A Block Island Respite

“Looks like you got your main sail stuck.” Clif Payne greeted Joe at the dock on Wednesday morning.

We had motored into the Great Salt Pond the night before with our main sail tied up in a strange square shape around the mast because it wouldn’t come down properly.

After a short, but solid, night’s sleep, Joe had stepped off the boat in search of coffee for me and assistance for Cygnet’s various ailments.

“You noticed that, hunh?” Joe replied cheekily to Clif’s statement. “I might need to find someone to send me up in a bosun’s chair to fix it, so my wife doesn’t have to hoist me up.”

“Okay, I have a kid that can do that.” Clif replied.

“And I’m leaking oil. So I need a place where I can get some oil.”

“We can have that sent over on the first boat from the mainland.”

“And we were hoping to find a place for coffee and breakfast.”

“Well, there’s a place right up the hill there, for that.”

Clif made everything seem fixable. His whole demeanor set Joe’s mind at ease.

When Joe returned to the boat, he gave the sail a fresh tug. She finally came down willingly. Phew. No bosun’s chair required. One problem ticked off the list. We were liking Block Island already.

I eased out of bed, hit the head, and Joe and I made our way up the hill to the little breakfast joint. Since it was October, the island was very sleepy and quiet. Yet, the weather was stunning. Bright blue skies and full sun. We headed to the Block Island Depot, the only place open for breakfast early on a weekday in the off-season.

Block Island Depot is a great little no frills market that also serves breakfast sandwiches. I got an egg wrap with potatoes and bacon and Joe got an egg sandwich without the bread. It was just what the doctor ordered. We chatted with some local folks who were on their way to clean up a park and then headed back down to Payne’s Dock.

Before too long, they called to say our oil had arrived at the freight dock. If you take a ferry to Block Island from Montauk, you will come into the Great Salt Pond, which is where we were tied up at Payne’s Dock. But if you take a ferry from points in Connecticut or Rhode Island, you will go into Old Harbor. This is also where the freight dock is. It’s on the other side of the island, but the island is small so I decided to walk to the freight dock and take a cab back with the five gallons of oil.

As I made my way across the island, I thought about the events of the previous day. I thought about sitting off the coast of Block in the dark the night before, while Joe wrestled with the main, thinking I was not cut out for this sailing thing. But now, walking in the sunshine on Block Island, working with Joe to tackle our various challenges, I felt invigorated. I had this fleeting thought—“Now I understand why people go on Naked and Afraid.” (Well, kind of.) It was that feeling of being beaten up the day before, but then rising in the morning thinking “Okay, where are we going today?”

Past a hillside of lovely hotels and inns, I found the freight dock. I picked up the oil, got a cab and had a lovely ride back to Payne’s dock telling my lady cab driver all about our adventures, so far.

By the time I got back to the boat, Joe had opened up the steering box to reveal the steering gear. Our steering gear is an Edson Worm Gear Stearer. It’s very simple mechanically, without a lot of moving parts. Joe determined that the main reason the steering had gotten stiff was that the bushing had gotten corroded by salt on our first day down to the Vineyard. He pulled that, greased it up, reinstalled it and the steering was back to normal. If this makes no sense to you, let me explain it this way—

Have you ever gone to refill your salt shaker and found you cannot unscrew the top of the salt shaker to save your life? When a little salt gets stuck around the rim, plus moisture from the air, the threads get completely gunked up and it becomes almost impossible to turn the top. That’s exactly what had happened with our steering gear. Luckly, Joe knows how to fix salt shakers and worm gears!

The main was lowered and made up, the steering was in good shape, I had found a different charger for the iPad which worked so that was back online, and the oil leak wasn’t fixed, but we had enough supply on board to get us out of Block and into Mystic River.

By 2:00 pm, we were ready to set sail. Our brief time on Block Island was nothing but positive. A true respite from the previous day. Everyone we met was kind and helpful and things just seemed to really come together while we were there. It was such a gleaming bright spot in our trip, I can’t wait to return.

As we prepared the boat to leave the dock, Joe said to me—“You have one final test to overcome today: visibility.”

“What?!?” I said. I thought he must be kidding.

He wasn’t!