September 8 -12 -- Block Island to Stonington to Duck Island Roads to Port Jeff to the HYC to Our Apartment

This was the end of the cruise. Four consecutive passage days of 15, 28, 31 and 33 NM. Having spent the last two of our three days in Block Island aboard, we did not set foot off the boat again until we were at the Harlem --  except for a couple of hours for lunch in Stonington.
This is not quite the itinerary I wanted. I thirsted to go the the historic town of Westerly RI, to add another RI port to  ILENE's list, but it didn't work out that way. (Actually, the boat could not get up to the historic old town because of insufficient depth in the Pawcatuck River. But I saw an area on the Connecticut side of the channel near the mouth of the Pawcatuck with 7-8 feet of water at low tide where we could have anchored, and then dinked the last 3 - 4 miles up the river. A marina operator I called told me that the Bridge Restaurant up there has a dinghy dock and the restaurant told me that if we had lunch we could leave the dink for a few more hours to explore. This would have been a weekday after the season.
But the admiral told me in no uncertain terms, several times,  that she did NOT want to go to Westerly. It would have extended the cruise by another day and by this time "home" was ringing in her ears as clearly as  her "nos" were ringing in mine. And after I had subjected her to a fearful night of rock and roll on the mooring in Block Island during the hurricane, prudence dictated this would be an opportune time to accede to her wishes. Next time: Westerly!  Also, good old Stonington was conveniently located, with Dodson's friendly and efficient marina renting moorings and we had a late lunch in the Dog Watch Cafe, located on Dodson's grounds. I recall that place as for ice cream but it has upgraded itself into a good eatery over the last few decades. Hmmm? I wonder if the restaurant is named after the fact that a patron there can watch a procession of sea dogs eager to take a walk after a passage. A "dog watch" is a two hour watch in the night that provides for rotation of the crew though all of the watches so no one gets stuck on watch perpetually from midnight to four a.m.
Leaving the pond of Block Island we had the main up already and tried to sail to Watch Hill Passage, but we were beating back and forth against the current and not making much progress. After an hour of this I furled the head sail and we motored straight for the passage. But the wind shifted south and suddenly we were sailing again so I doused the engine. It was close hauled on port but we made it through the passage, around the three reds and in past the second sea wall before motoring to the mooring.
Next morning the wind was still out of the south but on our port  quarter. and it was a slow, relaxed and fun sail to Duck Island Roads. The MFD generates our track on the electronic chart as a thin pink line showing where we have been. And our anchor in Duck Island Roads was maybe 50 feet from where in had anchored in early August. Sixty feet of snubbed chain in 12.5 feet of water at mid tide with no other boats nearby and light northerlies made for a calm serene night.
The passage across the Sound and west to Port Jeff saw less wind, and empty seas. Weekdays in  eastern Long Island Sound, after the season there is not a lot of traffic. We had to motor most of the way, though we shut down the engine and sailed for the last couple of hours. When the wind lessened  again and we were near Port Jeff, about two miles off the north shore of Long island, I doused sails and then turned on the motor. But no "whirr."  We were safely off shore in light wind so the half hour it took me to take everything out of the aft cabin to reach under the sole to the starter engine to shove the wire go it back into place was not hazardous. Entering Port Jeff, we were on someone's mooring very close to where we had been on the way out. One always hesitates to pick up a stranger's mooring -- how heavy is it; how well maintained? But with light air predicted we did not worry.
On the last passage of the cruise, the wind was still from the port side, but a beat, As we tried to head west we had a lot of north in our course, headed for a Connecticut landfall.  Much more active water with tugs and barges, cruisers flying spinnakers and this huge beauty, Isabella, which overtook us motoring west.

As we sailed, the wind shifted, gradually more to the south, permitting us to sail more to the west, toward a landfall much closer to home -- Greenwich rather than Stamford. But then the wind died so we motored most of the rest of the way.
It being a Wednesday afternoon I was on the lookout for an Old Salts boat and we closed Deuce of Hearts off Hart Island. Mark took our picture.

They were sailing so we cut the noisemaker and sailed the last three miles to our mooring under main only.
Dinner at the Club was followed by our last night aboard. Thursday was for packing, cleaning and driving to our apartment.
There is still a month of sailing left in 2019, but the cruise has ended. Those who appreciate such things, look for the traditional synopsis of the cruise at this site soon.