Harbor of Refuge - July 24, 2023

Point Judith Light

I was up early and the wind and water were calm, so I headed over to Camp Cronin to paddle inside the breakwater at the Harbor of Refuge.

Even after construction of the Point Judith Light (c. 1810/1857) conditions remained treacherous at the tip of Point Judith and a Federal project was initiated to construct over 3-miles of jetties to provide a secure breakwater refuge for shipping. Work began in 1890 with construction of the east (3,640 feet) and west (2,240 feet) jetties, and was completed in 1910 with construction the V-shaped center jetty (6,970 feet). A 1,500-foot opening was left for the east passage, and a 1,200-foot opening was left for the west passage.

Across the east passage

While the jetties were originally constructed to provide a refuge for ships traveling between Boston and New York during bad weather, they also protected the newly constructed Port of Galilee. In 1910, the Town of South Kingstown and the State of Rhode Island dredged the current Breachway and stabilized it with stone jetties. Then, in the 1930's, the State of Rhode Island dredged an anchorage basin just inside the Breachway and built wharves to create a port for large, ocean-going fishing vessels. This allowed the Galilee to become one of the largest fishing ports on the east coast

During World War II, much of the land on Point Judith was part of Fort Greene - named for Revolutionary war hero Nathanael Greene. Huge sixteen inch guns were located in the area now known as Fisherman's Memorial State Park to protect the west side of Narragansett Bay. Smaller fortifications were located along the shoreline. Fort Greene was part of a network of forts protecting Narragansett Bay including Fort Adams in Newport, Fort Greble on Dutch Island, Fort Weatherill in Jamestown, and Fort Hamilton on Rose Island.

Birds on the breakwater

There were just a couple fishermen on the breakwater, and a couple of boats heading out the east passage. The sea was relatively calm behind the breakwater with small wind-blown waves, but I crossed the east passage in 1-2 foot rolling waves. I usually I do the loop up the east jetty, down the west jetty and across the beach - about 4-miles. Today I did an up and back along the east jetty - about 2.5 miles.

The east side of the center jetty is in much worse condition than the west, which has been rebuilt. Huge boulders have been pushed aside leaving large gaps in the seawall. It's hard to imagine that water can move those huge rocks. I paddled by the cormorants and other shore birds resting on the seawall out to the tip of the "V" in the center jetty before heading back.

Break at the top of the breakwater

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