16 Oct 14

Up at the crack of 08:00 for a run to Cuttyhunk Harbor. We dropped the mooring at 09:00, sailed north out of Edgartown, round the north end of Martha’s Vineyard, along Nantucket Sound, into Vineyard Sound, through Quick’s Hole, into Buzzards Bay and finally into Cuttyhunk Harbor, where we were the only transient boat in the place. We sailed nearly the whole way. Talking to the harbormaster, he let us know the season is over; he is pulling the last mooring balls tomorrow, although he said we could stay one more day if we want to. We picked up the mooring ball just after 13:00. After lunch, we went for a walk on Cuttyhunk Island and the town of Gosnold. The weather was glorious and we had a good long walk up to the top of the hill with fantastic views of Buzzards Bay, Vineyard Sound, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket Island and the Massachusetts mainland. Along the way, we were accosted by a most pleasant gentleman, Dr. Seymour Dimare, who is a year-round resident of the island (1 of 15). The good doctor gave us an excellent potted history of the island and a number of the highlights. We walked on to the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club, summertime haunt of President and President-makers (Teddy Roosevelt used to hang out at this club). We ran into Dr. Dimare later on during our walk and he gave us a ride on his golf cart and told us more about the island. He also very kindly invited us into his beautiful home at the top of the hill and amused us with more stories and details of the history of the start of the American Revolution. He also played us a song (Caprice Italien, by Tchaikovsky) on his harmonica and gave us a recitation of a poem “La Rondinella (The Swallow)” in Italian (Laurie speaks Italian). It was a magic afternoon. We finally tore ourselves away and walked back down the hill for cocktails and dinner aboard (leftover Thanksgiving Dinner). 41-25.565’N, 070-55.586’W.

17 Oct 14

Today dawned clear and cool, with a stiff SW breeze. After a hearty breakfast of pancakes and scrambled eggs, we tackled the laundry at the Seamen’s Church Institute. The laundry was so good, we had lunch there, too. Then, we went for a long walk around town, through the Point (former red-light district), where there are many Captains’ houses from the early to mid-1700s, then up through the old town and onto Bellevue Blvd, where the SERIOUSLY rich and famous used to (and in some cases, still do) live. We toured Marble House, built for William Vanderbilt for his (then) wife Alva; unbelievably (obscenely) opulent and ornate display of wealth, used for 6 weeks out of the year! To get back to the boat, we caught the 67 bus back to town, had quick cocktails and went for dinner at The Rhumb Line restaurant, which we had blundered upon during our walk through the Point. Turns out, this is an excellent restaurant, frequented by locals, but a bit off the beaten path for the tourists mobbing Thames Street.

18 Oct 14

We slept in and woke to a clear, windy, cool day. The honey wagon came by about 10:30. Terri and Laurie went into town to join a walking historical tour followed by a tour of The Breakers (summer home (cottage) of Cornelius, while John and I spent the morning in the International Yacht Restoration Center (where they are restoring “Coronet”, sparred length 193’, built in 1885; the biggest “Gilded Age” racing/cruising yacht built). The IYRC also had several smaller restorations going on and were building wooden racing day sailers - Beetle Cats - as part of a class training craftsmen. Then, we walked across town to Easton Bay and walked the length of the Cliff Walk, which skirts the shoreside of numerous properties like Marble House and The Breakers, summer “cottages” of the rich and famous of the Gilded Age. We met the girls at La Forge for tea, went for a quick grocery shop, then back to the boat for cocktails and dinner aboard.