Saturday, June 23 Block Island, R.I.

We are back in our old stomping grounds-Block Island which is 13 miles off the coast of Rhode Island. Twenty years ago, when we lived in Massachusetts this was a favorite week-end sailing destination. We left Cape May, N.J. on Thursday June 21 at 9 a.m. and arrived here on Friday at 5 p.m. This was a long run with several rainy brief cold fronts. Thursday night we had a period of lightening and rain between 10 p.m. and midnight. It was a good thing we reefed the main sail at sunset. When things settled down I was at the helm with the star light above us and the setting moon.

Ten miles off shore we passed late morning Atlantic City. Late at night North Jersey and NYC provided a background of light and I watched the lights of offshore fishermen trawling their nets. We also were on the look out for shipping traffic as we crossed 3 shipping lanes which enter NYC. We saw three freighters during the night. In the morning we watched the barometer go down again and another weak front went by.

The afternoon sailing was sunny with 10-18 knot winds but as we entered Block Island harbor the storm clouds gathered over the inlet and we had gusty winds as we came into the harbor. The challenge was trying to anchor among the many other boats in the harbor with rain and gusty winds. The third try was good with the anchor holding well. By 6:30 p.m. we were too tired to cook dinner so sandwiches and a tonic hit the spot! Looking at the run from Cape Canaveral, Florida to Block Island was 1200 nautile miles.