| Title: | SAILING |
| Notice: | Please read Note 2.* before participating in this conference |
| Moderator: | UNIFIX::BERENS |
| Created: | Wed Jul 01 1992 |
| Last Modified: | Mon Jun 02 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 2299 |
| Total number of notes: | 20724 |
With fog keeping us in Newport harbor two weeks ago, I
thought we might just check on the height of one of the
side spans of the Newport Bridge. If running to or from
Newport harbor area, I have always passed west of Rose
Island and gone up between either of the two spans next
to the main span of the bridge.
I like to find the shortest routes under sail or power
so I can get to my next leg. Coming between Rose
Island and Goat Island would be a time saver, and on
occasion provide a better point on the wind or into
less troubled waters for the last half hour or so of
the run.
I don't have a chart in front of me at the moment. I do
know there is pleanty of water and well marked with
bouys. The tidal chart shows no problems. I have poured
over the chart for lower Narragansett Bay and can find
no comment as to what the clearance is for those spans.
We went right up by them, and I thought we could clear
but from the deck the perspective I had was too uncertain.
I elected not to try it, being a conservative skipper.
As you head north thru that channel between Rose and Goat,
you observe the span on the west side of the channel
has some under girding which looks to be perhaps 35 or 40
ft. above the water. The span over the east side of the
channel does not have the under girding and
looks to be perhaps 50 ft. clearance above the
water. My mast height above the water is 48 ft. I can't
say that I have ever seen any other boats of my size use
that route.
Anyone have any verifiable information on that bridge?
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 969.1 | Check it carefully | BPOV06::KEENAN | Paul Keenan 297-7332 | Thu Sep 08 1988 15:16 | 17 |
-< How Big Is Your Rig? >-
I've been sailing out of Newport since I was a kid and have taken
a number of boats through that span. My J-24 slips through with
no trouble. My friends who own a Pearson 33 were using this
shortcut until an identical boat was dismasted there recently.
My guess is that the Pearson 33 rig is on the border line; the
fellow who lost his mast must have gone through at high tide, large
swells, and at the low end (the roadway slants quit a bit). Needless
to say, my friends no longer use this route.
If your boat length is in the high 20's or larger, check your clearance
carefully. Also, watch out for the rocks east of Rose island and
stay clear of Gull island. Gull is the giant rock just north of
the span. The east pier of the span sits on the underwater part
of this rock/island.
| |||||
| 969.2 | How high is the bridge? | VLNVAX::FRENIERE | Fri Sep 09 1988 10:48 | 23 | |
Thanks Paul,
I have a 34' wood Alden cutter of 57 vintage.
Mast height above W/L is 48'.
If it were marginal enough that swells could make the difference
I would not elect consider it as a route.
Again, I dont have a chart in front of me but I seem to remember
the east span over that channel (the first one with out the
steel work under the roadway) was actuallyout of the channel.
I hope to head down to Newport tonight should you happen to be in
the area. Name of the boat is "Hope". I'lleither be on the hook
off Ida Lewis, usually vicinity os sewer marker float, or, if it
is empty, on a mooring just down in front of Bonnie Crest by
the Nonsuch "Seateak" Hope to make Block Saturday, but looks like
I'll be single handing and it is a long watch back Sunday to
Bullocks Cove..
Don
| |||||