I violated many of the human rights principles I say I believe in during a stop in Newport, RI.

Rod and Kelly had a few days off from work in Newport, RI, which is less than 3 1/2 hours from Albany due to the weird geography of the northeast US. So I drove over to spend a day with them.

They work aboard a 120-foot yacht owned by a wealthy couple and I am at pains here not to reveal their identity or the name of the vessel since that would be a serious breach of confidentiality. This, however, appears to be the only principle I have upheld this weekend while getting a taste of this rarified, rich lifestyle.

Do you know how much gasoline a 120-foot yacht consumes while cruising around the islands off the coast of NE for fun? Do you know how much "black water" or dunnage -- there're some new words I encountered -- it throws off into the cold waters of the Atlantic? Kelly said a guest on the yacht approached her with an empty water bottle recently and requested the plastic be recycled. Kelly had to laugh at the uselessness of that sweet gesture.Or get this: a lobster dinner at sea for a party of eight? There's $1,000 for an evening. Pop-up TVs, chandeliers, 800-count ironed sheets, marble flooring, all on a vessel used a few weeks at most a year.

No, I don't think that even if it were suddenly possible to do so that I could get used to that kind of luxury. My yacht would end up hauling refugees out of some Third World hellhole, I suspect. I kept thinking: People are starving in Africa.

OK, well honestly I managed to suppress the guilt enough to enjoy a ride across the harbor in the tender and espresso martinis on the patio (under heaters) of sumptuous Castle Hill overlooking the water.