13 miles out

There is something about Block Island that always gets to us. Maybe it's the isolation of being on an island; maybe it's the great folks we always meet when we're there; maybe it's Payne's Dock and the way that however crowded, there always seems to be room for us. Whatever it is, it is our favorite boating destination.

 

We left Norwich on July 23 and spent the weekend with boating friends Dick and Pattie and Ron and Lou Ann at Snug Harbor Marina in Montauk. It rained during our trip over with visibility at about 1 mile so we had a chance to use the GSP/Chartplotter and the radar to navigate and dodge the lobster pots. By the time we got into Lake Montauk, the rain had stopped and after receiving some rather confused directions from a dock attendant by radio at Snug Harbor Marina, we found our slip way in, against a bulkhead. Our boat buddies had arrived well before us and were assigned a nice floating dock not far from their two boats.

Being with friends at Montauk was fun and we got to explore a little and enjoyed a wonderful dinner together on Saturday evening.

After breakfast on Sunday, we fired up the engines and untied the lines to begin the next leg of our cruise to Block Island. We attempted to turn right out of our slip into the fairway but with a stiff wind on out starboard side and the bulkhead right up against the port side, found it almost impossible to do.  Luckily, our friend Dick and someone else on the dock gave us a hand by taking a turn or two around one of the pilings with our bow line.  That enabled us to turn and back down the fairway, which we did without any trouble.

The ride from Montauk to Block Island was in bright sun and almost unlimited visibility.  The seas were mixed, from flat-smooth to bumpy, but fun every bit of the way. We had established a GPS route from Montauk to BI that we followed, just for practice.

We motored through the inlet at Block Island's Great Salt Pond and down the channel to Payne's, where we were greeted by Sands, Cliff Payne's son, who told us that space was available but that we'd have to wait until a few other boats left. That was fine and we spent the next 20 minutes doing the little boat dance to stay in place, avoid other traffic and stay out of the nearby mooring field. Finally, we were told to "just back in between those two boats." This is always the fun part but we did a very professional job of it and before we knew it, we were tied up alongside a 32 ft. SeaRay Sundancer.

Soon after we docked, a beautiful 40-ft.,1956 Chris Craft Sea Skiff docked not far from us. Over the next few days, we got to know its owner, Paul, and his wife and learned that this beautiful boat had been owned by Paul's father and was now being maintained with the help of Paul's son. Three generations on one Chris Craft!

Our five days on Block Island passed much too quickly. One afternoon, we used our inflatable to head over to the beach, were we went swimming in almost perfect conditions. One evening, we walked down the dock to photograph the sunset and ended up also taking photos of some visitors.  They returned the favor.

The old girl looked pretty good at the dock and was very comfortable to live aboard for the five days we were there.

We left on Friday and took this picture as we went out through the channel at Coast Guard Beach.

We had a very nice trip back home. The weather was again spectacular and once in Fisher's Island Sound, we pushed the throttles forward and before we knew it, we were entering the New London channel. Most of the cruise was done at about 10 MPH, since we were in no hurry and wanted to save on gas when we could. But, once in a while, it's good to go a little faster just to make sure that everything is working correctly and we averaged 15-16 MPH up the Thames, while Frances was at the helm.

The boat performed almost perfectly for the entire trip. We say "almost" because at one point after arriving in Montauk, while idling around the docks, the starboard engine stalled and couldn't be re-started from the bridge. This happened to us once before and we noticed that the engine could be re-started from the lower steering station. Time to replace the ignition switches on the fly bridge. 31 years is a long time for anything electrical. We note this only because others with older Silvertons like ours who read this blog may have the same problem.

Our total mileage for the week was just over 135 miles and for the last 13 miles, Frances drove the boat all the way back up the Thames River.  We've decided that she will learn how to run the boat over the remaining weeks of this summer.

By Sunday back in Norwich, all the laundry was done, the boat washed and the interior cleaned. Now our only problem is to decide where we'll go next!  Jamestown is looking good.