We wake
to a clear, cool morning. The haze is all but gone, and it will be a shame to
leave Cuttyhunk. It is such a quiet, pleasant place. We debated the destination
for the day. Something new on Buzzards Bay, Hadley's Harbor, perhaps a return
trip to Woods Hole. Vineyard Haven wins out and we're off.
Only a light breeze, so we're under power. We're taking the Vineyard Sound route, through Quicks Hole, although with the tide the way it is, we can do the same time up the Elizabeth Islands and through Woods Hole passage. If we were sailing, we'd probably do the latter to take advantage of the tide. But, the Vineyard Sound route is a little shorter, and a little less stress, what with going through Woods Hole.
Just a note: this may be the last update for several days. We may be able to connect in the Vineyard; it has been spotty there in the past. However, the Bell Atlantic coverage charts show that we're unlikely to have our Internet connection in Nantucket. I guess we'll really be on vacation there.
There are two things which now are competing for room on the boat. These are things which don't want to be put away, and simply drift around the cabin. The first, as usual, is shoes. Boat shoes, sandals, sea boots, dry boat shoes, all want to be there, and compete for attention. The new contender is electronic equipment. We have all the usual navigation stuff, cell phone, hand held GPS, laptop, digital camera, VHF radios and, oh yes, all the various charging devices needed to keep these little gems running. And yes, all the cables to hook many of them up to many other of them. If there is any place that wireless local networking would be good, it's on a small boat.
Well, rather than just sit here, I'm going topside to enjoy the trip.
We've
arrived in Vineyard Haven, it's just about 12:30. The harbormaster has found
us a mooring inside the breakwater so we're free from the ferry wakes which
can disturb you in the outer anchorage. There seems to be a new, fast ferry
stopping here this year. One passed us in Vineyard sound. These very large,
very fast catamarans seem to be the latest thing for ferry travel.
Vineyard Haven is the quiet town on the Vineyard. Sitting in the mooring field behind the breakwater, looking up at the fine old houses on the hill, makes a nice setting for a quiet lunch. After lunch, we're showered, changed and off to town for some food shopping, shop touring, and the purchase of this years Black Dog tee shirt. The shirts don't really change, but each is dated with the year. We're now obsessed with collecting one each year, and now could go for weeks wearing nothing but these shirts.
We made dinner reservations at Le Grenier, a fine French restaurant. It is one of our favorites. This will be Marion's fourth birthday dinner this year. Being a dry town, we've put a bottle of Cloudy Bay (a New Zealand sauvignon blanc) on ice, and are looking to have a relaxing time both afloat and ashore.
The cellular connectivity here is, indeed, poor, so I don't know when you will be seeing this. We will, however, continue to record the news, no matter how trivial, for your edification and amusement.
We had a
successful shoreside visit. That means we've replenished the fresh foods we
needed at the A&P, and we have this years tee shirt edition. A few other
purchases as well from several of the shops on Main Street. Most of the street
has remained the same, with the Bunch of Grapes bookstore continuing
to be a necessary stop, even though we've barely made a dent in the summer reading
list. A new kitchen ware store was also hard to pass up. Of course, we've got
breakfast from the Black Dog Bakery, a shop which predates the success
of the tee shirt brand.
We'll
take a short break, change and then jump back in the dink and off to dinner.
We'll report on that later. The weather? It's still great.
Dinner was wonderful. Desert was especially interesting: fresh strawberries with sugar and fresh ground black pepper and Grand Marnier, over vanilla ice cream, of course. As we walked back to the town dock, we caught the last two numbers by the Martha's Vinyard Band, which was playing at the band shell at the top of the hill from the dock. The wind is still, and boats can be seen on their moorings in the light from the ferry dock reflected on the water. Sorry, no camera tonight. Anyway, some things you just need to be there to see.