Harbor of Refuge - July 30, 2025

Point Judith Light

I need to have just the right conditions to paddle around the breakwater at the Harbor of Refuge, and this morning I did - clear skies, calm winds, low tide at 6:00 a.m. and swells of just 1-foot. It doesn’t get much better than that.

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.

Holes at the "V" in the center jetty

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

I lugged my boat and gear across the beach at Camp Cronin and launched at around 6:30 a.m. I was amazed how much damage was done by last year’s winter storms. The navigation tower at the east end of the center jetty was completely destroyed. Huge boulders were pushed aside leaving large gaps in the seawall, even at low tide. 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.

East end of the center jetty before and after the winter storms of 2024

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