Block Island, Rhode Island

Monday, August 26 - It was very calm when we left New London at 8:50 a.m. for Block Island; the water was smooth, wind was 2 knots and the air was warm. It was the first time since before Maine that I was not wearing pants and a jacket. It was an easy ride to Block Island and we anchored at 1:30 p.m. Around 5:00 p.m. a hail storm came over us. Winds were blowing the water so hard it looked like anchored boats were motoring. Boats were dragging, including us, and we were dancing with 2 other boats trying not to hit each other, one was vacant and the other had a couple doing the same thing as us. Kevin was steering the boat, with the anchor down, to avoid the other boats. After 20 minutes or so the hail stopped and the rain and wind slowed enough that I was able to go on deck and pull up the anchor. The mud here is very heavy and full of shells and I had to push a heavy clunk of mud and shells off the anchor. While I did that Kevin moved the boat to the outside of the anchorage away from other boats and we re-anchored. The next day we stopped to talk to a Catalina owner anchored by us and he got hit by another boat, bent his railing and busted the side window. It was definitely the wildest experience we’ve had on the boat yet.
Prior to the storm Kevin set up the STARLINK to work with the TV and Firestick. We can finally watch shows and movies on the TV, including live TV!! Previously we could only stream to our iPads.

Tuesday, August 27 - We moved the boat early in the morning back into the designated anchorage area. It again took us 3 attempts to get the anchor to bite properly because of all the shells. This area is pretty and though there are a lot of boats they are spread out a good amount. But I can only imagine what it is like on a holiday weekend! We took Pepper to shore and walked just over a mile to town. There are shops and taverns along the way and once in the center of town they are more clustered together. There seemed to be several vintage stores. We found a bagel shop and I got souvenirs at another shop.

Wednesday, August 28 - We had hoped that it would be a calm morning so that we could use the paddle board however the winds were too high and the water was rough. It was supposed to rain but never really did. What is interesting about Block Island is the high number of boats that raft up together. We saw 5, 6 and up to 7 boats rafted together, and numerous 2 and 3 boats together. We also noticed most boats were from New England, specifically Rhode Island and Connecticut. This is definitely a local destination weekend cruiser spot.

Thursday, August 29 - We went into town to Poor Man’s Pub for lunch then that’s about it! A Catalina 470 anchored close to us that afternoon and Kevin hailed them on the VHF and invited them over for cocktails. Marleen and John are on Serendipity and hail from Maryland. They don’t exactly live full time on their boat but they are on it a lot and work remotely from there.

Friday, August 30 - We put both bikes in the dinghy and went into town and rode to Block Island North Light. The ride was about 3.5 miles one way then there was a mile or so walk on sand to get to the lighthouse. The house itself was rather large in terms of number of rooms and is 2 levels. We couldn’t go upstairs or into the light tower but the museum was interesting. That night Marleen and John from Serendipity came over for dinner and we grilled hamburgers and chicken. A third Catalina 470 also anchored near us, Kokomo. They swung by on their dinghy to say hello. They are from Groton, CT. It would have been fun to stay a little longer and spend more time with both boats but we wanted to move on before the Labor Day crowd really hit. We went to the dinghy dock in the afternoon to walk Pepper and bring trash and couldn’t find a spot on the dinghy dock to tie up. People were not leaving long lines out and were tight to the dock. I had to climb over another boat to get to the dock while Kevin stayed in our dinghy, a signal that it’s time to leave.もっと詳しく