After we dropped Jay off to walk to the ferry, we snagged an empty mooring ball, loaded our bikes into the dink and went ashore to explore the town. Block Isand is a summer vacation, beach town. Lots of little shops that sell the "standard" beach wares. Lots of bike and motor scooter rentals to be had. First stop was to see the Lighthouse on the SE point. The lighthouse was moved back fron the eroding cliffs in the mid 90s. The engineers lifted the lighthouse onto rails and moved it over 100 yds back from the cliff. The evolution was scheduled to take 6 weeks, but they accomplished it in only 19 days. Jo and I were stationed in Groton, CT at the time and were planning a trip to BI to witness the move. But, by the time we could plan a weekend to go, the move was completed so we missed it!
Wednesday the rain started at 0400, the wind followed close behind. Even though it was wet and windy, Aldo's bakery boat was making the rounds. The one thing one should not miss when in BI is a breakfast pastry from Aldo's bakery. They are wonderful!!
We waited for the wind to subside a bit and went ashore. We spent a couple of hours in the public library searching the internet and making reservations for our trip up to Bedford - for my 40th high school reunion.
By the time we left the library, the sky was beginning to clear. After a ride along the beach, we stopped at The Oar for some Mudslides (they came highly recommended by our insurance broker). By sunset the clouds had all disappeared. Edamame and Mudslides on the lawn overlooking the Great Salt Pond - a nice ending to our visit to BI.
Thursday morning, 14 Aug, we unhooked from the ball at 0815, to head for Newport. Leaving the channel, the winds were out of the NW at around 15 kts but the ocean swell left over from the storm was coming in from the SE. We popped the sails and had a rolly ride until we got under the lee of Pt Judith. We sailed all the way to Ft Adams, until the wind got to light to continue under sail. Called the Naval Staion Newport Marina, they had a mooring ball waiting for us.
Friday, we weren't scheduled to pick up the rental car until 1200, so there was time for boat projects. I called RayMarine to try to learn how to fix the auto pilot. I got a human this time ( I called them the day before but was on hold for 25 min before they switched me to voice mail to leave a message.)
Bottom line, I needed to send the computer unit in for repairs. Good news, their main office is in Nashua, NH, (30 miles from Bedford) and I could drop it off, so that is what we did.
After checking in at the Air Force Inns at Hanscom Field, we took a tour around where I used to live. Our house on Scott Circle either got totally rehabbed or was torn down to construct another 6 family unit. We drove by our old house in Bedford, 20 Sunset Drive. I must say it was the best looking house on the street. It is now painted slate blue which looks very nice. Then it was off to Steve's House of Pizza for a grinder and calzone. So nice to be in the land of GOOD pizza. Dropped by Home Goods to buy a small step stool which we will use at the helm station.
We also bought something we went looking for...a rolling cart. Tied to the back of the bike it works great for carry those bigger loads of groceries.
SCORE!
We paid for the ball at the NAVSTA for a month. Or plan is to visit Nantucket and The Vineyard and return to Newport for the Labor Day Weekend.
Our mooring field neighbors are The Spencers from Annapolis. Lovely fam with tween son, Troy. We shared drinks on their s/v SeaMonkey one night and hosted them for dinner another. I'm sure we'll see them again.
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