FOG!
A year afloat: to the Caribbean and back
Sam and Alex Fortescue
Wed 6 Jul 2011 21:45
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We should have been rubbing shoulders with Jackie
O'Nassis today on Martha's Vineyard. I set the alarm for 7am, with a view to an
early start for the long passage. But when I woke at 6.30ish, there was a dank
clamminess to the atmosphere and a weak light shining in through the fo'c'sle
hatch. Poking my head up to survey the view around Summer Song, I couldn't make
out a single boat, although we were anchored within 50 yards of several. Just an
endless, wet grey.
Fog.
The story was the same at 8.30am. But around 10,
the harbour and surrounding land miraculously reappeared as the fog lifted in
just a few minutes and the sun came out. We joined a queue of boats motoring out
of the salt lake into the Sound. But before we had even cleared the last of the
buoys marking the entrance to the channel, we were wrapped tightly again in a
pall of dampness. On the VHF radio, boats from all points of the compass were
asking for information about the visibility in other parts of the bay, with the
same answer in every case: less than 100 yards. We ploughed on for a couple of
miles, sounding the foghorn and scanning the swirls of fog ahead of us for other
boats. And though we could see the sun clearly above, there was no let up at sea
level. The prospect of crossing busy shipping lanes barely able to see our toes
did not appeal, so we quickly turned around and motored back to the sun of Block
Island.
And thus, we've spent the afternoon climbing in and
out of the fog as we explore the island by bike. We've seen - or in some cases,
stood near to - the main sights. Teetering over the cliffs at the south of the
island, for example, we could hear the breakers crashing, but we couldn't see
anything. Likewise, the island's lighthouse. The main town is sweet-looking, but
utterly artificial, with no life of it's own to charm visitors. Hopes of getting
holed up in an old fisherman's pub with a pint of the local brew have fallen by
the wayside, as it became clear that there hasn't been an old fisherman on the
island for decades.
Still, it's good to have seen the place and
tomorrow, the forecast says, we should be able to make the passage to Martha's
Vineyard after all.
Block Island - an oasis of sun amidst
fog
  We went for the 'Take a Putt' option
  Southeast Lighthouse
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