Third Beach has $20 moorings
- Details
- Category: Moorings, Docks and Deals
- Published on Sunday, 04 September 2011 05:05
- Written by George Boase
- Hits: 186
Third Beach is Open for Business.
Imagine a company who does all they can to attract customers. They build a huge store, stock it and advertise. They fail to provide parking. How successful do you suppose they're going to be?
Rhode Island has done just that. Until recently the state had what they called "guest moorings" in several different locations near and around state parks and attractions. Budget cuts and just plain ignorance led to their demise. I love having my own website if for no other reason I get to say what I think. Getting rid of the guest moorings was just plain supreme ignorance of the highest level. The suites in our state government parade around claiming to be on the side of business, and then turn around do things to kill all chances that a business has to survive.
I'm happy to say that not ALL government has their heads up their butt. There are a few... very few... cities and town that use the common sense that God gave a shiny brown rock. Middletown RI is one of those places. They actually WANT boaters (who spend a lot of money) to visit them, and they make it easy with 10 town sponsored moorings just off Third Beach for the price of $20 per night. When you consider the location, that's the bargain of the century.
The first notable feature of Third Beach is the location. For anyone sailing the northeast coast, you know how much of a stretch it is between good anchorages in this area. For the purpose of these anchorages and mooring I post here, I use a very high standard for what constitutes a "good" anchorage. There are not many along this stretch of coastline.
With a predominant South wind, this offers great protection. The bottom holds great if you choose to anchor over paying the $20, and there are plenty of places to land a dinghy. There is also a considerable amount of space here that is most often under-utilized. The beach itself is a great place to relax and good for kids. There are hiking trails and a visitor center with heads. Sorry, no showers. Most of the area is a wildlife refuge.
Third Beach is also close to Newport. It's a very short taxi ride and once there, the RIPTA trolley can take you anywhere you want to go or tour for a $5 day pass. We all know about Newport Harbor and how hard it can be to grab a mooring. It's also $40 for a mooring and even worse in most of the overflow harbors such as Dutch or Jamestown where a mooring is $50 per night.
Whatever your reason for staying here, Third Beach is open for business. They want you there and appreciate you coming.
