Newport RI Regulations Report 2020

[Chotu]

I'll add we just wanted to stop at the anchorage, go ashore for a small supplemental provisioning of fresh produce, and go on some walks around no other people.

Also that our isolation has been absolutely perfectly for 3 weeks not leaving the boat at all. So no virus aboard here.

It's unfortunate there isn't an acceptable way to prove this or at the very least, that they don't start the "kick you out" anchorage timer AFTER the 14 day quarantine.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Each of your individual actions of precaution aid in achieving the reduction of exposure, to self and to others.

Very commendable.

Thank you. I left out that my home state of Maryland requires a 14 day hard quarantine after going out of state. No state troopers at the border like Rhode Island but that is the rule. I move into the guest room and my wife and I maintain distance for that time. I don't even go to the mailbox at the end of our drive for the mail. Guest room and my basement lab for 14 days.

[Montanan]

BTW, the fourteen day ordinance as to limit of time at anchor in the harbor of New Port is Old News. [Yeah, pun-intended].


New anchoring rules in Newport RI at odds with live-aboards

Date Posted: 2014-09-25
Source: WG Staff

Newport, Rhode Island, is known as the “Home of Maritime Commerce & Yachting.” A popular layover for vessels and crews from all over the world, this picturesque harbor town is considered a “must-go” destination, with world-renown festivals and events, every service a mariner could ever need, and room for thousands of vessels of any size, style and description at a dock, on a mooring, or at anchor. Newport vies with Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the title of “Yachting Capital of the World.” The two iconic ports share another distinction – they are each the subject of a heated discussion on anchoring rights.

This year, 2014 Newport enacted a complete revamp of its City Harbor Ordinance. Anchoring is now restricted to a maximum of 14 consecutive days, and a vessel must vacate the anchorage areas for a minimum of four days between visits. In Newport, anchored vessels are required to be “attended” – the persons onboard may go ashore, but not leave the city (this rule is similar in the previous ordinance). Other harbors in the Northeast have anchoring limits, notably the 3-day limit for Lake Tashmoo and Lagoon Pond on Martha’s Vineyard.

Although the Newport ordinance was enacted in February, some boaters anchored in the harbor say that they didn’t know about the changes until enforcement began.

Reference link: http://https://www.waterwayguide.com...h-live-aboards

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Thank you. I left out that my home state of Maryland requires a 14 day hard quarantine after going out of state. No state troopers at the border like Rhode Island but that is the rule. I move into the guest room and my wife and I maintain distance for that time. I don't even go to the mailbox at the end of our drive for the mail. Guest room and my basement lab for 14 days.

My brother is a senior executive at SmithField, he is in charge of engineering and maintenance of the processing plants. He has to go to the plants to make sure they are functioning and has a great deal of exposure to the large number of workers, which close proximity workers have become hot spots of the contagion across the country.

His wife has autoimmune diseases, e.g., lupus, and other co-morbidities. Therefore they have divided their house so as to not come into close contact with each other. Social distancing. They can see each other from the length of the living room. Their protocol will likely continue for a long time, my guesstimate to the end of 2021. He had considered retiring last year, the company did not wish to lose his services, so they asked him to stay on and would pay him 3 times his compensation if remained for a year or two more, that was pre-Covid 19.

The meat processing plants have been put under the Defense Production Act regulations requiring that they stay open and that means he is working much overtime and weekends. Albeit with many of the plants having much smaller available workers to staff the labor intensive tasks and the alterations of the workplace to aid in mitigating the spread of the disease across the employees, inevitably the production volume has faltered from pre-Covid 19 capacities. A lot fewer pigs being harvested and processed. It would not surprise me to see a rationing program be implemented countrywide, so as to regulate against hoarding and maintaining reasonable allocation and avoidance of social injustices in supply and price regulations. Not the time for capitalist market forces to come into harsh operation. I would think that the retailers could at least limit purchases to moderate quantities so as to self-regulate the flow. That could have been done early on with T.P.

Stay safe, stay healthy. Wishing you all the best.

Montana has a 14 day self-isolation entry requirement of every non-essential traveler, State resident or out of Stater, we all have to remove ourselves from public contact. Enjoy your stay inside, under the Big Sky. I'm not planning any business or pleasure trips out of state for the foreseeable future, or expecting any to arrive.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by Montanan

My brother is a senior executive at SmithField.

I feel for him. Please pass him a message from me.

Thank you. Thank you for your part in keeping the food supply chain operating. Also, thank you specifically for pork loin. I triple butterfly it and stuff it with onion bechamel and sauteed spinach. Someday when we get past this virus if you happen to be near Annapolis (we have good pigs on Maryland's Eastern Shore) I'll be proud to make you one.

best wishes, dave

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Montanan

Thanks for sharing that video again. I laughed as hardily the second time as the first. I'm thinking of sharing it at the start of one of my corporate zoom sessions just so the employees are clear as to the rules.

You're most welcome!

Absolutely share it at the start of your corporate session - then come back and tell us how it went over...

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

You're most welcome!

Absolutely share it at the start of your corporate session - then come back and tell us how it went over...

I think that they will perceive that it is very much like many of my previous corporate policy statements. Full of clarity and consistency.

[nm55raven]

Sorry to relay my last 3 yrs anchoring in Newport where great until last year yr 4
The port despite the nice harbormaster and crew has become very boater unfriendly.
Yes that is hard to believe but true .
Regulations for anchoring mandate onboard crew attended or you will be ticketed for unattended anchoring.
Our tender is 15 ft and unwelcome at all city docks due to the 10 ft limit and you will be reported by other compliant owners and fined.
Should you have a larger vessel over 45 ft and are lucky to find a mooring you may be ok however in 4 yrs in June July visits I have never been able to get a Mooring for a 55
I recommend any of the other excellent harbors in proximity Bristol is fantastic with both Moorings and a fine anchorage with great bottom very friendly folks great access to dock water pump out and great restaurants.
Wickford is great as well.
Newport is a victim of its own success and unless you are either very Flush or very lucky they rather you not be there.....
Best of luck

[BobMc]

I, also, wonder why anyone would even think of going to unfriendly Newport, RI, when super-friendly Bristol is just 12 miles further north with moorings and anchorages on both sides of the town. FWIW, I lived in Brisol (courtesy of the navy) for three years in the late 70s, still have friends in the area, and have returned frequently by both boat and car. It's a great stop while cruising Narragansett Bay and on your way to the rest of New England.

Originally Posted by nm55raven

Sorry to relay my last 3 yrs anchoring in
I recommend any of the other excellent harbors in proximity Bristol is fantastic with both Moorings and a fine anchorage with great bottom very friendly folks great access to dock water pump out and great restaurants.
Wickford is great as well.
Best of luck

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by BobMc

I, also, wonder why anyone would even think of going to unfriendly Newport, RI, when super-friendly Bristol is just 12 miles further north with moorings and anchorages on both sides of the town. FWIW, I lived in Brisol (courtesy of the navy) for three years in the late 70s, still have friends in the area, and have returned frequently by both boat and car. It's a great stop while cruising Narragansett Bay and on your way to the rest of New England.

Agreed. There are a few reasons, however.

1) Walk to Ace Hardware
2) Walk to A1 Market
3) Walk to Stop and Shop (lesser reason)
4) Nice touch and go fuel docks
5) A short distance off your planned course when transiting the area. Like a rest stop on a highway.

6) I’ll add the Ben and Jerry’s shop to the list. Ha ha ha.

Otherwise, I agree. It’s just a strategic stop.

[mgnm02]

I'll quote from the latest study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine three days ago.

These estimates imply that, under conservative assumptions, 101 out of every 10 000 cases (99th percentile, 482) will develop symptoms after 14 days of active monitoring or quarantine.

https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2762808/incubation-period-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-from-publicly-reported

[gconley]

For those of us from other states who keep their boats in RI, we are now allowed to come in to work on our boats but must leave when the work is done. (Is the work ever done? Hmmm) Apart from that we are being denied the opportunity to actually enjoy our boats; as in actually launch and sail it in RI waters. I realize that for many, this will be considered a 1st world problem and not likely garner much sympathy. But of course this would be short sided just like the "luxury tax" of 1991. The RI economy is deeply rooted in it's rich maritime history. A substantial number of good paying jobs exist because of those out of state boaters and 1st world "Yachties".

I don't envy the governors that are faced with these difficult challenges in reopening these crippled economies. In many respects it must feel like a choice of doing the least harm. But at the end of the day, no matter how you thread the needle, RI will have to come down on the side of lifting these restrictions. Initially the governor of RI resisted quarantine but when the people of heavily infected New York started streaming in like a King Tide, she had to do something. At first, she would just quarantine New Yorker's. But political correctness, Cuomo's threat of a suit, and an ACLU with nothing better to do caused her to quickly fix the problem by forcing any visitor from anywhere to be quarantined for 2 weeks. Even those that have been provably at sea for 3 weeks. It was a typically political solution, don't fix the problem, just keep everyone in detention after school.



Notwithstanding proclamations ad-nausea to the contrary, politicians are ill equipped to change the weather, align the planets or materially alter human behavior. Self preservation will have a greater effect on slowing the spread of Corvid-19 for those healthy enough to operate a boat. We are by in large responsible adults fully capable of adhering to CDC guidelines. Of course there are those idiots that shouldn't even be allowed to bait a fish hook but not much can fix that kind of stupid.



If the objective of forbidding "out-of-staters" is to save just one life, perhaps the governor can set the speed limits on all RI roads to just 5 mph. Surely that will save some lives. No, we don't do that because we accept that life presents all kinds of risks.



Personally I am at a loss to see how a RI resident poses any less risk than someone from out of state. Maybe all Rhode Islanders have been tested and carry a chip implanted in their necks that warns when the wearer is Covid positive - a Scarlett letter of sorts. Where can I get one of those?



This will pass in time I pray or we will otherwise adapt to this new reality. In the meantime, I have the greatest respect for the governor of RI and all other governors faced with these very consequential decisions. I just hope that when these issues are debated that reason and logic carry more wind than politics and emotion.

[Kerryf]

I am enquiring for a mega yacht coming up direct from New Zealand heading for Newport Shipyard.
They will not have set foot on land for almost two months. (As well as having been in lock down in NZ for a month prior)
Will they be able to proceed to their dock in the shipyard?
Will they have to do 14 days quarantine before they can have any work done?
Thanks.

[popeye101]

I keep my boat at a mooring in Jamestown. I think Newport
harbor is a great place to visit
You can anchor for free, Old Port Launch will pick you up and take you ashore for $3/person. The moorings are $45/night which is the same as any harbor. I find that everyone is friendly. It is a unique town in my opinion. It is very crowded in the summer both on shore and in the harbor......yet everything seems to work just fine. There are plenty of million dollar yachts as well as people cruising on a strict budget in boats that almost look like they won't float

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by Chotu

They’ve effectively banned anyone not paying for a dock or mooring from the town.

Nope. Out of state boats aren't allowed to rent transient slips in the State of RI until the limitations are lifted. It is what it is. Please stop whining. It's not a bourgeois conspiracy. People are trying to remain safe.

Deal with it or go somewhere else. Throwing temper tantrums is useless.