Perhaps we are a bit too Laissez-faire in our trip planning, but anchoring out everywhere gives you that freedom. So as morning dawned on July 11th, the day we were leaving for ten days, it was not clear in my mind precisely where we were going and when. I know we were heading East, to Martha’s Vineyard and maybe Nantucket – but not when, how, or if we would hit both of them, Cuttyhunk on the way, etc. etc. I kind of like it this way, though it does make you sound rather disorganized when people press you for details on where you are going.
As it turns out we eventually got our act together and did get off the dock on Friday night. A quick motor to Jamestown to drop the hook an take a couple of hours off of Saturday’s trek was as far as it got.
Saturday dawned lovely and clear (this would be a recurring theme) and we set out for Vineyard Haven. Our plan was to drop the anchor in Vineyard Haven for one night, then move to either Oak Bluffs or Edgartown the next day. The sailing was a beautiful southerly, we set all three sails at Brenton reef and flew across under sail all the way to West Chop.
Oak Bluffs was the preferred destination for the children – with flocks of ducks to feed, Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium for what may be the world’s best ice cream, the old Carousel, and lots of shops and restaurants it has a more child-like appeal over the more reserved and staid, but quite lovely, Edgartown. Edgatown does have ducks, but they don’t come over to the boat the second they see a child walk on the deck.
In Oak Bluffs we’d be required to pick up a mooring and actually *gasp* pay to stay somewhere, and there are only a few moorings with the swing space and depth for us. They fill up fast on a first come first served basis, so if you want one your best bet is on a non peak (read: Saturday) day. Hence the layover in Vineyard Haven for a night, Oak Bluffs is only a half hour further but ou’re not likely to get a mooring on Saturday.
We don’t dislike Vineyard Haven, however of the big towns on the Vineyard it is our least favorite. It’s not just being a lush in a dry town – though I can’t get a Martini I can bring my own wine most places which is a WAY better deal. But it lacks the quirkiness of Oak Bluffs and the charm of Edgartown. It’s still not a bad place to be, so we went in to town (forgetting our BYOB as usual) and had a nice dinner at the Black Dog and visited a few shops.
Sunday dawned lovely and clear with a nice Southerly breeze. It seemed a shame to motor even a short ways, so we set sail for Oak Bluffs. We got there about the time we got all the sails trimmed right. Found a mooring right off and stayed through Wednesday. Highlights included…
- Day trip by bus to Edgartown to visit the “Octopus Store” as my daughter calls it and many other places.
- Feeding every duck in Oak Bluffs. Multiple times.
- Fishing off the boat
- Ben & Bill’s Ice Cream. Scientific testing shows that three of four family members think it is better than Graeter’s which is a significant accomplishment. One voted “about the same”.
- Going to the beach, watching the Osprey’s with their babies.
- Visiting shops and restaurants in O.B.
- Walking around the Camp Meeting village to look at all the cool houses.
- For my son – sailing the 6′ Skimmar dinghy we recently purchased all over the harbor for hours, meeting some kids and taking them sailing too.
We had rain only once, just as we left the boat to go to Ben & Bills. We were forced to have mudslides at Nancy’s while waiting for it to clear, then decided that discretion was the better part of valor and took off for the boat again at a break in the monsoon.
Oak Bluffs is a great place to visit, though I do feel cramped in a tight mooring field after getting used to anchoring over the last few years. The only difficulty we saw there was that the Harbomaster was short staffed for running the pumpout boat – we called on Monday and were told we could not be handled until Wednesday. There is a dock though we are too big to fit on it.
We decide that Oak Bluffs was so nice we would stay until Wednesday and leave early for Nantucket to get as full of a day there as we could.
To be continued…
