Being “Locals” on Block Island - Post 6

One thing led to another and we ended up spending over three weeks on Block Island. The first week we had absolutely spectacular weather, balmy with low humidity. We did have wind and sometimes a little too much of it, but it was pleasant. We did not have to think about air conditioning; however, we did spend a significant amount of time on anchor watch. While there is plenty of room to anchor in the Great Salt Pond, the holding is not the best and boats dragging their anchors was a common occurrence.

Rosalind at Anchor, Great Salt Pond, Block Island

We had family visiting and that was great fun all around. We got our guests out to Rosalind with the dinghy and had a great time showing them how we live onboard and cruise.

Staying more than a few days on Block Island, we learned the lay of the land. We found the supermarket, shore showers at the beach pavilion, and learned all about mail deliveries. We purchased an AIS transponder and had it delivered to the island. It took some sorting out but we finally located the package and spent a day getting it installed. (We will be doing a post just on that shortly.) We also ordered microfiber (polyester) sheets, as we found that anything cotton never dried on board. We used our handcart to carry these heavy packages across the island and we were glad to have brought it with us on the trip. The heavy-duty folding cart worked so well that the mail delivery guy wanted to know all about it.

During our stay, we also rented a scooter for a couple of hours and toured the island. We drove to the south end of the island and looked at the Mohegan Bluffs and to the north end to look at Founder's Rock, where the first settlers landed. We walked on the beach at the north end of the island to see the lighthouse up close and learned a lot about seagulls from the local park ranger.

Lyman Runabout, Payne's Dock, Great Salt Pond, Block Island

After the first week, the weather deteriorated. The inverted Omega weather system that brought torrential rains to the eastern United States hit Block Island and it was wet and windy. A gale was forecast and we moved to a mooring to get a break from the anchor watches. Then we got news that our home's basement flooded. Our neighbors emptied 23 buckets of water (they are amazing friends!) but we knew that we had to go back and deal with this. So we got ferry and train tickets and Cheryl went back while I stayed on Rosalind. A few days later Cheryl was back and we had more family visitors.

Schooner Arriving under Sail, Great Salt Pond, Block Island

We had a great time on Block Island, met some locals and were asked if we had “registered to vote yet”. It’s a fun and unique place. Since over half of the island is under land conservation, construction and population density are controlled. Additionally, since there is only a very limited number of rooms for overnighting, it is, in large part, a day island. Tourists, if they have not arrived on their own boat, generally get there by ferry, rent a bike or moped, and take a ferry back to “America” in the afternoon. So, the island quiets down in the evenings and has a very relaxed feeling. 

We had been on Block Island for three weeks and it was time to start thinking about heading out. So, we started looking at weather windows to start heading back south. September and October are peak months for hurricanes and we wanted to be back in the Chesapeake Bay before hurricane activity intensified. 

Sailing Schooner Eros, Great Salt Pond, Block Island