This is becoming a pattern. We get up and there's a nice breeze so we set sail. About 9:30 it dies. Then around noon it builds until we have to reef the main. But today we were smarter! When the wind died we dropped anchor in a deserted cove with sandy beach on a private island. Naushon island, along with Uncatena and most of the islands in the Elizabeth Islands Chain are all owned by the Forbes family (of Forbes magazine). Big signs at every beach declare it as private. I can't imagine why anyone would want to take a piece of land away from everybody else. Ah well.
The wind picked up again and we were off! Easy sailing as the wind increased until whitecaps just started to form. Time to reef. Yesterday I had installed a pulley (cheek block) and cleat on the boom as part of an improved reefing system, and it worked great! Not only that, but it held the sail to a better shape than before.
We arrived in Cuttyhunk Harbor around 5pm and found an empty spot to drop anchor. The harbor is quite full, but since Eclipse draws about 18” with centerboard up, we can anchor where others can't. In Partial Eclipse (our dinghy) we rowed to shore with our folding bicycles, and perused the island. Like so many islands along the Atlantic seaboard, this one had lookouts during WWI and WWII. We cycled the twisty roads to the old lookout, gazed out over the sea, then cycled through town and in and out and around the island. There are natural ponds, small forests, lots of rabbits, flowering trees and shrubs and annuals, and nice but simple houses, not ostentatious.
After ice cream, we returned to Partial Eclipse, folded the bikes, and returned to Eclipse for a beautiful sunset.
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