Day 4 -- July 26 -- Block Island -- 44 nm

This was the best sailing day so far this summer. Not necessarily the fastest but the best, notwithstanding a half hour delay waiting for the railroad bridge across the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook to open. We dropped the mooring line at eight so it was the rush hour for commuter trains. The 8.5 knots of tide-aided progress down that river had to stop and during that time Lene made a delicious breakfast.

Mainsail went up while we were between the breakwaters with the Genoa following as soon as we got outside. Once we reached the turning mark outside the shoals, we had almost a straight shot for Block, passing over the Race about a quarter mile SE of the Valiant Rock buoy. We had tide until after we got out of the Sound and then the wind came up stronger. We enjoyed a broad starboard reach and made a gentle 7 - 8 knots, partly based on tide. We sailed without motor all the way -- breakwater to breakwater. At our arrival the wind suddenly increased to 25 knots once inside the Great Salt Pond! Arriving at 2:30 we had to wait, circling for another half hour until the 3 pm ceremony of the assignment of private moorings by the Harbor Master.
We hung out, rested up, lowered the dink, dinked in to the dinghy dock, and walked to the overpriced (by mainland standards) market for groceries and then to Kimberly's a newish restaurant next to the market for dinner. The place is very highly rated by Trip Advisor, and served good food at rustic tables set up on the front lawn. It is not a fine dining experience and not priced that way either. The wind had died down for the dinghy ride back and we enjoyed a calm cool night.