Off-Season Delight

Let's call him Dennis the Menace, aka Hurricane Dennis.  He's out here sharing the Atlantic with us, a situation we're not too happy about.  Decision time - head off shore to Cape May and maybe encounter the menace with no where to run or head down Long Island Sound where we can take shelter if Dennis turns this way.  No contest - We made the decision to stop in at Block Island and poke our way down Long Island sound.

Block Island has a special place in my heart. It was my first landfall after an ocean passage, first time on a bicycle built for two, first time hearing rocks tumble in the ocean surf.  I'm from near Mrytle Beach's Grand Strand where there are no rocks just miles of wide sandy beaches so I was fascinated by that sound.  

Just after Labor Day weekend and everything's buttoned up tight here including the bakery!  We'd started experiencing some electrical problems.  Russ got out Nigel Calder's electrical book and started working through the diagnostics.  It seemed our alternator wasn't doing its job so batteries weren't charging.  Port Jefferson down Long Island Sound would offer an opportunity to have it fixed we hoped.

We were sling shotted through Plum Gut, the channel between Plum Island and Orient Point.  We hit 8 knots over the bottom!  

Another night underway sailing along under a blanket of stars. . .