A Week in Block Island

The sunsets in Block Island are beautiful!!

Block Island, Rhode Island was the last stop we made leaving the New England Area in 2009 and our first stop returning this year in June. Our week was dominated by beautiful weather in which we relaxed on the boat, swam off the boat, and had company 4 times. Our first visitors were Don and Barbara Lane who had arrived a few days before us on the Island. They joined us on Kinvara for cocktails and dinner and we talked well into the evening. Next to arrive were Joe Pedro and his partner Jackie who came out for a day on Monday and decided to stay overnight and return the next day. Our yhird set of visitors were Glen and Ani from s/v Poia. They arrived in Block Island on Friday evening just before a long series of severe storms moved through. On Saturday morning they moved and rafted next to our boat. We had a wonderful time visiting and eating dinner out Saturday evening. Sunday morning our 2 girls, Sarah and Natalie, arrived on the early morning ferry. Jane walked to town to meet them and they walked back the mile to the harbor.  We went to the beach with big waves for body surfing and had a great time just talking and sunning. Once back aboard we grilled Italian sausages for lunch then went into the town to stroll through the shops. The girls returned on the evening ferry happy but exhausted. We now sit watching the closing Olympic ceremony and will leave tomorrow to sail back to Newport for a week. 

While here we watched the culmination of a fishing tournament with the weighing in of really large yellow fin tuna. One day a small sailboat motored through the channel with a man on the foredeck playing bagpipes. Sunday they left the harbor and he was again playing the bagpipes.

A day to relax

Laundry day

A day in the water

Peter, Sarah, Natalie, and and the local
pirate...Arrrrgh!!!

Kinvara looks huge from this angle

The New England Cruise ship
comes in for a day

Yellow fin tuna from the fishing

tournament



Glen and Ani from Newport

Marthas Vineyard to Block Island

We had a calm night to sleep in but Peter woke early and raised the crew by 6:30AM to head to Block Island. We raised anchor by 6:45 and headed north. Unfortunately when we reached our turn to the west into Vineyard Sound the fog closed in. Peter decided to turn into Vineyard Haven and anchor for a while to let the fog clear. This place on the sound is extremely busy with ferry traffic between Woods Hole and 3 locations on Martha's Vineyard. We were going against a strong current and had limited maneuverability so the wisest decision was to wait it out. After an hour at anchor we decided to go ashore and do some provisioning at the grocery store on shore.

Just a little boat with it's own helicopter

The original "Black Dog" schooner



By 1:30 the fog cleared and we hoped the current had slowed to give us a better passage through Vineyard Sound. We got our wish on the fog bit but the current was still on the strong side so we had to abandon the trip to Block Island and decided to pull into Menemsha. This is a tiny fishing village which has not changed it's character on Martha's Vineyard over the years. Years ago the fisherman made there living by spearing swordfish offshore and fishing in the sound. Once "line fishing" started with the bigger ships it depleted the swordfish supply and the govn't had to regulate the number being caught. This changed forever the nature of Menemsha. There is a beautiful sculpture at the harbor entrance depicting a fisherman spearing a swordfish.

The other claim to fame for Menemsha is it's use in the film "Jaws". There were sheds built along the docks for the movie that remain today and the harbor entrance is the same used when Jaws swam in through the breakwater. Every August the little town celebrates a Jaws Festival.

The infamous Jaws breakwater

The harbor masters office

We would have loved to stay longer in Menemsha but all night we were rolling violently in the waves from a west wind so we did not sleep much.

The next morning we left by 8:30AM thinking the fog was clearing. It didn't. We had about 25 miles to Block Island, well offshore on a direct route, and had fog almost the entire way. The visibility changed from about 1/2 mile to 500ft. Once it cleared as we passed Newport then came on top of us again. thank goodness we had our radar and AIS on so we could see boat traffic. We had to cross 2 shipping channels but found no large ship traffic to worry about. Jane got to use her favorite toy (new in 2009), an automatic foghorn. this allows her to relax a bit and not have to constantly blow the hand held air horn.

It was a slow going trip as we had current against us all the way. Our top speed was maybe 6.5k. Closing in on Block Island the fog came and went but thankfully it did clear long enough to allow us in through the channel and get anchored for the night.

Edgartown, Marthas Vineyard

Kinvara left Cuttyhunk at 7:30 AM to catch a slack current in Buzzards Bay then the full current through Quick's Hole into Vineyard Sound. Our planned destination was an anchorage near Vineyard Haven called Lake Tashmoo but we decided to keep going though since we had current and wind to aid our trip around the tip of Vineyard Haven and south to Edgartown.

We had not been in Edgartown on our own boat. Two or three times in the past Peter tried to call for reservations for the long fourth of July weekend and could not get through or it was already booked. There is such a process to get a mooring with dates, specific times, online reservations only etc. Tuesday, when Jane called by phone to get a mooring they told her check in/out was 11AM, that reservations are only online and to call back at 11AM. When we arrived at the harbor entrance she again called on her cell and got exactly the same statement. She told them we were at the harbor entrance but they wanted us to hail on VHF when we entered. Not 5 minutes later we arrived in the harbor so Peter hailed and we were instantly directed to a mooring. What a process!! There were at least a dozen moorings empty the 2 days we were there. Again today, 2 days later, Jane asked the collection boat to take payment for 1 more night. She was told, again, that check in/out was 11AM and to call them back at 10:45 to see if it was available. We could count at least 20 mooring balls empty. So we sat until 10:30 then let go of the mooring and moved just outside the harbor and happily anchored.

Edgartown is a beautiful little village with lots of expensive shops and plenty of restaurants and beaches. We met our friends Bernie and Aiden Gleeson, who gave us the use of their ball in Newport. We walked around the town with them a bit and chose a restaurant to go to for dinner. When we returned to our mooring the sky opened up with torrential rain and lasted for over 2 hours. It started to soften by 6PM so we took the launch in and picked up the Gleeson's on the way. We had a delightful dinner at an Italian restaurant and returned by 9:30PM. Because it was high tide and the wind was blowing the tide into town we found the docks under ankle deep water when we returned to get the launch back to our boats.

The next day we rode our bikes about 2 miles to a beach and soaked up the sun and salt air for a bit. On the way back to Edgartown Peter's rear tire was failing. We found a little bike shop who replaced the tire for $25 so we are now good to continue riding.

　

On our third day in Edgartown we moved off the mooring and anchored just outside the harbor entrance. Later that after noon our friends on s/v Brenna arrived from Nantucket. We had a lovely evening with drinks, appetizers, and watched a glorious sun set. We planned to go to Block Island tomorrow so we had an early bed time.

Cuttyhunk...a favorite spot

Monday, July 30

We left our mooring at the point in Newport and motored into Newport Harbor to fill with water. They have a little floating dock which boats can tie up to for water. By 8:30AM we were on our way to Cuttyhunk. It was a beautiful sunny day to sail. The wind was hovering around 8-10K  and we were joined by about 10 other boats all heading toward Buzzards Bay. The current was with us all the way.

Once we arrived in Cuttyhunk pond we motored around the perimeter to anchor but another boat beat us to the spot so we just picked up a mooring for the night and went ashore.  there is not much there but we love it anyway.

Cuttyhunk pond

Harbormasters office

local shop

interesting way to grow pole beans