almost had me sick. With not enough wind to really fill the sails, we continued motoring with the main sail flapping to and fro. Late into the night the seas eventually began to mellow out more. Even though my Dad and I are able to take our ‘watch’ from behind the dodger it is still really cold and I am still really wearing my long underwear plus I doubled up on my layers of socks!!