When we passed Watch Hill, the sun was getting low, but it was still light out and visibility was high. We could see Fishers Island about 2 miles off in the distance, along with the buoys that would guide us into Fishers Island Sound. But by the time the sun was setting and we were less than a half mile off the shore of Fishers, we suddenly couldn’t see much of anything. A thick grey fog had circles around us like a great wool sweater. Peering into the seascape before us was just like trying to see through the small fuzzy spaces in cable knit yarn. Are you kidding me?…
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Our Passage to Mystic River Part 1
It was just before 2pm and we were finally ready to set off on our final 15 nautical mile leg to Mystic. I was feeling prepared and organized when Joe offhandedly said: “You have one final test for today—visibility.” “Hunh? What?” I asked. He pointed to the thick fog that had just rolled across the horizon. Five minutes earlier you could see all the way across the Great Salt Pond and past the channel into Block Island Sound. Now you could barely see the other end of the pond! It seemed to be burning off, so we warily got underway. Luckily, the fogged rolled out almost as quickly as it…
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Our Passage to Block Island Part 2
“I’m debating.” I said. “Debating what?” Joe asked. “Debating whether or not to do what you say, or insist we go into Point Judith.” Joe was still thinking that we would sail all night and ease into Mystic River with the sunrise; I was still unconvinced. It was dark and the stars were scattered above us in their beautiful cosmic pictographs. We were slicing through the water at a comfortable 4.5 knots, a few miles off the coast of Rhode Island, about halfway between Newport and Point Judith. Straight ahead were the buoys that could guide us into that Harbor of Refuge. I was a bit anxious and tired; but…
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Our Passage to Block Island Part 1
This might be a good time to point out a couple of things. One, there is a difference between day sailing for fun and doing a boat delivery. When you go out for a lovely pleasure sail, you check the winds and plan your course based on which way the winds will blow you comfortably. Joe and I were not pleasure sailing! We were on a boat delivery. (Like the couple in the movie Adrift. Not really a parallel I wanted to draw to our trip!) We had a specific timeline and destination and we did not have the luxury of planning our itinerary based on the wind and the…
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Our Passage from Chatham to Vineyard Haven
Close your eyes and imagine all the romantic notions you have about sailing. Then take a big bucket of salt water and throw it in your face. Do that over and over again for about 6 hours. That was our passage from Chatham to Vineyard Haven. As any smart sailor does, we checked the tides in advance with the Eldridge guide and the wind on our SailFlow app. We knew we were in for a crappy ride, but we had a long leg planned for Monday (Vineyard Haven to Block Island) and that day the wind was going to be perfect. So we decided to go for it, figuring we…
