The Little Gem of Block Island
- sondrawinter
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Block Island, RI (Thursday, July 17) to Newport, RI (Wednesday, July 23)
23 nautical miles (NM) / 27 statute miles
Utopia stayed anchored for six nights at lovely Block Island before sailing up to Newport, Rhode Island. During the week at Block Island we hiked, biked, and played bumper boats with giant trawlers. In Newport we were lucky enough to grab a mooring ball within this very busy port.
Block Island
Thursday morning, we completed our two-night passage Chesapeake City and had the anchor set before 11 a.m. in New Harbor of Block Island. After completing our post-passage tasks, we took a much-needed two-hour long nap before heading to shore to check out this picturesque island.
Block Island is located roughly 14 miles east-northeast of Long Island, and 9 miles south of mainland Rhode Island. The only way to reach the island is by boat or plane. Approximately 1,400 people live on the island year-round, while in the warm months there are 15,000 to 20,000 visitors on a daily basis. Most visitors arrive by the passenger and car ferries, and either stay for the day or a vacation rental whether it be a hotel or rental cottage. Between the marinas, mooring balls and anchorage, easily 1,500 boats can fit into New Harbor.
When we arrived Thursday morning, the anchorage was crowded but we finally found a spot 25 feet of water. With the expectation of additional boats to crowd in over the weekend , we let out slightly less than a 5:1 scope. This served us well, until Sunday evening.
As expected, many more boats arrived over the weekend. Many boats are rafted up with their friends and family, either at anchor or on a mooring ball. The marinas were so crowded that they just kept rafting up boats together as well.
Bumper Boats
During the most crowded part of the weekend, all the boats around Utopia swung without any issues. Many boats left the anchorage on Sunday, but the two boats closest to us stayed for the evening. Both were trawlers, which often have more windage than a sailboat.
Just after sunset, the wind turned in a direction that put the 75’ trawler on a conflicting arc with Utopia. The owner noticed it in time and used his thrusters to avoid contact with us. As the rain began to downpour, both he suggested that we both put up fenders, while he continued to use his bow thrusters each time his boat drifted close to us.
After a while he was concerned about running down the thruster’s batteries and since it was rather dark outside he was uncomfortable with moving to a new spot in the still somewhat crowded anchorage. So, he asked if we would be willing to let out an additional 20’ of anchor rode while he pulled in 20’ of his. In the process of adjusting our anchor rodes, the swim platform on his boat swung over towards Utopia’s hull. The trawler owner handed me one of his giant fenders, and I was able to insert it between the two boats just in time to avoid a hard impact.
Once we had let out our extra chain, we still had enough clearance to avoid contact with the other trawler behind us. For the next couple of hours all three boats had someone up on deck to monitor our movements until the final wind direction switch occurred.
Enjoying the Island
New Harbor (Great Salt Pond) is on the west side of the island, and the main town of New Shoreham off of Old Harbor is on the east side. The area between the two harbors is easily walkable. The ferry boats come into Old Harbor and that is where the rather touristy, but cute downtown area is situated, with a grocery store and hardware store on the outskirts.
The weather has been absolutely gorgeous, with highs around 80, and lows down into 60’s. We’ve been able to explore the island without excessive heat by foot and by bicycle.
The bike rental place (Aldo’s on New Harbor near The Oar restaurant) told us to tell our friends that there is a boater discount of $10 off of each rental price. Our two bikes were in great condition and cost $50 for the day.
Surprisingly, many trails are located on the island and we did a sampling of a few of them.
Nathan Mott Park | Rodman's Hollow | Clay Head Preserve
We shared a lot of photos in this post, but there are even more great sites available by clicking the button below.
Cruise to Newport
Wednesday, July 23
23 NM
On a very pretty, and slightly chilly morning we weighed anchor, getting close to our neighbors Jim & Jen on Narwhal. We met them the day after the bumper boat episode. They were the small trawler behind us during the incident.
Before pulling up the anchor, we were not exactly sure where our anchor sat and were concerned about it being under Narwhal, so we were glad to see them up on deck drinking coffee when we were ready to go. By the time we started to weigh anchor, the boats shifted enough so that our anchor was to the side of Narwhal. Jimmy chatted with them until the anchor was free (back in the cockpit where I was, it is too hard to hear much over the sound of the engine).
Exiting the harbor though the narrow inlet was easy since traffic was mostly all outbound at that time of the morning. Once out in Block Island Sound, we were greeted with no wind and calm seas. Winds did pick up about an hour outside of Newport, and so did the boat traffic. With our broken boom vang, raising the mainsail would take a considerable amount of effort. Since the wind was behind us, and sea swell shifted us from side to side, we would have to pole out the jib for it to fly decently, and that would require both of us up on deck in busy waters. Plus, we wanted to arrive in Newport soon after the check in time for mooring balls, so we continued on under motor alone, enjoying the sights of all the other boats.
After we rounded the land that holds Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis’s childhood home (Hammersmith Farm) and old Fort Adams we entered Breton Cove. Jimmy hailed the harbormaster on the radio, requesting a mooring ball, fifteen minutes after check-ins can begin. One of the harbormasters guided us to a mooring ball in a great location. When we were tied off, he rafted up to us to gather our information and to give us a quick orientation to the harbor. It was a unique experience for us. It is a nice personal touch for arriving in this sailing centric port.
We’ll be here until Tuesday waiting for our boom vang parts to arrive. After that, we’re not exactly sure what our plans will be.
Post #25-30
You can read about the trip to Block Island by clicking on last week’s post in the link below under “Related Posts”
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