HYC Cruise Day 6, July 30 -- Lay Day in Block Island

Blast's crew rented a car to tour the Island, by day, dined at the National on a gift certificate and reported that it was excellent.

True North remained aboard during the day to make sure their anchor was holding in the big winds and came in for dinner at The Oar. 

Everyone from Ohana and ILENE (except Ilene) rented bikes from Aldo's at the Boat Basin for the big loop of the southern half of the island. First major stop was at the beach at the foot of Mohegan Bluffs. 

There the younger generation went for a swim while Bennett and Roger took a long walk west along the beach. I don't think I have ever been there at low tide before. It reveals where one can swim without fear of being crushed against submerged rocks by the breakers. Then a brief stop at the lighthouse for liquid refreshments as defense against dehydration. There we learned of the imminent plan to build a "U" shaped cup of windmill generators around the southern end of the island a mile or two off shore. We had lunch at Finns, where Bennett satisfied his craving for whole fried clams and Roger ordered this new (for me) treat too. Then marketing at the very pricey local market before returning the bikes -- 1.5 hours late for a half day (4 hour) rental but they did not charge us the extra ten bucks -- and we dinked back, except for Rolo and Chris, who went to the beach and returned by launch later

Dinner on ILENE for eight: from Ohana, ILENE and Shanghai. A weird assortment of foods that somehow came together magically.  A rain shower required us to migrate from the cockpit to the cabin. CJ enthralled us with stories from his interesting life. We eight were from China, the U.S., Guatemala and Denmark, and included speakers of about ten different languages.  Most of our dinner table pics are after the meal; eating seems to always take precedence over photography until plates are empty.

Rolo, Christian, Laura and Bennett

Jenny, CJ, Lene and Roger

Shanghai's dink motor failed on the way over so they came in tow. And I towed them back. Maybe we can create one fully operative dink between Shanghai's inflatable and Ohana's outboard. But, in fact, it appears that all of the places both boats intend to visit on their ways back -- yes we are at our furthest point away from City Island -- have either docks or launch service. The other alternatives are the blissful solitude of staying aboard a well provisioned boat or getting a lift from strangers.

Stay tuned.