New England Sailing

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On a Fourth of July trial run from Newport to Block Island, we came into the Block Island Harbor from the west and saw wall-to-wall boats. Quickly, we motored to a vast ¼ mile open area at the north-central region of the harbor and dropped our 3/8" all-chain anchor rode. With the wind blowing about 20 knots, the CQR did not hold, and we soon ran afoul of another vessel's chain rode. After several fruitless attempts to anchor in the deep waters of that immediate area, we turned our attention to getting back out of the harbor and spent the remainder of the weekend sailing along Narragansett Bay off of Newport watching the Air Force's Blue Angels' flying display. If you do go to Block Island on a busy weekend, don't count on finding a suitable place to anchor. We returned to the west side of Narragansett Bay near the entrance and found a mooring at the Jamestown Boatyard, though I would suggest calling beforehand. Their number is (401) 423-0600. Armchair Sailor can be recommended for last minute charts, books and friendly help before beginning the cruise northbound.

In mid-July, we cast off for Cuttyhunk, a short day sail off Newport. Our yellow and blue spinnaker (Swedish colors since S/V Flight is a Swedish built pilothouse ketch of 49') carried us past a large wooden sailing vessel.

Cuttyhunk had ample moorings in a square, protected harbor (no problem with our 7' draft), a hill to climb in order to see the beauty of the Elizabeth Islands and the WWII artillery battery at the top, interesting small homes, friendly people and a quietness that comes from too few bars. Cuttyhunk Island is the farthest west of the islands in the Elizabeth Island Chain that begins at Woods Hole.

With a pleasant breeze the following day, we sailed to Martha's Vineyard, and, failing to find a convenient mooring near town, we motored past the town to the farthest south portion of this very large harbor. We anchored in mud and can suggest using lots of rode since we slipped a bit and had to re-anchor.

We later found the natives to be friendly, as two attractive ladies invited my male chum and me to share drinks on their private beach at the west end of the island at sundown and then to take dinner with them. The beach, fireworks, wind (15 knots directly in your face), wine and thick steaks were appreciated but there was a price to pay. Next day, as we prepared to cast off with heavy heads, the two ladies clamored aboard, trying to be polite and accommodating to our hostesses. We spent the entire day explaining why we couldn't take on two more passengers, much to the amusement of our crew.

Later, another pleasant day followed as we sailed our way into Nantucket, and made our approach from the north. We found a mooring and tied to it. The ferry runs to the mainland, and we lost one of our passengers when his distant girlfriend won him over. We motored the dinghy over to the dock where the ferry soon carried our friend away, thus ending his summer sail in preparation for his year in architectural studies at Drexel.

We later found beaches at the south, east and west ends of the island to be remarkable. The beach on the east has an interesting slope to the sea and the homes are approachable and interesting to view. This would be the beach to see early in the day, and the west beach in the afternoon has the best view of the setting sun. Busses are convenient to mid-town where we moored.

We were soon dusting off our beach sand, back aboard Flight. On a summer Sunday morning, a venerable restaurant, the Jared Coffin House, is, as advertised, a place where we enjoyed acceptable food in an attractive old wooden house with a pleasant garden.

When things go bump in the night it catches my attention. So, when the wind shifted at 0400 on the day we were to depart and the boat next to ours touched, we were up and underway in a moment's notice. The moorings here are close together, and attention must be paid to the boat size and swinging room. Fortunately, no serious marks remain. In the years past, I made unsuccessful attempts to land my Piper Chieftain in the fog and visit this island. I now realize that this is an island best visited by boat.

We learned a lot from that two-month cruise. The prevailing wind in July and August is out of the southwest, you need a strategy for releasing lobster traps from your keel, harbor seals will startle you when they pop up out of the sea to research you, and single sailors should visit Nantucket.