We left Montauk on Tuesday 1st July and had a lovely sail to Block Island. We knew Block was going to be busy but I don’t think I have ever seen so many boats in one tiny space. If there were no boats in the anchorage I am sure it would look bigger but it was packed with boats of all shapes and sizes. Some were on anchor and some were on mooring balls, and then there were a few who were rafted up together, three or more on one mooring ball!!
Jacqui from Mellow Puff messaged us as we got there and told us there was space near them. We motored around and when we found the space she mentioned, we dropped anchor. It was quite windy and the boats were all bouncing around on their tethers so when we swung around, Andrew wasn’t happy as we were a bit close to the boat behind us. So we upped anchor and found another spot which was a bit less crowded.
Later that day we noticed a big motor boat up against a yacht. We thought they had just dropped anchor but it turned out that they were actually dragging. When the coast guard and towboat US got one boat off the yacht we saw two more boats rafted up with the big one. The people on the boats all around were up on deck, standing by with fenders and engines on. There was nobody on the boats which were dragging. Towboat ended up dragging them off, who knows where?
We went ashore the following day and walked to the town. The dinghy dock was packed!!
And the town was so busy. People everywhere! One can get a ferry from Newport so I am sure a lot of the people were day trippers. Every restaurant was bursting to capacity and the streets were full of people.
That afternoon we sat on the boat and watched as more boats came into the bay. I was not happy with the boats so close to us and no space to maneuver should anything happen. We were quite close to the shore and would have had no time to do anything should a squall have hit.
It was also 4th of July weekend and clearly Block Island was the place to be. We decided that we didn't want to stay, as there was bad weather predicted for the following afternoon. The last place we wanted to be was there, packed in like sardines!
We woke on Thursday morning to thick mist and had to wait for it to dissipate. We had only planned to leave at around 1pm as the wind was filling in later in the afternoon.
At noon, we had a boat circling us looking for a place to drop anchor. They had just arrived and by the look of what they were wearing (foul weather gear) outside the anchorage didn't seem like it was pleasant. We asked them what the conditions were like. They said it was messy and still quite misty. They told us that we were anchored in the prime spot with the best holding and said they had been here often. Andrew made the mistake of telling the chap that we were leaving in an hour or so.
He continued to circle round us like a vulture. We finally decided that the mist was clear enough and upped anchor.
I didn’t want to drive in the crowded anchorage so opted to get the anchor up. It was stuck vas with lots of mud and shells stuck to the anchor, which I had to hose off while Andrew was heading out.
As we were leaving there was a parade of boats coming in to the anchorage, mostly power boats, one after the other. Some of them zooming in so fast, as if it would make a difference to get there first and nab the best spot.
Mellow Puff left at the same time as us and followed us out.
The seas were really messy and the trip over to Rhode Island was not pleasant. We had so many boats passing us, heading to Block Island, throwing up big waves as they passed.
As we got closer to Rhode Island the area got busy with all types of sail boats, motor boats and ferries going in all different directions. We had to keep a good lookout before getting to Newport harbour.
In the next episode we have that predicted storm pass over us, watch fireworks and explore Newport.
