We woke up on Friday to thick fog. The morning was
spent with Andrew cleaning the decks and Celia borrowing a bicycle and
going to the supermarket which was about a mile out of town. It was a good
supermarket so a bit later both of us went back to get some more
provisions. We checked out some of the boatyards as we have decided
to take Alice out of the water for bottom painting in
Mystic. Sandy came to meet us and guided us down river to a mooring in
Noank. We went ashore at Ram Island Yacht Club and spent the evening
with Sidney and Sandy at their home. They had invited some fellow OCC
members to meet us - Sam, Frank and Dorothy and Tom. We had a lovely
evening and found that we had mutual friends. We had even been in the same
marina in the Spanish rias at the same time as Dorothy and Tom who were on the
same rally as Elizabeth and Martin - small world.
Pouring rain all evening and half the night seemed to
clear the fog away and we woke on Saturday to clearer
skies. We stayed another day at Noank and had a delightful walk ashore,
bumping into Sidney and Sandy again. They recommended Carsons Store and we
stopped there for a drink. It was like stepping into the 1950s. The
most delicious milk shake full of strawberries.
Next stop was Block Island. We motored the 15
miles across and anchored in New Harbour, Great Salt Pond. We had a walk
into the town of New Shoreham, walking down some greenways, we would call them
footpaths. We came round one corner and saw a beautiful deer in front of
us. He leapt away when he saw us and there was no time to get the camera
out. We had dinner at the Oar which had come recommended. We
sat on the terrace with a wonderful view overlooking the harbour. We
then met up with Sidney and Sandy again later as they had also come across with
their sailing club.
Monday morning we motor sailed over to Cuttyhunk.
We had been told that this island is very much like the Caribbean. We
didnt agree. The island is tiny and didnt take long to walk. The
harbour is chockablock with moorings and we decided to anchor outside where
there was more space. This was very peaceful until 04.00 when there was an
almighty thunderstorm. We were then on anchor watch ( I use the royal we)
for an hour. Thankfully everything was ok and we went back to bed at
5.
We left in the morning with a mass exodus of boats
heading to Marthas Vineyard. We went through Quicks Hole and into Vineyard
Sound. Even managed to SAIL about a third of the way and motor sailed the
rest. Anchored outside Edgartown and went into the town by dinghy.
The town is one of the prettiest we have seen, it looks as though it should be a
film set. Steven Spielberg obviously thought the same and the town of
Amity in Jaws is actually Edgartown. We were anchored amongst several
superyachts. They were all floodlit at night which was a lovely
sight. Wonder if they were impressed with Alice's solar powered garden
lights - courtesy of the 99p shop!
We spent a day touring round the island by bus.
First we went "up island" to the western end and the cliffs and lighthouse at
Gay Head. Then it was another bus to the fishing harbour of
Menemsha. From there we went to Vineyard Haven. This is another
pretty town and harbour. There are a lot of lovely homes built in the
1800s by the captains of whaling ships. We had a walk round and lunch
there and then caught a bus on to Oak Bluffs. This is another pretty
harbour. In mid 1800s there was a camp ground where Methodists held
meetings. Originally the site had tents, which were then raised off the
ground and filled in. After a while the owners built cottages and added
filigree trim and painted them bright colours. This is known as Carpenter
Gothic style. Over 300 of these homes still exist around Trinity Park
where there is The Tabernacle. This was built of wrought iron in 1879 and
is 100 feet high, 130 feet across and has seating for over 3000. We sat in
there for a while as there was a pianist playing the grand piano on the
stage. The homes are known as Gingerbread Cottages and are all in private
ownership. An absolutely enchanting place.
When we got back to Edgartown, Suzanne and David on
Susie Too had arrived. We had drinks with them and caught up on the last
couple of weeks since we saw them in Oyster Bay. There was a thunderstorm
approaching so we went back to Alice for supper and to then keep anchor watch
for the evening. Just as it started to pour with rain a dinghy came adrift
from the boat in front of us and Andrew got drenched rescuing it and returning
it to its owners - who did not know it had gone. Our anchor held well but
unfortunately a motor boat had anchored about 20 feet away from us and they
stayed below watching their television while we kept watch throughout the
night!! The storm lasted all night. At 05.00 we decided to up anchor
and go into the harbour. We found a vacant mooring buoy and are staying
here until tomorrow when hopefully the wind will have calmed down - it has been
20 to 30 knots so far today. Hopefully tonight we will get a night's sleep
after the disturbed night last night.
