Tuesday 21 August: Onset Harbor to Martha’s Vineyard, via Mattapoiset.
Gloomy morning again, and the boats that were anchored around us last evening are almost all gone. We feel uninspired to go ashore, so up comes the anchor, together with large lumps of mud. At least it’s good holding.
We motor out of the Onset Harbor and into the “boats highway” as we call the Hog Island channel. And a short detour to Mattapoiset, where the nearest FedEx drop off office is. One hour of motoring later, we are anchored in what looks like a forest of masts. Must be a hundred boats here, haven’t seen anything like this since Martinique. By the dinghy jetty there is a small beach where 3 kids are paddling in the sea. And 2 lifeguards on their observation tower are keeping a lookout on them. Almost surreal, 18 degrees the air temperature, very overcast, yet lifeguards on duty.
Very quiet village, looks almost deserted. Hardly any cars on the road, it feels very peaceful. Most properties are quite pretty, and a particular one takes our fancy, with a beautiful landscaped lawn. The mail office is a quick affair, very helpful ladies. They recommend us the coffee from the gift shop by the wharf, and we stroll there to sample the goodie. Which turns out not to be so, but it was a nice walk anyway. We realize these little harbor towns, with all the real estate bought up as second homes, must have lost their soul and be absolutely deserted in winter time.
Back at Cloudy Bay, we leave the harbour and within minutes sails are out. Gentle beam breeze, giving us only 4-5 kts SOG, but we are in no hurry. And after the rough sea yesterday, this calmness feels like a blessing. Such peaceful sailing goes perfectly with the classical music coming out of the cockpit speakers. We pass through Woods Hole Passage on the way to Martha’s Vineyard, and we are in awe with the large properties on the waterfront.
Our peace is not long lived, as the wind drops and turns on our nose. On goes the engine and we motor into a couple of bays to see what Martha’s Vineyard has to offer. Quite busy anchorages, and lots of passenger ferries speeding passed us. We decide to stop in Edgartown, which looks like a very pretty town. Hundreds of boats here too. As we motor in the inner harbor, we soon realize there’s no way we can anchor, boats are really close together. Quick call on VHF to the harbormaster gets us a mooring buoy at the end of the buoyed area. We are looking at some amazing properties on the shoreline, and some fancy yachts moored in front of them. There is certainly lots of money on this island.
We take the dinghy ashore and have a walk through the town, while there is still some light. Quaint houses, fancy boutiques, few restaurants and ice cream shops, where of course we have to sample a couple. We are very taken with the place, and we will definitely take the bikes out on Thursday, when it’s supposed to be dry and sunny.
We nose into the Edgartown Yacht Club, but there is a private event and the receptionist invites us to pop by tomorrow. After dark, we stop at Atlantis restaurants and have some beer at the bar. Busy little place, clearly lots of posh tourists here. Tomorrow evening we will have to dress up a little bit. Here we meet Tim, the captain of one of the passenger ferries. He has some very interesting stories about the island which was rich in the 19th century due to its whaling activities, an industry that rapidly declined when town started to get electric power (no longer a need for whale oil lamps).
After our beers, we rescue the dinghy from the dinghy-mob (there must be at least 20 of them tied to the small jetty) and return to Cloudy Bay. Out of the dark night, a police boat switches on the lights and speeds towards us. Hm, we thought we will get into trouble for not having navigation lights. We don’t even have a torch. So out comes the iPhone with its little torch, and we escape with no further attention from the police boat.
Back onboard we retire in the warmth of the saloon, reading the local press and doing a bit of emailing and video editing. By midnight we are ready to go to dream land.
Martha’s Vineyard photo album
Martha’s Vineyard video on Sail Cloudy Bay YouTube channel