We were there for a better part of a week in late July and during that time, dock neighbors come and go and we enjoyed all of them. Of particular interest to us was a couple on this 1956 40-ft. Chris Craft Sea Skiff. Phoenix III was a beautiful boat and the captain really knew how to handle it. They arrived when we did and ended up docked two spaces (no slips at Payne's) down from us against the bulkhead.
Eventually, Phoenix III left and late that afternoon, Cliff and his son Sands decided to put another new arrival in its place. It was a 34-ft. Silverton named "Forever Young" and its crew certainly knew what they were doing. The only problem was that they would have to pass in front of us and then turn. Not easy in really restricted space. Not to worry. The crew from Payne's was on duty. Here comes "Forever Young."
Cliff was on duty, standing on our bow pulpit. Nothing phases this guy. Sands jumps from the Egg Harbor across from us to help.
But Cliff pulls the Silverton in, just enough room...
Sands reappears on another boat to fend the Silverton off. They make it look really easy.
Of course, Bill has to go out and have a look
Once by us, they have to turn "Forever Young" to port. There's not a lot of space to turn a boat this size but Cliff and Sands are everywhere.
Cliff watches as Sands finishes the tie-up. The Payne family have owned this wonderful spot since 1938 so we suppose that considering the tens of thousands of boats that they have docked, this was an easy one.
Payne's and all of Block Island are something that we really look forward to each summer. There may be 5 ft. of snow on our roof, but this is what we'll think about as we go to sleep this cold February night.
Thanks for the great pictures! So nice to see something besides snow and more snow. Can't wait to get back to boating at Block.
ReplyDeleteTurns out that this post generated a lot of page views. Guess a lot of people feel as you and we do about Block.
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