Log of the ELISSA II: July 21 2014 Block Island MA

07/21: Left our pleasant Sag Harbor anchorage at 0920 under partly sunny skies and winds from the SE at 10 – 15 mph. The SE winds had an unbroken fetch reaching all the way to Africa, resulting in long, lazy swells from that direction. They were mostly 2-3 ft. high with an occasional 4 or 5 footer tossed in; in all a gentle motion. On a hunch I doubled our normal cruising speed of 8 kts and the ride became a bit of a sleigh ride, surfing down the front of the swells. All in all, a pleasant trip and one that finished in half the normal time. Block Island; you enter a huge inland basin via a narrow channel off of Block Island Sound and you are greeted with literally acres of boats large & small (mostly large). Boats in Marina slips lining the western shore; more acres of boats riding at mooring balls and yet more acres of boats (including the Elissa II) anchored along the eastern shore. No doubt Bonnie will have illustrative photos inserted to the Blog. In all, quite an experience and one we will be repeating when we reverse our course (in 2015?) and continue on the Loop.

Bonnie: My friend Beve Gracia had told me about Block Island, her daughters have an annual “sisters retreat” here – so had it on my “list”. It is a delightful destination and wish we had been able to arrive yesterday so as to have all of today to explore the Island (settling for returning next spring when we head west towards the Hudson and return to the Great Lakes). As advertised in Active Captain reviews, the harbor was “crowded”, more boats in one place than experienced in a LONG time. But it was Monday so not as bad as the weekend must be. You just hope that the boat anchored near you has a good anchor hold and not so much scope out that if a blow comes up you both don’t crash into each other. The atmosphere on and off the water was quite festive. We had a pleasant walk for aways on the Island then did a dinghy tour further inland on one of the ponds—there are 365 ponds on the Island. A couple visited us from Connecticut who also have an Albin 28 trawler. Enjoyed sharing our joint pleasure plus they provided some good local knowledge and an invitation to look them up when we are near the Connecticut River next spring. We enjoyed our grilled Mexican hamburgers and cheesy corn and black bean casserole as we watched everyone’s anchor lights come on as the sun set----once dark it was almost magical with all these mast lights mixing with the stars.