HYC Cruise Day 6 July 30 Lay Day in Block Island

Blasts crew rented a car to tour the Island, by day, dined at the National on a gift certificate and reported that it was excellent.

True North remained aboard during the day to make sure their anchor was holding in the big winds and came in for dinner at The Oar. 

Everyone from Ohana and ILENE (except Ilene) rented bikes from Aldos at the Boat Basin for the big loop of the southern half of the island. First major stop was at the beach at the foot of Mohegan Bluffs. 

There the younger generation went for a swim while Bennett and Roger took a long walk west along the beach. I dont think I have ever been there at low tide before. It reveals where one can swim without fear of being crushed against submerged rocks by the breakers. Then a brief stop at the lighthouse for liquid refreshments as defense against dehydration. There we learned of the imminent plan to build a "U" shaped cup of windmill generators around the southern end of the island a mile or two off shore. We had lunch at Finns, where Bennett satisfied his craving for whole fried clams and Roger ordered this new (for me) treat too. Then marketing at the very pricey local market before returning the bikes -- 1.5 hours late for a half day (4 hour) rental but they did not charge us the extra ten bucks -- and we dinked back, except for Rolo and Chris, who went to the beach and returned by launch later

Dinner on ILENE for eight: from Ohana, ILENE and Shanghai. A weird assortment of foods that somehow came together magically.  A rain shower required us to migrate from the cockpit to the cabin. CJ enthralled us with stories from his interesting life. We eight were from China, the U.S., Guatemala and Denmark, and included speakers of about ten different languages.  Most of our dinner table pics are after the meal; eating seems to always take precedence over photography until plates are empty.

Rolo, Christian, Laura and Bennett

Jenny, CJ, Lene and Roger

Shanghais dink motor failed on the way over so they came in tow. And I towed them back. Maybe we can create one fully operative dink between Shanghais inflatable and Ohanas outboard. But, in fact, it appears that all of the places both boats intend to visit on their ways back -- yes we are at our furthest point away from City Island -- have either docks or launch service. The other alternatives are the blissful solitude of staying aboard a well provisioned boat or getting a lift from strangers.

Stay tuned.

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HYC Cruise Day 7 July 31 Second Lay Day in Block Island

Shanghai departed after the fog lifted and CJ reported that they made it to a mooring in South Cove at old Saybrook in the Connecticut River.
True North rested up after Bruce felt ill from the dinner the night before. The folks on Blast continued exploring this island via automobile and planned dinner at Deadeye Dicks.

We detached and stowed Ohanas dink engine and then hauled the dink aboard and discovered the cause of the leak when water that had entered the inflatables starboard tube flowed out through a separation between that tube and the blue conical cap at its aft end. Drained of air and water it is rolled and stowed with the outboard.

Ohana and ILENE then took advantage of our rafted condition to take a 4.5 hour day sail past the southern coast of the island aboard Ohana, leaving ILENE on the mooring. We experienced moderate winds under clear sunny skies accompanied by big ocean rollers from yesterdays winds. We saw Mohegan Bluff and the SE lighthouse from the sea, from a distance.

Our fastest speed was sailing back into the Great Salt Pond.

After our return, Rolo, Laura and Christain headed off to swim and dinner while Lene, Bennett and Roger dined at Elis, a small gem of a restaurant one block back from the main road through the Old Town. Elis is a fine dining experience that Ken and Camille, who plan incidentally to meet up with us in Stonington CT, tomorrow,  introduced us to a few years ago. This was my third time there and we have never been disappointed. It opens at six, takes no reservations, does not advertise and is always full. I got there early and  waited on line while Lene and Bennett shopped for souvenirs. Im not going to describe the menu but it is imaginative and if we paid a lot more for this food in Manhattan we would not be dissatisfied. And the walk back to the Boat Basin helped the food settle.

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