Fall River

Sachwest Cove, N 41 29.650 W 71 14.592

This morning as we were heading out for New Bedford, I noticed that we were passing by Fall River 5 miles to the north. Curious, I looked it up in our cruising guide. Surprise, the guide said that they had warships on display. It also said that one could pull into a cove near the warships and anchor. We changed our plans, did a 180 degree turn and headed for Fall River.

When we got there we found that the cove had been converted from an anchorage to a mooring field. We tried to raise the mooring field owner on the radio, but no joy. We picked up a mooring and I left to take care of errands first. When I returned, and before seeing the warships, there was a woman there saying that the moorings weren't free, that we would have to pay $10/hour or $35 for overnight to stay there. Wow! That was too pricey. We left right away without seeing the city's attractions. Fall River is on my list of inhospitable places.

I take great offense at municipalities or other parties that convert anchorages to mooring fields, then charge excessive fees. I understand crowding and that sometimes moorings are necessary. However, $10/day is a reasonable fee. Burlington VT charges $13, and Marathon Florida charges $7. $30/day, $45/day or $10/hour are excessive. Perhaps I should join one of those political activist groups that are trying to legally or politically block conversion of anchorages to moorings. Perhaps not, I've never heard of one of those groups winning any battles. (Tell me if I'm wrong.)

The errand I ran was to go to a Radio Shack to buy a Sirius satellite radio. I brought it back to the boat, plugged it in, called the 800 number to activate it and it works. The technology is remarkable. The sound is flawless; completely static free, and there are lots of channels. It is very analogous to satellite TV. It should provide me with a reliable source for NPR news programs independent of where I am. The footprint of the signal is all of the 48 contiguous states, plus offshore areas, plus I expect the Caribbean and Central America. The cost for the radio is 2/3 of what an ordinary good quality AM/FM portable radio would cost. New technology is better and cheaper than old stuff. A modern twist though is that Sirius will charge me $12.95/month for service. They have me on the hook.

After leaving Fall River we continued south. It was too late to make New Bedford before dark, so we put in here at Sachwest Cove which is just 1/2 mile from the sea. Tomorrow morning we'll get an early start (unless it's foggy). I'm not sure if we are in Rhode Island or Massachusetts.

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