Saturday, June 16 – Thursday, June 19
Block Island, RI to Fisher’s Island, NY
The day dawned with blue skies and little wind, so we decided to take advantage of no chop on Buzzards Bay. Three hours after leaving Newport, we picked up a mooring in New Harbor on Block Island, $30/night. When you arrive early, you get your pick of moorings, so we were close to the dinghy dock, which was good, as Annie continued to look askance at the astro-turf pee pad!
Lunch out on the lawn in front of The Oars, overlooking New Harbor, was delightful. This part of the island is much quieter — most of the shops, hotels, and restaurants are in Old Harbor, but the anchorages aren’t as good there. Go figure!
We thought about renting a tiny Smart Car (which we first saw back in 2000 on a family trip to England — and fell in love with them), but ended up walking and taking taxis. Bobby, our son, recommended we see the Southeast Lighthouse, which is stunning, and the taxi driver took us to the place where you can descend 148 steps to the beach. We didn’t think our knees would make it all the way down and back up again, but it sure looked cool!
Block Island reminds some of Scotland or Wales, which it does, though Cuttyhunk does even more. Perhaps it was the grey skies rather than Block Island’s blue skies that added to the windswept feel. Regardless, we really enjoy these islands! While we had intended to spend two nights in New Harbor, the next day’s wind and wave forecast offered better conditions for an easy three-hour crossing of the Block Island Sound to Fisher’s Island, NY, directly across the Sound from the entrance to the Mystic River. We could easily make it up the river to Mystic Seaport before Thursday. According to our friend, Beth, this is where her dad summered as a boy — no wonder he loved sailing so much!
We picked up one of Pirate Cove Marina’s five transient moorings early in the day, and the entire mooring field was pretty full due to the glorious weather and it being Father’s Day. Yet, by the time we finished our late afternoon “toot” around the harbor in the dinghy with her ePropulsion motor, we shared the mooring field with only one other sailboat. This was the first time we had used this motor and it works as well as, if not better than, we dared hope. The advantage of this electric motor is we can recharge it while underway, and one charge at quarter- power will last four hours — even at full speed we have an hour! It is quiet, too, so we don’t scare the birds, but most importantly, we don’t have to carry any highly volatile gasoline aboard. Most of the time we are happy for the exercise rowing provides, but if we are a distance from the dinghy dock or it’s windy and choppy, this little motor is ideal. Peace and quiet prevailed that evening, except for the buzz of the first mosquito. Thank goodness for the hatch screen!
We spent three “Lay Days” on Fisher’s Island. We love to explore these islands on foot, and we took advantage of the Village Grocery for a few fresh provisions. Naps in the afternoon, the beach for a swim with Annie, read, touched up varnish and paint, Semco’d the swim platform, and installed new USCG-approved signs in the galley and engine room.
All right, WoodenBoat Show, she’s ready for her close up!