The weather looked good with light winds which was great because we are crossing the open Atlantic Ocean. Our destination: “New Shoreham, RI, is the smallest town in the smallest state in the U.S. It was incorporated in 1672 and only encompasses Block Island, although people rarely say they are going to (or are from) New Shoreham; they say they are going to Block Island. The Island has approximately 1,000 year-round residents and 15,000 to 20,000 seasonal visitors at a time. On Block Island, there are some 400 miles of stonewalls and 32 miles of trails, and 43 percent of the Island is preserved open space.” It was only about twenty four miles away, but we still are a little intimidated when we talk about ocean cruising. We left around 8am and the trip took about three and a half hours and was somewhat bumpy. It was a nice day for a boat ride, even if it was a little chilly. The island has two areas to anchor and we chose to go to Old Harbor; the other option is Great Salt Pond. The difference between them is location and size- by choosing Old Harbor we came around the island from the south. As we entered the harbor we could see it was packed. The ferries run from here and they have a huge dock, there was a small marina which was packed and every inch of space in the anchorage was filled with boats, most rafting two to six across and they all were backed up to the break wall with their anchor our and stern lines run to the wall. Hmmm. This isn’t a great situation. In order for us to get to the other anchorage of Salt Pond we would have to circle the island which would take about an hour and half to two hours. With the waves we had just left we weren’t too keen on this idea. We floated around looking and discussing what we should do. We noticed there was enough room at the very end of the wall, close to the entrance where the traffic comes and goes. Fu$k it- were going to give this a try. I’m sure everyone was watching and wondering what we were going to do as there wasn’t much room at all. I maneuvered us around and came to where we were attempting to anchor and positioned us as best I could. The anchor was dropped and I backed up as best I could. Our boat does not back up in a straight line, so there was that. Once I felt the anchor had caught, I turned the helm over to Lauren and went to the bow and let out a little more anchor rode, then jumped in the dinghy and ran a small anchor on a long line back to the break wall and wedged it in the rocks. It definitely wasn’t going to get pulled out. I adjusted the lines some more and we seemed to be good, but I wasn’t one hundred percent confident we wouldn’t drift a little so I put out some bumpers just to be safe. Whew! That was challenging. Now we were anchored and could relax a bit. The ferries were passing us by about fifty feet, but they were going slow in the harbor so we weren’t waked too bad. The amazing thing to watch was the amount of people zipping around in their dinghies. At any given time there were at least a half dozen or more and they weren’t just going to shore- they would go out to the ocean, to shore, or just cruising about in the harbor. It was interesting to watch and guess what they were doing. After an hour or so I took Frank to shore and was walking around when I stopped and asked some people partying on the sand if the dinghies were good to be left here. They said yes, but watch the tide as it is almost eight feet difference. One guy must have noticed my World Series hat and asked if I was from Cleveland? I said yes and explained our trip. He said he used to play for the Cleveland Browns! I met Raymond “Bubba” Ventrone who was having a good time with family and friends. I excused myself and brought Frank back to the boat and told Lauren my scouting report and my chat with “Bubba”. We felt secure enough about our position of Klondike so we loaded the bikes on the dinghy and headed to shore. We beached the dinghy and I tied the line around some rocks as best I could to keep it secure. We rode through town and a few miles up to see the Block Island East lighthouse. This light was built in 1874, with the lamp first lit on February 1, 1875. It is a sophisticated expression of the Gothic Revival executed in brick, and was a marked contrast to earlier lighthouses, which were generally more functional in appearance. the lighthouse has a 52-foot brick and granite tower, and has been named a National Historic Landmark. A big boulder close to the Mohegan Bluffs marks its original location; it was moved 300 feet inland in 1993 due to the erosion of its original perch.
The ride was cool as we got to see the countryside and the views were incredible. The ride down was again a bit vexing and Lauren is running out of rubber on her shoes, but we made it. We rode around town some more and there were a couple of places Lauren had wanted to try but they were all closed today, so I talked her into stopping at Poor Peoples Pub for a drink and appetizer. We had had enough biking at this point so we headed back to the boat. I went to get the dinghy and noticed it wasn’t anywhere near where I had left it, but it was there. Huh. The tide had come in and the beach was all but gone. I retrieved the dinghy and pulled up to the dock, we loaded everything and went back to relax a bit and get Frank. After some time we all went back to shore for an evening walk and to pick up a pizza from Aldos Restaurant. We walked around first and I picked up some fudge from Chapel Sweets and had a fun conversation with the owner about how his wife and sister make the different items and his wife ‘invented’ their signature Sandy Feet Turtles as a final project in her baking class years ago. We had to sample those as well and they definitely deserved an A. . We picked up the pizza and returned back to the boat to eat. When we got o the dock we could see Klondike was now being pulled by the falling tide toward the channel/ harbor entrance. Shit. We were still technically out of the channel, but it was close. And the ferries were still coming and going right past us. As we were pulling up to the boat a guy in a dinghy came by and said “did you find your dinghy in a different spot? It was drifting away and I brought it back and tied it up” and away he took off. I had responded with a yes and was thanking him as he zipped away. Once onboard I attended to the lines but there wasn’t much I could do, especially because of the tide heights. The lines were taut and they were holding. We ate the pizza and decided where to head to tomorrow. It looks like we’re going to continue up to Cuttyhunk, Massachusetts and stay there for a few days as it is getting close to the Fourth of July and we want to get a good anchorage and wait out the partying crowds…
