While reviewing the weather forecast last night I saw a little addition to the forecast that hadn’t been there before.  It looked like this:

Not my idea of fun!  The forecast concerns the track of tropical storm Hermine, just now taking aim at Northern Florida.  What this forecast actually means is that winds of between 39 and 74 knots could happen.  I am not too concerned about winds of 40 or 45 knots.  But when we start talking about 60 knots and above, I want to be someplace very safe.  The harbor in Block Island has good all directions protection, but it is deep, the bottom is not the best for anchoring, and it is crowded with other boats whose anchors I do not trust.  Not only that, Block Island is out closer to the projected path of the storm.

So I went looking for an alternative, and found the Kickamuit River deep inside Narragansett Bay.  A spot well regarded locally as a “Hurricane Hole”.  When I reviewed the forecast this morning, it hadn’t changed, so  we weighed anchor and spent today sailing in from Block Island and just as the sun set we dropped anchor in the Kickamuit.

It is perfect place to wait out the weather for a few days.  Deep enough to hold us without problems, it is shallow enough we can get a good bite with the anchor.  The harbor itself is about a quarter mile across, and completely enclosed so no room for big waves to build up. And to top it off it is a very pretty spot, with good fishing.  We’ll be staying here and exploring locally until the storm passes by, or the forecast changes.