My 4th of July weekend has been extended a bit as I'm still out cruising and enjoying sunshine and a respite from all of the rain that we've had.
We had a great time in Block Island, as did a lot of other boaters. The number of boats which arrived for the 4th was absolutely amazing. One guide book that I have states that Great Salt Pond (aka New Harbor), can hold 1000 boats. I'd be willing to bet that we were close to that. I just kept watching as boat after boat came through the channel and looked for a place to anchor.
Anchorage from up the mast:
We arrived on Wednesday, thinking that there was still enough time to find a mooring ball. Wrong...According to some people who had arrived on Tuesday, the last balls quickly disappeared that day. I have no problems anchoring, but I just worry about the rest of the yahoos who never anchor and end up anchoring on top of you and/or dragging. I picked a spot towards an anchoring boundary, thinking that no one would be able to get behind me. That lasted for about a day...Then we had a small boat with no name, port or registration drop their hook very near us. I anchored in 33' of water and had 160' of chain out. They had a lot less than that and used rope, so they swung very differently. We never touched, but we sure came close. For cheap insurance, I put fenders out on their side.
One of the more amazing sights is all of the boats rafted in Old Harbor. I have no idea how they form or dis-entangle themselves when they're done.
Boats rafted at Old Harbor:
Not to be outdone are the marinas, who charge $8/ft and stack boats up to 4 deep. We noted that the first 4 boats got power and the rest didn't. I guess that's to make up for all of the people walking over your boat to get to theirs. Why doesn't this look like fun to me?
Boats stacked in marinas:
Block Island always had a great parade and fireworks. They didn't disappoint again and the people watching was great.
We also got to meet another Freedom 40/40 owner (Bill and Marilyn) from Seas the Dream, who were on their way back from Oriental, SC.
On Sunday we had great westerly winds and decided to head out and head back towards home, with the intention of not getting there...We had 15-20+ kts dead on the stern and had a sleigh ride. We decided to head to Cuttyhunk, which is part of the Elizabeth Islands off of RI and MA and was 33 miles away. We averaged 7 kts for the trip and we hit 10 kts on one surf!
Cuttyhunk is a small island with a nice pond in the interior that they've dredged for a mooring field and anchorage. You can also anchor outside of the pond, but it was blowing 20+ kts and we wanted to head into the town. As a result headed into the pond and were lucky enough to be offered a private mooring ball for free. There's not much on Cuttyhunk other than houses, a great raw bar, a small grocery store and a few restaurants. It's definately a laid back place.
Cuttyhunk Village:
The next morning we woke up and once again found sun shining, but no wind. Martha's Vineyard lays about 7 miles away, so we decided to head that direction. We headed to the town of Oak Bluffs, which has a wonderful village consisting of ornately decorated cottages which are absolutely wonderful to look at.
Oak Bluffs Village:
Today we're headed in the general direction of my marina. I think that we'll either stop at Woods Hole or Westport, MA on the way there. There's no wind forecast for today, so we'll probably have to motor.
-- Geoff
P.S. More photos of Block Island are available at
http://www.geoffschultz.org/2009_Sailing/Photos/RI_BI/