Block Island In Sight

At Sea, N 41 05 W 71 03

Sunday, July 9, 2006, 17:53

Well it looks like we're going to make it to the anchorage at Block Island tonight. We have only 9 miles to go and the island is in sight on the horizon.

In the interest of being candid on my blog, I confess to using the engine last night. We were totally becalmed and the noise of the sails flapping as we rocked in the waves drove me nuts. I ran at minimum speed (1000 RPM) with the foresail up. By morning we had a following wind and by midday it was brisk. Right now we're racing to get into the harbor before dark so I'm motor-sailing again. Horrors.

I read an article about the terrible amount of floating trash that sailors see at sea. Our experience seems to contradict that. Even in populated areas like NJ and Long Island we don't see much. Of the trash that we do see, helium balloons seem to be the worst offenders. When they deflate enough to sink, they float on the surface of the water, perhaps for years and years.

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