Fog is very common on Block Island

This is entirely unofficial; but me thinks that anyone who loves Block Island and stops at virtually nothing to get and be there, goes as often as time and family allow and has participated in at least one anchor drag, bumping encounter or has (without qualm) rafted up at the dock, mooring or on the hook; surely the word to describe them is Blockhead. Think about how it works with a positive slant, then on the flip side with a Lucy intoned, “Charlie Brown; You Blockhead!”
While we may not deserve Blockhead status, I must confess, I did fib; but not intentionally! Here goes the story of O (not that one!!) rtolan 🙂 and her two-engine motor trip from Three Mile Harbor, past Montauk and on to Block Island’s New Harbor aka Great Salt Pond.
That long-lasting weather system was finally in its last throes of watering the entire east coast on Wednesday and we began making noises about heading to Block instead of waiting until Thursday. All set to go after visibility improved; but wait! ..the current is against us and if we delay until 1pm we will receive a mega speed boost. So we waited and for much of the 36 mile trip our speed was around 8kts; motoring mind you as the wind ranged from zero to eight knots.

Looking into Lake Montauk, home to more sport-fish boats than you can shake a fish at

We passed by Montauk, out on the end of Long Island, a place we had talked about visiting in our old power boat days but the high cost of a marina stay put the kibosh on that every time. Doesn’t look like much from the outside and we did learn that plenty of good anchoring can be found further into the lake. Odd structures along the beach turned out to be camper trailers.

A long line of trailers lined the beach

The fog returned as we left Montauk behind and made way in Block Island Sound, which at this point is basically in the Atlantic Ocean. Forget the fog; how about those swells? NOAA did not lie; the swells were a good five feet but spaced far enough apart to be tolerable. Radar on of course and not much was happening; only one boat came within a half-mile and we never saw it, just heard the engines.

The entrance to New Harbor comes into view about a mile out and we follow a couple other sailboats in at 6pm. 90 town moorings and all are full. No Harbormaster at this late hour, so no one to assign us a private one. What’s a girl to do? Not leave, that’s for sure. We found a good spot in 7ft of water between the private moorings and the beach near Breezy Point. Low winds and no thunder storms should make for an uneventful night.

Just because we anchored one night doesn’t mean we care to do another, especially as the anchorage will fill to bursting with each passing day. Three items on our must-do list between 6pm Wed and 11am Thursday: dump trash and recycling, buy groceries and last but most importantly, eat Killer Donuts! How convenient that Payne’s is on the way to town, making a breakfast stop possible and then another on the return trip for the next day’s feast.

Foodie Notes: Payne’s Killer Donuts are fantastic- sugar, sugar/cinnamon or plain. I’ve read the secret ingredient is sour cream which explains the almost gooey-in-your-mouth feel as you inhale them. Soft and best eaten fresh, they are still very good the next morning.

Check out the Block Island Depot for reasonably priced local produce and eggs. You can find a decent variety of cheeses, grains, crackers, beverages, grain-fed beef products and my special recommendation: Talenti Gelato (priced less than at B.I. Grocery down the street). They make sandwiches, salads and breakfast stuff too.