Block Island, jerk of a harbormaster

By Sailor Keddy -
We left Newport at about 8:00 AM yesterday. It was chilly, but the winds were a nice 10-15 knots and in a favorable direction. Sails were raised just outside of Fort Adams, and away we went. Once out in the sound, the seas were a moderate 3-5 feet with an occasional 6-7 foot anomaly. We jibed around Point Judith, where the seas increased slightly and the wind started to pick up. I knew there was a gale warning for the night, and it looked like it would be here early. It was about 11 am, and I made the decision that we would put into Block Island for the night instead of pushing for Montauk. By the time we were within sight of the channel into the anchorage at Block Island, the wind was gusting to 30 knots. As we approached, I rounded up into the wind to lower the sails. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I looked up to see a huge rip in the jib and the leech cord (now free from the actual sail) wrapped around one of the spreader lights. A quick flick of the wrist with the knife in my pocket took care of that and the sail came down. The sail, unfortunately, was damaged well beyond repair. The main came down without incident.

Once we were in the anchorage area, I decided to grab a mooring instead of anchor as this gale passed through. I didn't think it would be an issue, considering 90% of the moorings didn't have boats on them. We tied up, cleaned the decks and cockpit and took a nap. This morning, I woke up to radio the harbormaster our situation, and ask if he knew of anyone with a jib they were looking to unload. He got back to me an hour later, with a negative on the jib, and also to inform me that the mooring would be $20 per night! Thanks for the hospitality and rubbing some salt into my freshly mangled jib.  I'd understand if it was mid July, but its a gale in October. I'd bet dollars to donuts he pockets the cash. Sheesh.

Comments

Joshua said…
I guess you already know but at BI there are two harbors, old harbor and new harbor. They are on separate sides of the island so if the harbor master is being a dick and you don't want to pay the mooring fee but you still want to be protected, you might find that the other harbor is safer considering its relation to the wind.
October 6, 2010 at 8:57 AM
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