Looking out across the anchorage after getting tied down to our mooring for the night.
So we got settled and had a nice meal and had an early bedtime. My thought was to get up in the morning, have breakfast and then begin to look for a town mooring. But we thought to get on it early and try to get settled early. The search for a mooring got frustrating as 2 smaller boats pulled in right in front of us to get moorings. As a larger boat maneuvering through a mooring field it is more difficult but we were in position to get the next mooring and got settled and had our Sunday morning breakfast that we hadn't had.
So after a casual breakfast and some work around the boat we went ashore and walked a bit. We got back to the Oar and split a lobster roll and black bean burger while talking with others at the bar. We became friends with a single-hander, Rich Collins, on a Beneteau 50 from NYC on a boat named Michael's Spirit. Rich Collins explained that his boat is named for his brother who died in the World Trade Center on 9/11. RIP Michael.
Some of the homes and stone walls along the road from the Yacht basin.
The American Legion and memorials to BI war dead.
Linda with the harbor in the background.
The view from the Oar.
View from our mooring.
This week at Block Island is probably one of their busiest. The prime season here runs from just before the 4th of July holiday until school starts in August. So late July early August is the busiest time of the year. There was also a fishing tournament going on so places were really busy.
After the frontal passage during the Sunday overnight the weather turned from very hot to very cool for the entire east coast. I was looking forward to beach days on Block Island but the water was very cool and now the wind was cool. So while the sun was out nicely it was too cold for us to get in the water. Instead we opted to just do some walks around town and visit some of the places we enjoy.
Block Island is a very unspoiled environment with unobtrusive houses surrounded by iconic stone walls with a few large hotels that were built around the turn of the previous century. BI has lots of great restaurants that are busy all hours of the day. We had lunch one day at Los Gatitos translated as "The Kittens." They have a very limited Mexican menu but the food is good. We also ate at the Oar. Their cold lobster roll is very good. Although I don't think I've ever had a bad lobster roll but some are better than others.
A local cruise ship in port for the day brings hundreds of tourists.
The 3 kittens restaurant.
Block Island got its name in colonial times because it was a stumbling block for sailors going to southern New England ports. Anyone who has sailed around here knows there are many shoals and currents that need to be considered when passing through.
Downtown New Shoreham.
The memorial fountain.
Ferries in the Old Harbor that run several ties daily to southern New England ports bringing hundreds of vacationers with each trip.
Many boaters from NY and southern New England make Block Island a week-long destination for summer vacation. We could have enjoyed spending more time there but it was time to move on with Newport being our next port of call. As we were leaving on Friday we passed a ferry coming out of Port Judith and it was packed with people going to the island for the weekend. We enjoy visiting BI and could spend more time here but it was nicer when we visited last year with far less people. Also had it been warmer we could have visited the beach.
So on Friday morning we moved on to Newport to avoid the weekend crowd. We had hoped for sailing weather but with only a few knots of wind behind we motored the 20+ miles to Newport.
The BI Coast Guard station as we left the Great Salt Pond.
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