The Vineyard

On Thursday (May 26) we slipped out of Cuttyhunk Harbor to make our way to Martha's Vineyard. We had to wiggle our way out thru a very narrow, shallow opening between CuttyHunk Island and the next island to the east. The chart showed the last buoy as green but it sure was red to our sight. I hugged it close and as we got right on it we could see that it was rusty red, but had a little patch of green paint on it. By the time we passed it the depth had increased to 10 feet so we were safe.

It was only 20 miles to Vinyard Haven Harbor. The sun was out and the sound was relatively calm so we arrived at the Black Dog Wharf just after lunch. As we were entering the harbor my phone rang and it was the harbor master asking when we would arrive. Talk about service. We pulled up to the best spot on the entire island...our stern was 100 feet from the porch of the Black Dog Tavern.

















We enjoyed strolling (shopping) in Vineyard Haven. It had a really nice vibe. Boats were being prepared for the season and the shops were obviously preparing for the summer crunch. But we were way ahead of the crunch. Linda decided that she needed a pedicure, so I got out the boat bucket and she went to work in the afternoon sun.











We went to dinner at the Tavern and ordered a LOBSTAH. We had fun getting every last morsel of meat out of it. After dinner we went 100 feet back to the boat and turned up the stereo and played country music for the Vineyard locals. We are so far east that the sun sets early and we were in bed fairly early by vacation standards.

We enjoyed another sunny morning in Vineyard Haven and walked to the grocery store for ice and bottled water. (It was only a few hundred yards from the boat so we didn't have to carry it far.). Olive had a celebrity moment, too. She got to sniff THE Black Dog. Of course he got to sniff her, too. She'll be bragging about it at Play Dog Excellent when she gets back home.





But it was time to head for Edgartown to put Invictus on a mooring ball for a couple of days so that we could go ashore and stay with our friends, the Mandels.

We made the 10 mile trip in about an hour. The Harbourmaster told us to pick any blue colored ball. We had made our reservation on-line, so our credit card had already been charged for 2 nights. We packed the contents of our little fridge into the cooler that was packed with ice. We were using the stopover for a much needed defrosting of the fridge.

We shut down all systems on the boat and disconnected the battery. Then we called the water taxi and he took us to shore where Joyce was waiting. She drive us to their cottage about 2 miles away. Olive was so happy to see their beautiful grassy yard that she was twitching and whimpering with excitement. Their dog, Lillie, six times Olive's size, shared her space very graciously. Olive spent the next two days chasing squirrels in their yard non-stop.






During those two days, Robert and Joyce gave us a royal tour of the eastern Vineyard. We ate a fabulous dinner in Oak Bluffs. On Saturday, Robert deflated the tires of their big SUV to take us driving on the beach. He had an annual permit for this. Some years there is a "breech" in the strand that separates Chappaquiddick from the rest of Martha's Vinyard, which is why they call "Chappy" an island. This year however, the strand is connected and we drove all the way around the point and back to the ferry at Edgartown. We stopped at one deserted area so the dogs could play in the sand and the surf. The CMO got her batteries recharged jumping through the deep sand and sniffing all matter of sea creatures.








We made it home in time to pick up lobsters at the local seafood market for a fabulous dinner. We rekindled our friendship with Port wine and fell asleep with the window's cracked in the cool night air.

Now we know why everyone loves Martha's Vineyard.

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