The Peoples & Culture

With luck and a keen sense of conditions, the migratory yachting fleet will find itself safely repositioned from Newport to Antigua enthusiastic for another season of pristine Caribbean sailing. Antigua offers several excellent hurricane holes and is a popular place for Caribbean based yachts to seek shelter during hurricane season.

While Antiguans today are privy to the same modern weather reports as Newporters television, cable & the Internet, old timers and true sailors tune in to Jol Byerly's daily weather forecasts on English Harbour Radio. Jol's reports keep yachtsmen and locals reliably informed of the movement and status of Atlantic storms and weather systems. Both islands have suffered the effects of these horrific storms and both have shown the same resilience!

Both Antigua and Aquidneck Island are home to many very talented artists who are inspired by the beauty of their respective islands. Aquidneck's beautiful beaches, rugged coastline and varying atmospheric conditions & Antigua's colorful houses, tropical flora, sunshine and turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, are inspiration to painters, photographers, sculptors, scrimshanders and potters alike.  Today, both Newport Harbor and English Harbour are as vibrant as ever having nurtured and cultivated their favored positions in the world of shipping, yachting, tourism and maritime trade.

Both islands remain justified in boasting their reputations as two of the most venerable, hospitable, well-serviced and popular destinations in the yachting world! Countless residents of Aquidneck Island initially arrived as crew on yachts making their annual migration north from Antigua and other Caribbean islands.  Many have gone on to start or run successful businesses serving the yachts that continue to each summer grace the shores of Aquidneck Island through the Antigua - Newport connection.

Karen Kelly Shea has worked with Nicholson since 1989 as Charter Manager, opening Nicholson Yachts of Newport in 1992, via the Antigua connection.  She resides in Newport with her husband Denny and 2 children, Kelly 6 and Emmet 2. The family visits Antigua many times each year often staying with Rodney Nicholson.  Newport native Christian Smith is married to an Antiguan -- CB & has two children, Ben age 15 and Emma, age 6. She is a registered nurse working for Visiting Nurse Services and has started the Antigua / Newport charity Island Outreach which seeks out Antiguan children needing medical assistance.

In 2002 her charity has arranged for an Antiguan baby with severe cleft pallet to be brought to Newport to have the necessary surgery and follow up medical care and is currently arranging for a 19-year old amputee in Antigua to be fitted with a prosthetic leg and another young Antiguan child to have eye surgery in Newport. Optional insert -- if needed near references to Narragansett Bay.

Narragansett Bay

The bay itself is considered one of the loveliest bodies of water on the Atlantic Coast and is a source of pride for all Rhode Islanders. Appropriately, its fiercest advocate, the Save the Bay Foundation, is housed in the historic Seaman's Institute on Bowen's Wharf in Newport - ever vigilant for the quality and beauty of this treasured waterway.

Newport Harbor, and other beautiful ports along the island's shores have long provided critical port services, customs clearing, berthing, construction and repair facilities for the marine trade - welcoming boats and ships of all sizes and purpose, and in all seasons. All year round the bay and Newport host huge commercial ships and tankers, luxury cruise liners, fishing and trade boats of all sizes.

The summer months bring yet more sea-going vessels Ð from kayaks and sailing dinghies, small launches, and local ferries, to stunning motoryachts and classic sailing yachts of every size and rig, visiting from all parts of the world. The sea as always, is a most stalwart contributor to the ever growing nautical and hospitality industry. Inhabitants of Aquidneck Island, share the pride of all Rhode Islanders in their vibrant maritime history and economy.