Thursday, July 28
West Greenwich, RI to Block Island,RI to Greenport, LI
Another beautiful morning with low winds and sunshine. Today we will head to Mystic, or so we thought. Once away from the marina, we decided that Block Island might be a better destination. It would leave only a few-hour run the next day to get to Hampton Bays.
We are only about an hour into the trip when a dense fog settles over the boat. In all the years of sailing and power boating, we’ve never experienced fog this thick. It is as though there is a tiny halo of light shining down on Blue Belle as she is suspended in clouds. It is more than unsettling. We have no visibility beyond one boat-length. There are other boats out here with us, but not one of us can see the others.
A fog horn blows long and hard and loudly to our starboard side, when suddenly a huge ghostly-looking tanker appears out of nowhere. The captain is signaling to a power boat that went tearing in front of him. Within seconds, horns are blasting from all directions as though each was saying “I’m here, over here, please don’t hit me!” A large sailboat passes us in parallel to our port side, maybe a matter of 30 feet from us. A small power boat comes up to our side with a young man and woman aboard, staring intently into the fog. A boat that small never has radar on board. We ask if he knows the entrance into Block, but he doesn’t. All anyone can do at this point is trust the charts and move on ever so slowly, slowly, slowly. As we look behind us, we now see that we are heading up a caravan of boats, all trying to get into Block or return to Block.
Blue Belle at Champlin's Marina
As suddenly as we entered into the massive fog bank, a half hour later (which felt like an eternity) we exit it. The sun is shining as brightly as when we started the day. Our plan now is to stay at Champlin’s Marina for the night. The dock master assigns us a slip far into the marina, only steps from land. The day is hot so we head to the pool for a quick swim, anything to relieve the stress of the morning.
We realize we forgot to bring beach towels with us so Bert sets out in sunny 90 degree temperatures to walk to town, which turns out to be two miles each way. He returns with "Block Island" towels and 5 pounds lighter.
Typical Block Island Scenery
Downtown Shoreham, Block Island, RI
Champlin’s charges us $2/ft for our afternoon stop vs. the $4/ft charge for an overnight and off we go. I can’t help but notice that we are one of only a couple of boats leaving BI, all others are streaming in for happy hour and a night’s stay. Will we regret this? Better yet, will we live to regret this? Of course, I am the one thinking this, not Captain Bert.
Blessedly, we have a smooth ride to Greenport with only one brief spell of fog. We have called ahead and are assured there is a slip available to us. I have never been so happy to see land. A few other boaters at the Mitchell Park Marina are regaling others with the horrors of the fog. After (strong) cocktails, we walk to the main street in town and have dinner at Noah’s. The food is excellent, the prices commensurate with it.
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CLICK HERE for all the photos from the trip. Warning: There are almost 300 pictures on the photo site. Click on any picture to enlarge, and look for the slideshow option for best viewing.