Total around the world bicycle miles 26,230 (42,213 km)

123 miles

October 9, 2016

The effects of a cold front and Hurricane Matthew brought rain all night and all day. We ubered to New Bedford Whaling Museum and spent several fascinating hours learning about the colonizing of New England, whaling around the world, and the end of the whaling period. It was from New Bedford that 21 year old Herman Melville set sail aboard the whaleship Acushnet on one of the most important sea voyages in American literature. Out of Melville’s adventure came the classic novel Moby Dick.

Whaling flourished in the 1850’s, when more whaleships sailed from New Bedford than from all the world ports combined. After whaling peaked in 1857, a slow decline continued until 1925 when the last whaleship, the Wanderer, sailed from the harbor. The New Bedford whaling industry employed people from around the world who settled in this area.

There is a half size model built in 1907 of an old whaling vessel, the Lagoda, that you can walk around plus many other art exhibits of both old ship captains oil paintings and beautiful scrimshaw art. There is also an extensive collection of whaling tools such as harpoons, whaleboats, and the tools to render oil out of whale blubber. All this is managed by the National Park Service. After a lunch across the street at a cool old tavern we returned to our motel and did laundry. It was a nice rainy day of activity.

The next day was bright and sunny but very cold as we set off for another warmshowers host in Westerly, Rhode Island. There are two major bridges to cross over the Narragansett Bay. We approached the first bridge from Newport, R.I to Conanicut Island (referred to as Jamestown) and did not see any “no bicycles allowed” signs so we proceeded into the traffic. There was no shoulder and lots of traffic but there was a walkway that I was thinking about using as it was very dangerous. Just about then a police car appeared and stopped us and told us that there are no bicycles allowed on this bridge. At that point he called another officer who quickly appeared and they offered to take us over the bridge. They were both very kind as they helped us load our bikes and unload on the other side. We approached the next bridge and did see a “no bicycle sign” so we stopped on the side to hitchhike over the bridge. A very kind man, with a pickup stopped to drive us across. The strange thing about this bridge was that there was a rail enclosed walking area plus a wide shoulder. We could have easily ridden across this bridge but it was really windy. Thanks to two of Rhode Island’s finest, two police officers, and John a sailboat rigger from Jamestown for being three “bridge angels” this day.

We then cycled another 30 miles to Westerly, Connecticut and met our warmshowers host Tom. What a nice guy that has traveled many areas of the world, works on a clam boat and also forages for wild mushrooms that he sells to restaurants. He spends the winter paddling and hiking in many areas of Florida. In his “spare time” he is rebuilding his beautiful home on a large wooded lot. He cooked us a delicious dinner using many vegetables from his garden. We talked late into the night about what else – traveling the world. We hope to see Tom this winter in Florida.

The next day we cycled to Mystic Seaport, Connecticut and toured the old shipyard, a 19th century seafaring village, and many seafaring exhibits including more than 500 old watercraft. There is a working shipyard that uses traditional as well as modern tools to preserve many historic vessels including the L.A. Dunton, a 1921 fishing schooner, the 1882 full rigged ship Joseph Conrad, the 1908 steamship Sabino, and the old whaleship Charles W. Morgan. The Charles W. Morgan was built in 1841 in New Bedford, Massachusetts and is the last survivor of nearly 2,700 registered American whaleships. During her 80 years of whaling days she made 37 voyages that took her around the world. In the summer of 2014 she made her 38th voyage and spent three months touring several ports in New England. The Morgan is the last wooden whaleship in the world. A typical crew consisted of 33 people sometimes staying out four years at a time.

We moved all of our pannier to the office area and locked our bikes outside near the entrance for the day. Back in 1981 my wife and I sailed down the Intracoastal Waterway from Swansea, MA to Port Canaveral, Florida on a 46 foot home made catamaran. The owners had one hull and Andee and I the other. 35 years ago we tied up to a dock here and visited this seaport.

After a long day in Mystic we cycled another 15 miles to our next warmshowers host in New London. Dick is an accomplished adventurer too. He is also a professional craftsman that specializes in moving old houses and restoring them along with furniture and old wooden boats. In fact, the home we are staying in tonight was moved over 35 years ago right on the water in Long Island Sound and right next to the 2nd oldest working lighthouse in the country, New London Harbor Lighthouse where the Thames River meets Long Island Sound. This lighthouse was built in 1760 then rebuilt in 1810.

Once again we talked about travelling the world. A few days ago he hosted a guy from Denmark who is spending six years running around the world with all his gear is a jogging stroller. There is a huge world out there. Like Dick said tonight, we only have a short time so we need to make the best of it while we are able to.

October 12, 2016

Today we took the Cross Sound Ferry from New London to Orient Point, Long Island, New York and settled in the town of Greenport for the night. Tomorrow we will work our way south along Long Island.