MV Grand Time: Thimble Islands, Long Island Sound, Essex, Mystic, Block Island to Newport Rhode Island

We departed City Island, Bronx , NY on June 6th. We made lunch/paddleboard stop at the Norwalk Islands then onto the Thimble Islands......Breathtaking......a collection of pink granite islands and stunning homes. We tucked in-between the islands in somebody's front yard....In the morning, I paddled around to enjoy some of the beauty.

Off to Essex Connecticut......We anchored in a well protected cove, Hamburg Cove.....we took our dinghy to shore for a lunch and to walk the town. Not a very dog friendly water town to lunch....When arriving back at the boat, we came across the Mooring Ball Nazi.....a long haired, bare chested dude telling us it was "HIGHLY illegal " to anchor.......we read in several sources that anchoring was allowed so we ignored him.....I guess he was handling mooring balls in that area and wanted the nightly fee....Sometimes we are docked at a marina, sometimes attached to a mooring ball and sometimes at anchor....also known as " on the hook".

June 8th.....Mystic Connecticut was our next stop........our first night we anchored at Ram Island.....nice spot for the night. We took the dinghy to shore to meet a sailing friend that we actually met in the Bahamas. Dennis gave us a tour of Mystic, we stopped for cocktails and then dinner.....had a grand time hanging with Dennis for the evening. We may catch up with him again further north.

In the morning we arranged for dockage at the Mystic Seaport Maritime Museum. We spent 3 nights dockside touring through the "Maritime Village".....It reminded me of a Disney Village....well done indeed. We boarded the last wooden Whaling ship," Charles W. Morgan" built in 1841and whaled until the 1919ish. Ships of this type were used to harvest the blubber of whales for street light oil, engine oils, cosmetic products and cooking oils. Baleen plates from the whales jaw were used for ladies corsets in the day as well.

While in Mystic, we decided to purchase a new anchor.....We had always questioned the size of our anchor thinking it was a little small....The last anchorage we did have a little trouble setting it so off we went for a 55lb Rocna anchor......so far so good and we sleep better at night " on the hook". Yes....I can only imagine what the Uber driver thought....he picked us up from a laudromat, dropped me off at the boat then to the famous "Defender" boat store......Skip was in boat supply heaven.

We also had a lunch at Mystic Pizza....famous for the movie starring Julia Roberts "Mystic Pizza" and yes, it was a Slice of Heaven.......I hadn't had pizza in 3 months.....yum.....

June 12th....we made a quick run from Mystic to Watch Hill, Rhode Island.....we set anchor and yes ...BOOM....it set hard.....went shore...beautiful small coastal town with some great shopping....went home with 2 new dresses....could have bought 3....finally had some Lobster salad....I could eat that everyday and actually I did for 3 straight in Newport.....Watch Hill has some beautiful homes and a nice beach, Napatree Beach, for Abby to roam just a quick dinghy ride from the anchorage. Taylor Swift apparently has a home here but we did not have a sighting.

Off to Block Island we go...June 14th......Fun times on Block Island....we were there during the week, thankfully, apparently it can be a bit crowded with young party going boaters on the weekends. We anchored ...yes...BOOM, set hard, in the New Harbor known as Great Salt Pond.....It is a man made protected harbor created in 1895 when the residents opened it to the ocean. There is an Old Harbor, also man made in 1870. This island was charted in 1614 and settled by Englishmen soon after.

The views on Block Island were amazing. We did rent a moped and toured the 3 x 7 mile island. We saw the north and southeast light houses, the southeast being on the Mohegan Bluffs. We took the stairs down the 200 foot high bluff leading to a rocky beach....a popular after school hang out....then 141 steps back up....impressive sight....worth the trek......we made a grocery stop before departing Block Island....we really enjoyed our stay!!

Newport, Rhode Island......wow....one beautiful boat after another sailing through the mooring field, 50 footers sailing through a VERY crowded mooring field, real sailors here. Large yachts and really cool dinghies. The town is clean, we've had picture perfect weather.....Skip would like a little more heat but the sun is warm and the air is always a little cooler. I've noticed how brilliant the color of flowers are here.....I contribute it to the warm sun and cool air.....The grass reminds me of Scotland.....its so very green, noticed that at Block Island.

Upon our arrival, the friendly harbormaster showed us where our mooring ball was and then we followed him to the floating water dock mid harbor.....a quick tie up to fill our water tanks....we carry 270 gallons which is alot of water but we always top them off when we conveniently can. We plan to get a RO, reverse osmosis water maker when we had south to the Bahamas. It desalinates the ocean salt water. They actually have a boaters welcome facility....impressive....showers, laundry, a large lounge with wifi and trash receptacles.....everything is free except for the washers and dryers of course so yes, this will be a laundry stop as well......you do laundry when you can , when it's convienient.

The harbor was enjoyable to paddle board around, ran into a couple we met in Mystic....I recognized their boat while paddling around. A small beach in the harbor so Abby can run and swim some.....This harbor is clean being just off the Atlantic ocean.

The town offers a lot of shopping , restaurants, pubs and beautiful homes as well as mansions along a 3.5 mile Cliff Walk along the coast.

We will leave today, heading for the Cape Cod canal with stops along the way, Cuttyhunk next.