Sunday, July 31, 1994 - Nantucket

An even more beautiful day than yesterday, if that's possible. Blue sky, fluffy white clouds, warm sun, gentle breeze, warm water. A perfect day to put on a swimsuit and go paddling.
Roy wanted to repair the generator, which was hanging up again, so he started on that right after breakfast. I packed a lunch for both of us and took off in my Royak, figuring he'd have no problem catching up with me when he was through with the generator. I showed him on the map which way I was going and told him I'd be exploring every creek, inlet, and whatnot I came to.
I paddled to Coatue and followed its curving shoreline, stopping whenever I saw something interesting. It was after one o'clock when I reached the next-to-last point, so I pulled up on the beach, went for a swim, and ate lunch. I kept scanning the horizon for white paddles going up and down, but didn't see any.
After lunch, I went over to Coskata Pond and explored it. The tide was out, so I couldn't get all the way into it, but I saw most of it. Then I paddled to Wauwinet and back along the south shore, as I'd told Roy I would. Still no sign of him, so I figured he was either still working on the generator or taking a nap. Stopped along the way for another swim in water that was actually hot, and then headed for the boat. Got there a few minutes to seven. Roy said he had just gotten back a few minutes previously. He had paddled to the end of the harbor looking for me, but he came back by way of Coatue, so he missed me.

Saturday, July 30, 1994 - Nantucket

Paddled to town and visited the Foulger Museum. It was the least interesting of the places we've seen so far. It had a small exhibit on Nantucket's trade with China, and that was it.
Bought a few groceries, returned to the boat, ate lunch, and went paddling. Perfect day for being out on the water. The wind had died down considerably, the sun was shining, the temperature was just right.
We wanted to visit the Life Saving Museum, so we paddled along the southern shore of the harbor to Polpis. Couldn't see the building from the water, so I asked someone, and she told me how to get there. It was just a short walk. The museum was small but interesting. It's supposed to be a replica of the Life Saving Station at Surfside, which is now an AYH hostel. That's where we stayed a couple of weeks ago.
The tide was still coming in when we returned to our Royaks, so we paddled over to Pocomo Head, where there's a high sandy bluff that I used to slide down when I was a kid. I went for a swim, but Roy thought the water was dirty, so he didn't. Actually, it just had a lot of seaweed in it.
Returned by way of Coatue, which is a long, narrow strip of sand protecting the northern side of the harbor. It is now a bird sanctuary, so I was surprised to see a few houses there. We stopped and talked with one of the owners. He explained that the houses had been built before Coatue became a sanctuary. The owners are allowed to keep and maintain their houses, but no new houses can be built.
Enjoyed an exhilarating paddle back to the boat against the wind. Got there around seven. It had been a fun day.
I feel as if I've come home again.

Friday, July 29, 1994 - Nantucket

Still blowing this morning. We paddled back to the same beach. This time, Roy very carefully chained the Royaks to the fence, first making sure he had the key.
We walked to the Congregational Church, which lets people go up in its tower. It was a clear, sunny day, so we had a terrific view in every direction. Could see the Jofian sitting at anchor.
Next we went to the Oldest House, which was built in 1686. It had been badly damaged by lightning in 1989, but has since been faithfully restored. It looked much the way I remembered it from my childhood.
We returned to town, ate lunch at Congdon's, and then visited the Athenaeum and the Whaling Museum. A docent at the Whaling Museum gave a very descriptive lecture on whaling.
We went to the steamship wharf, where the large ferries come in. It has changed considerably in the past fifty years. There were some photographs in the Steamship Authority building of the old ferries that I had been on.
Bought a few groceries and returned to the Royaks. The wind had died down, the sun was shining, the sky was blue. Everything was beautiful, except Roy hadn't dumped the trash he'd brought over in the morning, so he had to go looking for a trash can. I paddled around nearby until he returned and then headed for the Jofian. Very easy and pleasant with no wind. Two more sailboats have anchored near us.

Thursday, July 28, 1994 - Nantucket

Woke up to a great sou'wes'er. Surprising for this time of year. Usually, the storms don't begin until September. The wind blew 20-30 knots all day, and there were a lot of whitecaps. I didn't think I could paddle against the wind, so we spent several hours trying to decide whether to paddle to town or call a water taxi. In the meantime, I entered the waypoints and route to Maine into the GPS.
Ate the rest of the sandwiches for lunch. The wind was still blowing strong, but our anchor was holding. We decided to call a water taxi, but when I talked with them on the VHF, I found out they charge $3 a ride for people at a mooring and $4 a ride for people at anchor, so I told them to forget it. That would have been $16 round trip for Roy and me.
Paddling against the wind was a struggle, at least for me. Roy had no problem, but it took all my strength. It was great fun, though.
I had thought we would go to the same beach we went to yesterday. In order to avoid being blown out the channel to the ocean, I planned on paddling towards town until I was past the beach and then blowing over to it, but Roy kept going towards town, so I tried to follow him. Eventually, he disappeared behind a dock. By the time I reached the dock, he was nowhere in sight. It was calm in there, so I headed for the beach and soon saw his Royak. He had pulled up on the beach where the kayak-rental place is and was talking with the son of the owner about Royaks. The son seemed quite interested and told Roy to come back tomorrow and talk with his father. I pulled up on the same beach. The young man said we could leave our Royaks there, and he'd keep an eye on them.
Roy had brought his backpack, but he decided to leave it in his Royak. He had also brought a chain and padlock for the Royaks, but he thought the young man might be insulted if he chained the Royaks after he had said he'd keep an eye on them, so Roy didn't use the chain, but he put the padlock on the compartment hatch of his Royak. I left mine unlocked.
We spent an interesting two hours at the Nantucket Historical Museum. We were surprised to learn that Nantucket appeared out of the sea only 5000 years ago when the glaciers retreated, and if the present warming trend continues, Nantucket will again disappear beneath the sea in a mere 2000 years from now.
When we left the museum, we walked across the street to the A & P and bought some groceries. Then we returned to the Royaks.
It wasn't until we got back to the Royaks that Roy realized with dismay that he had left the key to the padlock in his backpack, which was locked inside the compartment. The extra key was also in the backpack. His paddle and cushion were also, of course, in the compartment. What a dilemma! He solved the problem by borrowing my Royak, paddle, and cushion, paddling back to the Jofian, and getting the bolt-cutters. The round-trip took forty minutes, and the return was especially difficult against 30-knot winds. In the meantime, I sat on the beach in the rain. Fortunately, I was wearing my bathing suit. When he finally got back, it only took a second to cut off the padlock. We blew back to the Jofian very easily.

Wednesday, July 27, 1994 - Nantucket

There was quite a thunderstorm last night, but I slept through most of it. I was just barely aware of brightly flashing lightning, booming thunder, howling wind, and lashing rain. Always did enjoy a good storm in Nantucket.
Got nearly twelve hours' sleep, and now I feel fine. Roy didn't get up until nine!
After breakfast, we paddled to Brant Point and pulled our Royaks up on the beach. Walked a few blocks to town. I phoned Jane Burt Kolb, and she invited us to her house at 2:15.
We went back to the Registry of Deeds and went through old records. Found out Olivia Elphinstone bought Aunty Margarethe's Monomoy property 8/12/59 for $50,000. We were amazed how much land Aunty Margarethe owned. Acres and acres. I knew she owned a lot, but I didn't realize how much. She must have owned nearly half of Monomoy. Her "guardian", the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, obtained permission from the Probate Court 3/12/59 to sell the property for her maintenance. In 1959, I was working as a bookkeeper for Garo Showcase and Fixture Company in Fresno for $100 a week. Even if I'd known the property was for sale, I couldn't have come up with a fraction of the down payment.
I was also surprised to learn that Aunty Margarethe bought the property in 1908, when she was 36. I had always assumed she had been going there since childhood and had inherited it from her parents. She purchased the property from James H. Gibbs and the Coleman Family. Charlotte Gibbs bought it from Emma Cook 3/2/99, and Charlotte left it to her husband James 10/11/1900. The handwritten records are all there. The land was surveyed by William F. Codd 1/5/1889. Aunty Margarethe kept adding to her property. She was still buying land in 1937 and 1941. I remember those two purchases. She owned the land in front of her houses to the high-water mark, but some con artist found out he could buy the land between the high-water mark and the low-water mark, so he did so and threatened to erect ugly structures on it if Aunty Margarethe didn't pay him an exorbitant amount for it. That was in 1937. In 1941, she purchased the old Prentice place. She was going to fix up the house and rent it out but never did so to my knowledge.
What a terrible mistake Aunty Margarethe made when she sent me to Antioch College! All through highschool, I had planned on attending Pembroke, which was the girls' college of Ivy-League Brown University in Providence. It was just a few blocks from where I lived. I would have lived at home and walked or ridden my bike to school. I wanted to major in French and minor in German. My cherished dream was to live on Nantucket Island and translate books from French and German into English. Aunty Margarethe wiped out all my plans and dreams when she shipped me off to Antioch, which didn't even have a Foreign Language Department. Looking back from the vantage point of old age, I realize I could have flatly refused to go to Antioch. I could probably have gotten a scholarship at Pembroke, or I could have worked my way through. Tuition then was only about $400 a year, and I had more than $1000 in the bank. I could have made it. But I'd been brought up to be obedient, so I obeyed. All I heard at home was: "You have to do what Aunty Margarethe says." Why? Why did I have to do what Aunty Margarethe said? She wasn't related to me, and as far as I know, she wasn't my legal guardian. My dying mother had asked her to look after me, but I don't think there was anything in writing. To the best of my knowledge, Daddy was my legal guardian, but he never recovered from my Mother's death and was scarcely able to function. He'd have probably killed himself if he hadn't had me to take care of.
When Aunty Margarethe sent me to Antioch, her intentions were the best. She loved me and wanted to do what was right for me. She really believed Antioch was the best college for me and wouldn't even listen to me when I told her I didn't want to go there. It's ironic that her good intentions ultimately resulted in the destruction of her beloved Nantucket cottages.
"Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these: It might have been."

Roy and I ate lunch at Congdon's Pharmacy and then walked over to Jane's house. She turned out to be a lot nicer than I had remembered her. We talked for a couple of hours. Then her husband came in from playing golf. He was very nice, too. They have to return to Illinois this weekend and had a lot of packing to do, so we left.
We paddled over to the creeks where I used to row my little boat, Bluebird. The configuration of the creeks changes every year, and a great many houses have been built around the edges of the creeks where there were no houses at all fifty years ago. I was disappointed to see how murky the water has become. When I was a kid, the water was so clear, I could count the pebbles on the bottom and watch blue-claw crabs running around. Once, I even caught one. Now I couldn't see more than two feet down.
We paddled around the creeks for a couple of hours. Returned to the boat just as the sun was setting.

Tuesday, July 26, 1994 - Nantucket

Enjoyed a perfect sail to Nantucket. The wind was 15-20 knots out of the southwest, so it was just right. We were able to sail almost the entire way, except for the Woods Hole Passage and the final approach to Nantucket. The Woods Hole Passage is a narrow, twisting channel with sharp turns, confusing channel markers, many nearby rocks, and powerful currents and eddies. Roy took down the sails, started the engine, and took the wheel, even though it was my watch. He got us through safely.
It was 45 miles from New Bedford to Nantucket. We arrived shortly before six and dropped anchor at the outer edge of the general anchorage. So now I have fulfilled my childhood dream of sailing into Nantucket Harbor and dropping anchor!
When I was a kid, it was unusual to have two yachts in the harbor at the same time. Now there are scores. Maybe hundreds.
I felt as if I were coming down with a cold, so I went to bed right after supper. Roy washed the dishes.

Monday, July 25, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Roy and I went up to the Gear Locker and bought a good chart of Portland Harbor. Found out Marilyn's message was "blueberry muffins", not "blueberry pie".
Rode my bike to the post office and mailed Steve's birthday present. No mail in General Delivery, so I guess Kathy didn't send any. Maybe she didn't get my last message. Went on over to the grocery store and bought a few things.
Marilyn and Don arrived punctually at 11:30. Found out Marilyn had said "chicken salad sandwiches", not "chicken salad", so now we have a surplus of sandwiches. That's better than not enough.
Went through the 12:15 bridge opening and motored out the channel. Rounded the point where Fort Rodman is and dropped anchor. Ate our delicious lunch. Then we raised the sails and sailed for the rest of the afternoon. The breeze was about ten or twelve knots out of the southwest, so it was just right. The temperature was pleasant, too. There was some fog, but not too bad. All in all, a very nice day.

Sunday, July 24, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Much cooler today. Light sprinkle of rain, but not enough to get anything really wet.
We took the boat over to the fuel dock. Filled the tank and six diesel cans. Our timing was perfect. Went through the bridge at the nine-o'clock opening and returned at the ten-o'clock opening. We then tied the boat to the end of the dock, facing out. This will make it a lot easier to leave.
I spent the rest of the morning plotting our course to Nantucket. When I started on the course to Maine, I realized we needed more charts, so we went to the Gear Locker and bought a couple. Then we walked over to the Chinese Restaurant for their delicious Grand Buffet. After lunch, I continued plotting the course to Maine and saw that we need a large-scale harbor chart of Portland. The Gear Locker was closed by then, so I'll get it in the morning.
Received a telephone message from Marilyn, saying she'll be bringing chicken salad and blueberry pie. That sounds yummy! The message arrived at exactly the right time, because I was just getting ready to go to the store to get stuff for lunch tomorrow. Got enough for sandwiches and made them when I got back.
Roy obtained some heavy hawser and made bumpers for the sides of the boat out of it.

Saturday, July 23, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Returned to Fall River to see the things we missed the first time. I rode the old-fashioned merry-go-round, but Roy didn't want to go on it. Then we went the Heritage Museum and looked at all the old photographs. During the 1800's and early 1900's, Fall River was the leading producer of cloth in the nation. It was sad to see the pictures of all those little kids who had to work in the mills twelve hours a day, six days a week, for ten cents an hour, when they should have been going to school and playing.
The replica of the Bounty has returned, so we visited it. The guides were dressed in the costumes of the day. We learned that Fletcher Christian might have made his way back to England and lived out his life in his native Cumberland, but there is no proof of that.
We also learned that there were five versions of the movie. The first was a silent movie. The second came out in 1930 and provided Errol Flynn with his first starring role. The classic version, starring Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, and Tyrone Power, came out in 1935. It's the only version I've seen, and it's one of my three all-time favorite movies. This replica of the Bounty was made for the 1960 version. Another version was made around 1980 and starred Anthony Hopkins. I'd never even heard of that one.
We returned to the battleship Massachusetts and ate lunch in the Ward Room, as we did before. Then we explored the parts of the ship that we'd missed. Went up to the bridge and all around.
When we left the Massachusetts, we visited the submarine, Lionfish. That was interesting, and so was the destroyer, Joseph P. Kennedy.
We caught the six-o'clock bus back to New Bedford. Got off at the Ponderosa and ate a middling good supper. Then we returned to the boat.
Listened to the weather report. Sounds good for Monday: sunshine and 15-knot winds. Phoned Marilyn. She and Don will be down shortly before noon.

Friday, July 22, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Hauled the dirty clothes to the laundromat in the new wagon. I like it a lot better than the old one; it pulls very easily.
After lunch, I set up the printshop and cranked out the log for May, June, and part of July. Also printed the announcements to stockholders of the next stockholders' meeting, which is late as usual. Had a problem printing the mailing labels, which wasted some time, but I finally got them to print out. By then, it was nearly five, and I knew everything would be closed, but I tried anyway. It was too windy to ride my bike, so I walked to the post office. Got there at 5:10. It closed at 5:00. Then I walked to the copy place. Got there at 5:40. It closed at 5:30. But at least the grocery store was open, so I bought the stuff we needed and lugged it home. My arms were about to drop off, when Roy came into view riding his bike. He put the bag of groceries on his handlebars and rode back to the boat. I don't know how he could ride with all that extra weight on one side, but he didn't have a problem.

Thursday, July 21, 1994 - Providence, RI

Aunty Margarethe's Headstone

Caught the 9:35 bus to Providence. It was a nice, new, comfortable, air-conditioned bus. Didn't take long to reach the outskirts of Providence, but instead of taking us downtown as we had expected, it took us to a terminal out in the boonies. They had a free shuttle bus to downtown, but it didn't run until 11:00, so the morning was nearly gone by the time we got to downtown Providence.
Walked up the hill to the state Capitol, which is a large, domed building, quite similar in appearance to the national Capitol. After climbing a few thousand steps to what we thought was the front entrance, we discovered the doors were locked and we had to go around to the "back" of the building, which is being used as the "front", because it's at street level and cars can drive up to the entrance. The Governor's limousine was parked in the driveway. We knew it was the Governor's, because it had license plate #1 and it said, "Governor". The State Treasurer was in a car behind the Governor's.
He wanted to go through the driveway but couldn't, because there was no room to go around the Governor's car. Apparently, the Treasurer knew more about counting money than he did about driving cars, because he was afraid he'd scrape the wall if he backed up, so he asked Roy and me to guide him. We did so, and after a struggle, he managed to back out of the driveway without scratching his paint. If Roy and I hadn't come along, I guess he'd still be sitting there.
We went inside and asked the guard where the Bureau of Vital Statistics was. He told us it was in a white building with long, narrow windows directly in back of the brick building across the street. He told us to go through the lobby of the brick building and out the other side.
We were curious as to whose statue was standing on top of the dome, so we asked the guard. He told us they had planned on putting Roger Williams' statue up there, but no one knew what Roger Williams looked like, so they just put an anonymous statue up there with a spear in his hand, and it's been standing there ever since.
We walked over to the brick building across the street, but didn't see any way to get out the other side, so we went back outside and around. Didn't have any further trouble finding the white building, but when we got to the Bureau of Vital Statistics, the door was locked and no one answered our knock. We asked a clerk in another office, and she said Vital Statistics is closed to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Here we go again! She told us to phone them and that the phone number was on the door, but we couldn't find a phone number, so we kept knocking. Finally, a woman opened another door and asked us what we wanted. When we told her, she suggested we go to the City Hall in Providence, so we walked down there.
Found the city's Vital Statistics office in the basement, but they wanted $12 for a certified copy of the death certificate. I told her we just wanted the date of death; we didn't want a death certificate. But she said she couldn't start looking without the $12, and further-
more, we had to be a member of the family or have the written permission of a member of the family.
I phoned the Rhode Island Historical Society Library. The woman I talked with was very nice. She said she'd look it up and for me to call back at two o'clock.
By then, it was lunch time, so Roy and I went to a deli and had some really good sandwiches at reasonable prices. Then we took a bus out to Swan Point Cemetery, which is where we should have gone in the first place. I had told Roy how beautiful the grounds are at Swan Point Cemetery and Butler Hospital, but he probably didn't quite believe me until he saw them for himself. They are like lovely parks: towering trees, green grass, flowers. Roy was really impressed. The bus took us right past Butler Hospital and let us off near the entrance to Swan Point Cemetery.
The people in the cemetery office were very nice. They looked up Aunty Margarethe's gravesite without a moment's hesitation and showed us on a map exactly where it was. I was amazed to learn that Aunty Margarethe died June 22, 1962! I had thought she died around 1955. If she didn't die until 1962, then she was still alive when her houses on Nantucket were demolished. I hope she didn't know about it.
Her grave was in the Carrington plot. The Carringtons were very wealthy and socially prominent ship owners in the 19th century, but their line has died out. The man who started the family fortune was Edward Carrington. Apparently, his sons and grandsons were also named Edward. Every male Carrington on the gravestones was named Edward, with no 2nd or 3rd after their names. It was very confusing. Aunty Margarethe's grandfather was Edward Carrington, and her uncle was also Edward Carrington. Her great-grandfather was the original Edward Carrington. If anyone yelled, "Edward!" in that household, it must have been chaos. Her mother was born a Carrington, but she married a struggling young doctor, Gameliel Dwight. Aunty Margarethe was born November 8, 1871, in Berlin, Germany, where her father was attending medical school. At that time, Germany had the best medical schools in the world.
I don't know how old Aunty Margarethe was when her father died, but she must have still been a child, because she mentioned once that she grew up in the Carrington house. Later, her mother married General Ames, or maybe it was General Ames' son. Anyway, the Ames were also wealthy and socially prominent. I'm not sure what the relationship was to the Dorrs, but Aunty Margarethe ended up inheriting the Dorr Mansion as well as the Carrington House. She had no siblings and never married, so she was the last of several lines.
So there I was at Aunty Margarethe's grave, 32 years too late. We stayed there a while and then took the bus back downtown. I phoned the Historical Society Library as agreed, but they hadn't found the date of death.
We went up to the fifth floor of the City Hall and found the office where probate records are kept. Had no problem finding Aunty Margarethe's will and guardianship papers. It seems so strange that Vital Statistics made such a big deal out of just telling us the date of death, while probate let us look at all these records without batting an eye.
Aunty Margarethe's will was written in 1917, long before I was born. It left her share of the Carrington House to the Rhode Island School of Design to be preserved as a memorial. She also left $25,000 to the School of Design for upkeep of the house. All the rest of her estate was left to her uncle, Edward Carrington. No mention was made of the Dorr Mansion or the houses in Nantucket, and no other heirs were mentioned. In 1955, a codicil was written, giving a piece of property in Providence to some people I'd never heard of. Strangely, there were no bequests to any charities. Since her uncle died long before she did, the probate court tracked down a lot of "cousins" who were scattered all over the country. I had never heard of any of them. Her maternal cousins received $6600 apiece, and her paternal cousins $4400. The Maurans apparently took over the Dorr Mansion while Aunty Margarethe was still alive.
Her death certificate showed cause of death as "acute myocardial infarction", but I know what she really died of. She died of a broken heart, and I'm the one who caused it. Aunty Margarethe loved me dearly and did everything under the sun for me. She dumped opportunity after opportunity in my lap, and I threw them all away. I loved her, too, but I was too young and ignorant. I didn't know what I was doing.
Unfortunately, the office closed at four o'clock, so I didn't have time to go through all the guardianship papers. I surmise that after Aunty Margarethe was placed in Butler Hospital, which is a private psychiatric hospital, and her estate was placed in the hands of a trustee, that the trustee sold the Nantucket property to Mrs. Elphinstone, who promptly tore down the houses that blocked her precious view. That would have been in 1957 or 1958. At that time, I wouldn't have been able to buy the houses even if I had known they were for sale.
Roy and I next went to the public library and looked up the newspaper article about Aunty Margarethe's death. It was on microfilm, of course. We had a copy printed to take with us.
We walked around a while and ate some ice cream. Then we returned to New Bedford.

Wednesday, July 20, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Here we are back on the mainland, back to heat and humidity. It was 92 today!
Roy changed the impeller and transmission fluid. I went to the post office, but there wasn't any mail. Went to the grocery store and bought a few vegetables. After lunch, I walked over to the Salvation Army and donated a bag of old clothes. It was a long, hot, tiring walk, so I took the bus back. At the bus terminal, I bought two round-trip tickets to Providence. We're going to go there tomorrow to see if we can read a copy of Aunty Margarethe's will.
Talked with Marilyn on the phone. Don's feeling a lot better. Invited them to go sailing with us. Monday's the first day they have free, so I told her I'd call back Saturday evening to firm things up.

Tuesday, July 19, 1994 - Nantucket (Mom's summer home growing up)

Lighthouse around 1930

Packed our gear and took off. Our ferry didn't leave until two o'clock, so we had several hours. Just about the only part of the island we hadn't been to was Hummock Pond and Cisco Beach. I couldn't remember ever going there as a kid, but even if I had, I wouldn't have been able to find the way today. As usual, there were paved roads where rutted roads had been and a great many new houses where open moors had been. After a number of wrong turns that brought us to dead ends, we blundered our way to Cisco Beach. I couldn't believe we were actually there, but someone assured us we were. It was very foggy and quite cool. Sat there for twenty or thirty minutes looking at the surf. Roy pictured himself paddling his Royak through the waves. Walked around a little and then returned to town.
When we reached the Hadwen mansion, we decided to visit it, since we still had quite a bit of time. This is one of a number of whaling-
fortune mansions in Nantucket. It was built in 1845 and is quite impressive. Our guide was an old man who had been coming to Nantucket in the summer for many years. He and his wife had a house in Monomoy, so we asked him if he remembered the green houses on the corner. He didn't, but he thought his wife might, as she had been visiting Monomoy since 1944. He gave me his wife's name and phone number.
As soon as we got to a public phone, I called Mrs. Hulburt. She remembered the houses, but didn't know when they'd been torn down. There were a number of years when she didn't come to the island. She suggested I phone Clarence Lovelace, Mrs. Elphinstone's son. I told her I had made several attempts to phone him, but either got a busy signal or an answering machine.
We bought a chart of Nantucket Harbor at the chandlery. Bought ready-made sandwiches at the A & P. Sat in the shade and ate them. At quarter to two, we boarded the ferry, which left promptly at two o'clock. It was a lovely day for the trip.
Reached Oak Bluffs at 4:30. Went to Vineyard Haven by way of East Chop and stopped to look at the old lighthouse and the great view. An old-time two-masted schooner was going by, with all sails set. Lovely.
Still had plenty of time when we reached Vineyard Haven, so we ate sandwiches and potato salad for supper. Walked around a little. Boarded the ferry at 6:30. It left fifteen seconds early.
I had been dreading the last leg of our journey, because it would be getting dark when we reached New Bedford, and we had a twenty-
minute bike ride back to the boat. Fortunately, there was little traffic, and the street lights were lit. Pedaled as fast as I could and reached the boat just before pitchy darkness.

Monday, July 18, 1994 - Nantucket (Mom's summer home growing up)

Mom in 1930 at Nantucket Cottage

Mom by Old Mill in Nantucket

Today we put on our Sherlock Holmes hats and went in pursuit of the mystery of the disappearance of Aunty Margarethe's houses. First we went to the Nantucket Historical Association. I had hoped there would be an old-timer there who might remember the houses, but the receptionist was much too young, and she seemed to be the only one there. She recommended going to the HDC, the Historic District Commission, so we walked over there. The manager explained that houses aren't necessarily preserved just because they're the first; they have to have some historic significance. She said she couldn't look up anything about the houses until she had the names of previous owners. A man in the office suggested we go across the street to the Registrar of Deeds and look on the map for the lot and parcel number. We did so and found the lot to be 153 and the parcel 2. The records showed that the current owner is Shawkemo Corporation, which belongs to Carolyn Lovelace Brown, 1625 Gaspar Drive, Boca Grande, FL 33921. She bought her brothers' interest in the property 10/22/80. The three children inherited it from their mother, Olivia S. Elphinstone, who died 5/2/66 in Baltimore, MD. We went upstairs to Probate and read the old will, which was Probate #3789. I remember Mrs. Elphinstone. She had the house directly in back of Aunty Margarethe's, and she was always complaining because Aunty Margarethe's houses blocked her view of the harbor. The thing is, Aunty Margarethe's houses were there long before Mrs. Elphinstone's house was built. If she wanted a view, why didn't she build a house on the waterfront? Ever since I first found out that Aunty Margarethe's houses were gone, I figured the old woman in back had bought them and torn them down. Sure enough, that's what happened. As soon as Aunty Margarethe died, Mrs. Elphinstone bought them from her heir and destroyed them. I hope she enjoyed the view. If Aunty Margarethe had left the houses to me, they'd still be standing. And she probably would have left them to me if I hadn't been such a nitwit and goof-up as a teenager, but teenagers are nitwits and goof-ups by definition. I wish she'd taken that into consideration. Anyway, it's too late now. The houses that I loved so dearly are gone forever, and no amount of tears will bring them back.
I found R. L. Matthews in the phone book and phoned. Mrs. Matthews answered the phone and knew right off who Jane Burt was. She had bought the house from Jane after Jane's mother died in 1988. She gave me Jane's phone number and current last name, Kolb. I phoned Jane, and she recognized my name right off. She was delighted to hear from me and wants to see me, so I told her I'd phone her again when we bring the boat up. However, Jane didn't remember when the houses were torn down. She only knew it was a long time ago.
The HDC administrator had given me the name and phone number of a Debbie Nicholson who had lived in Monomoy a long time and might remember the houses, so I phoned her, but it turned out she was only forty years old. The houses were already gone when she was a child. She remembered playing on the cement slab that had been the Palace floor. (Aunty Margarethe called the garage the "Palace", because it had so many windows. We kept the car on one side and used the other side as sort of a den, where we read or played games.)
Went back to the HDC with all the names we'd obtained, but they couldn't find any records. It was too far back.
Roy and I wandered around downtown looking for a place to eat that wouldn't wipe out our budget for the month. The downtown area looked pretty much the way it did fifty years ago. Main Street is still cobbled, with brick sidewalks. The horses and buggies are gone, and so are most of the sidewalk produce stands. Two small grocery stores are now some other type of store, but Congdon's Pharmacy is right where it was and still has the old-time soda fountain. We went in and were amazed by the prices. We could get a sandwich for as little as $2.19! All the stools were taken, but after a wait of five or ten minutes, we got stools. The sandwiches were made fresh and were very good. Roy also had coffee and a huge blueberry muffin, stuffed with blueberries. I had a big dish of cherry vanilla ice cream. The whole thing came to seven or eight dollars. The waitress was very pleasant and proficient, too.
After lunch, we rode our bikes ten miles to Madaket. Like Tom Nevers Head and Surfside, many new houses have been built there and the old rutted roads have been paved, but the beach still looks the same. I remembered being knocked down by a big wave there when I was ten or twelve and how scared I was. We didn't go to Madaket often, because it took so long to get there on the old dirt roads. Now there's not only a paved highway but also a paved bicycle path all the way there. The countryside looks the same though, thanks to the Nantucket Conservation Association, which prevented developers from tearing up the entire island.
On our way back, we stopped at the old mill, which was built in 1746 and still grinds corn. We took the tour, which was quite interesting. Of course, I'd been there many times as a child, but I didn't fully appreciate it then. A little boy fell down the steep stairs, but kids are made of rubber, so he wasn't hurt.
When we got back to the hostel, the manager was giving an introductory talk to a group of kids. When he saw us, he told the kids that we had sailed there from San Francisco. They were quite impressed.

Sunday, July 17, 1994 - Nantucket (Mom's summer home growing up)

Mom Biking in Nantucket

Foggy in the morning. Even after the fog burned off, the day stayed fairly cool.
Rode our bikes to Tom Nevers Head. I could scarcely believe my eyes. When I was a kid, Tom Nevers Head was a bleak, desolate, deserted stretch of waterfront. During the 1890's a hotel had been built there and the little narrow-gauge train went there, but the track had been torn up before I was born, and the hotel had been boarded up and was falling into decay. It was a spooky place that scared me. We didn't go out there very often. The only roads were rutted roads. Now there's a nice paved road, the old hotel is gone, there are lots of nice houses, and, even more astonishing, a Navy base had been built there and later abandoned. It blew my mind to think that in the fifty years since I was last there, someone had dreamed up the idea of building a Navy base there, the land had been purchased, the base had been built, it had been used for X number of years, then it had been abandoned long enough ago to fall into total decay! How could so much happen in so short a length of time? We wandered around the deserted buildings and looked at the eroded cliffs. It was easy to understand why the base had been abandoned; a few more winter storms and it will fall into the ocean. What's difficult to understand is why it was built there in the first place. Everyone knows those cliffs have been eroding for centuries.
Returned to the bike path to 'Sconset. Nantucket Island is a great place for bike riding, because it's so flat and has so many miles of really good bike paths, totally separate from the roads.
Came to the famous cranberry bogs. They had been started in 1857, and, until fairly recently, this was the largest contiguous cranberry bog in the world, covering 223 acres. To conserve water, it was split into smaller bogs in the late 50's. Roy had never seen cranberries growing, so we rode our bikes a short distance up a dirt road and got a good look at them. Originally, they were called crane-berries, because the bud looked like the head of a crane. When I was a kid, they were harvested by people kneeling in the water with pronged scoops, but now they're harvested by machine. Ocean Spray processes and packages them.
Continued on down the bike path to Siasconset, called 'Sconset for short. Passed a sign that stated the very first wireless station in North America had been built there in 1901.
It was lunch time when we reached the village, so we looked for a place to eat that didn't charge an arm and a leg. The last time I ate in 'Sconset, I paid $10 for a spoonful of carrots, so we wanted to avoid that restaurant. Found one little place that had sandwiches for a mere $5.75, but we decided to look farther. Went into a grocery store and bought ready-made sandwiches for $3.50. Sat on a bench in the shade and ate them.
After lunch, we took a look at the old town pump and then rode along the coast to Sankety Head Light. When I was a kid, I sometimes played with the lighthouse keeper's daughters, and they took me up the spiral staircase in the lighthouse. That was a lot of fun, and the lighthouse seemed almost infinitely high. It's a lot shorter now. Of course, the lighthouse keeper and his family and even his house are long gone. The lighthouse is automated now and closed to visitors.
We rode on out to Wauwinet. Saw the hotel I stayed in twelve or so years ago. Wauwinet is now closed to the public and has a guard at the entrance, but we sneaked in anyway. When I was a kid, it was a public beach, but everything's changed. There are a lot of expensive homes here now. The neat thing about Wauwinet is, it's a narrow strip of sand at the head of the harbor, so you have your choice of swimming in the calm water of the harbor or the surf on the ocean side. That is, you had your choice before it was closed to the public.
Some vehicles let some of the air out of their tires and drive up the beach to Great Point or Coatue. When they return to the paved road, there is an air hose right by the side of the road, so they can reinflate their tires.
Returned via Polpis Road. Went right by the Life-Saving Museum. Would have gone in, but it was nearly five o'clock, so we figured it would soon close. Decided we'd go there tomorrow, but when we got back to the hostel, we found a brochure for the museum. Guess what--it's closed on Mondays! Oh well, we can visit it when we bring the boat up.
We took an evening stroll along the beach at Surfside. We'd put our swimsuits on, but it was too cold to swim, so we just waded along the edge of the water.
Remember the toenail I had removed in Mexico last year? It had started growing out nicely, but it got infected again when we were in Manhattan. For a couple of days, my big toe was all red and swollen and painful. The infection went away when I wore open-toed sandals instead of enclosed shoes, but the nail remained thick and ugly and looked as if it was about to fall off. While we were walking along the beach this evening, a wave came in and carried my toenail off with it, painlessly. Saved me the cost of a visit to a podiatrist.

Saturday, July 16, 1994 - Nantucket (Mom's summer home growing up)

Mom in 1927 at Nantucket with her Mom

As before, we reached the ferry shortly after eight and arrived in Martha's Vineyard at 10:30, but this time we rode our bikes to Oak Bluffs. Had no problem finding the ticket office for the Nantucket ferry. Bought our tickets and then ate a snack at Dunkin' Donuts at the end of the wharf. Had a little problem figuring out exactly where we were supposed to go to get on the ferry, but we made it.
The trip to Nantucket took 2 1/2 hours. Got there about quarter to three. Wandered around the waterfront for a while looking at the new (to me) marina. It was a lot larger than I had expected. Packed with boats. There were a zillion boats at moorings, too. We went to the marina office out of curiosity to find out what they charged. Not unexpectedly, they charge $2.50 a foot plus $6.50 per night for electricity.
In our wanderings, we found a chandlery that has a good, large-
scale chart of Nantucket Harbor, so we'll buy one before we leave.
The traffic in Nantucket is horrendous! Cars, people, mopeds, and bicycles everywhere. We walked our bikes through the crowds and then rode to Monomoy. There are many more paved roads than there used to be and a new traffic circle where the roads to Surfside, Madaket, 'Sconset, and the airport come together with the road from the Town of Nantucket. Found our way around it with considerable trepidation and then rode out to Monomoy.
The lot where Aunty Margarethe's houses used to stand is all overgrown with poison ivy, wild roses, small bushes, and weeds. The only remnant we found was the cement slab that used to be the Palace (garage) floor. Roy found that. Even the fences and trees are gone.
The trail to the beach is now open to the public, so we walked down there. The old pier is gone and there are zillions of small boats at anchor or moorings, but other than that the beach looked pretty much the same. We wandered down to the creeks. They change their configuration every year, but they're still there, and I found what I think was the Million Dollar Pool. (That's what we called a deep area near the mouth of the creek. We sometimes swam there when I was little.)
I recognized the Prentice house, the Henderson cottage, the Burt house, the Lovelace house, and a lot of other houses, but there are a great many new houses, too, including a cross-wise one near the beach path. I used to play with Jane Burt, so I was tempted to knock on the door of her house and see if she was still there, but the name on the mailbox was R. L. Matthews, so I lost my nerve.
I actually had a hard time finding the road to Surfside. It used to be a dirt road running next to the pine woods. Now the woods is gone and the road is paved. In fact, there are lots of paved roads and a zillion houses that weren't there before. There's even a nice paved bike path going to Surfside.
Eventually we got there and found the AYH hostel, which used to be a Life Saving Station and was right at the edge of the beach. It's now about a quarter-mile from the water, because every winter, the storms bring in more sand and expand the beach. Roy thought the building had been moved; he wouldn't believe me when I told him the building was in the same place it had always been--it was the beach that had changed. The hostel manager said the same thing, so then Roy believed.
We signed up for three nights, chose our bunks, emptied our packs, and set off for the nearest grocery store, which was a Finast about two miles away. Had no trouble finding it. Bought a bunch of stuff for supper and breakfast, rode back to the hostel, ate, showered and went to bed.

Phil Murray turned out to be a rotund, bald, genial gentleman. He greeted us cordially and told us what he knew. He remembered Aunty Margarethe's green houses and had even bought a rowboat from her for $5. He told us the houses had been torn down, but he didn't remember the year. He tried to phone a number of other people, but no one was home until he phoned his uncle, Franklin Chadwick, who also lives in Monomoy. Chadwick's mother had read a paper on the history of Monomoy a few years ago. I talked with her and learned a lot of interesting things. She told me the roof had blown off one of Aunty Margarethe's houses during the hurricane of 1954, and her linens had blown all over the countryside. Aunty Margarethe had had the roof rebuilt. I hadn't known anything about that. What a terrifying experience that must have been for Aunty Margarethe and John, in that house during a hurricane! But it shows how well built the houses were. They could withstand the force of a hurricane, with only the loss of a roof. It's such a shame that sturdy buildings that could stand through hurricanes were destroyed by man.
Mrs. Chadwick and her son remembered the houses being torn down in the late 50's or early 60's, which agrees with the previous information I had gathered. She didn't have a copy of the paper there in Monomoy, but she said it didn't contain anything about Aunty Margarethe or her houses.
Several people we talked with remembered Aunty Margarethe walking to town with John a few feet behind her. That was quite a walk for people in their eighties--two miles each way. Obviously, Aunty Margarethe was doing fine until John died. He had cooked for her for half a century or more. Aunty Margarethe had always had servants, so she didn't know how to cook for herself. After John died, she starved. One of her friends found her lying unconscious on the floor of her bedroom in 1957. She was rushed to a hospital and restored to health. But then she was declared insane, committed to Butler Hospital, placed under a guardian, and her property was placed under the trusteeship of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, which promptly sold her Nantucket property to Mrs. Elphinstone for $50,000. (A waterfront house not far from where Aunty Margarethe's stood now rents for $35,000 a month!)
I refuse to believe that Aunty Margarethe was actually insane. She was eccentric, but not crazy, although I suppose most people would say a wealthy person who went without eating when she could easily have hired another cook or gone to restaurants has a few missing marbles. I just wish I'd been in Providence then to help her. And I hope she never knew that her beloved Nantucket cottages had been sold to Mrs. Elphinstone and demolished.
Roy and I thanked Mr. Murray, bought some groceries, and returned to the boat. After putting the groceries away, we paddled to the creeks, where Roy salvaged a stainless-steel port light from an old wrecked boat. Then we returned to what had been Aunty Margarethe's property for one last look, probably the last time I'll ever see it. A cottontail rabbit bounded into the bushes, just as his great-great-great granddaddy did when I was a child. The houses now exist only in my memory, but what golden memories! The happiest days of my childhood were spent there. Even if the houses were still standing, it wouldn't be the same. Aunty Margarethe wouldn't be there; John wouldn't be there; Daddy wouldn't be there; I wouldn't be a child. Everything changes. But cottontail bunnies still hop across the yard.

Friday, July 15, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Didn't have the predicted thunderstorms last night, just light sprinkles, but the temperature has really dropped. It was actually cool all day. What a contrast to a few days ago!
We spent the morning writing letters and cards. In the afternoon, I walked to the store, while Roy worked on the boat. Bought a lot of stuff and returned on the bus.
Tomorrow, Nantucket! We're hoping it will be sunny and fairly warm this weekend.

Thursday, July 14, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

The handle broke on our little blue wagon, so Roy went to the Gear Locker to see if they carried them. Eddie told him he could special order a handle, but it would take about two months to get here and would probably cost about $25. Instead, he sold Roy a brand new wagon for $37.50. That's not much more than half what we paid for the first one, and this one's a lot stronger.
Took the bus to Fall River and walked to the waterfront historic area. We especially wanted to visit the replica of the "Bounty", but we didn't see it anywhere. Thought it might be at the Marine Museum, so we went there and asked. They said it was, so we went in, but all they had was a small model of the "Bounty". Turned out the full-sized "Bounty" had just left that morning to be repaired. Never fails!
The museum had a lot of interesting exhibits, especially one on the "Titanic". They had a lot of artifacts, a video, and newspapers of the time. We were surprised to learn that the "Titanic" continued going forward for two hours after hitting the iceberg, and for at least thirty minutes of that time, she was going at nearly top speed. This, of course, meant that water was being forced inside her hull. If the captain had stopped the ship, she'd have stayed afloat a lot longer, perhaps long enough for rescue ships to arrive.
After the museum, we visited the battleship "Massachusetts" and ate lunch in the former ward room. The food was surprisingly good and reasonably priced. Unlike most ship tours, we were able to wander around almost the entire ship, even down in the engine room. There were just a few small rooms that were closed. Usually, you're not allowed down to the engine room, so this was very interesting. We also saw sick bay, the dental office, barber shop, laundry, cobbler's, mess halls, galleys, endless bunks, etc., etc. Even after several hours of roaming around, we'd only seen part of the ship, and we didn't get to the other ship or the submarine at all, so now we want to go back again.
We spent half an hour looking at the PT boats, and then caught the last bus back to New Bedford. Wildest bus ride we ever had. The driver drove at least 60 MPH and ran every stop sign, but we arrived in New Bedford safely. Picked up some Kentucky Fried Chicken for supper. Got back to the boat just before dark.

Wednesday, July 13, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Very hot and humid today, so I went where it was cool. Took the bus to Dartmouth Mall. The bus wasn't air-conditioned, but the mall was, and the movie theater was freezing. Saw "Forrest Gump", an unusual and well-done movie, both funny and sad. By the end, I was crying, which means I enjoyed it.
When I got back, I rode my bike to the store and bought a few things. Roy bought some new bicycle shorts and gave me his old ones. He also got the generator fixed again. Now it puts out enough volts to run the microwave.

Tuesday, July 12, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Another beautiful day! Rode bike paths around the State Forest, towards Edgartown, and along the beach towards Oak Bluffs. Stopped at the beach for a while. Waded and sat on the sand. Really enjoyable.
When we got to Oak Bluffs, we ate something vaguely resembling lunch at a little restaurant. Tried to find the dock for the Nantucket ferry but couldn't, so we headed back to Tisbury. Got there just as the New Bedford ferry was coming in. Had a very pleasant ride back. Could see all the scenery we hadn't been able to see for the fog on the way up.
When we got back to the boat, I emptied all the junk out of my backpack and went to the grocery store for chicken, eggs, milk, and cereal. It was good to eat real food for a change.

Monday, July 11, 1994 - Martha's Vineyard

What a glorious day! Totally clear. We could see for miles. Blue sky, bright sun, ideal temperature.
We rode our bikes eleven miles to Gay Head, which I'd wanted to go to last fall but missed. The scenery all along the way was lovely, especially the blue, blue water of Menemsha Pond. The view from the cliff was spectacular. We should have gone down to the beach, but it looked crowded and a long ways away, so we ate a light lunch and rode our bikes to Lobsterville Beach, which sounded really nice in the write-up but turned out to be very rocky. Didn't stay there long. Headed on down the road to the little beach at Menemsha Inlet. We tried the beach on the near side of the inlet and found it better than Lobsterville but not perfect by any means. It was pebbly, and the water was cold. We rode the bicycle ferry to the other side. That was fun. I got to ring a big bell to summon the ferry. We ate some ice cream at the little place I had eaten at last fall. We enjoyed looking at the tiny little harbor with its little cottages and boats.
Rode our bikes to the beach on this side of the inlet. It was also pebbly, and the water was just as cold, but there was a restroom where we could change, so we put our suits on and waded out to about two inches above our knees. In fact, Roy managed to get in up to his waist, but he got out in a hurry.
It was nearly five o'clock, so we put our clothes back on and headed for the hostel. We wanted to stop at the grocery store on State Road to get something for supper. Unfortunately, when we got to State Road, I turned in the wrong direction and didn't realize it until we were almost to Edgartown Road, so we had to turn around and ride back. Reached the grocery store just as they were locking up. I pleaded with the manager to let us in, and he did. We grabbed a few things and checked out. Returned to the hostel, ate supper, read for a while and went to bed.

Sunday, July 10, 1994 - Martha's Vineyard

Got up at six, left at 7:30, and were on the boat a few minutes after eight. The boat sailed promptly at nine and arrived in Martha's Vineyard an hour-and-a-half later. It had been quite foggy when we started out, but by the time we reached the Vineyard most of the fog had lifted.
We ate lunch at a little deli there in Tisbury and then rode our bikes around West Chop to North Tisbury and West Tisbury. The scenery was beautiful. All the trees and grass and bushes are so green.
On State Road, we found a grocery store that had picnic tables outside in the shade. Roy bought a Good Humor bar for me and a frozen malt for himself. We sat outside and ate them.
Reached the hostel around three and were happy to put our heavy packs in a locker. Roy wanted to go to a beach, so we set out for Katama, thinking it would take an hour to get there, but as slow as I pedal, it took two. It was a nice beach on the southeast side of the island. Roy sat on the sand, and I walked a short distance, wading in the cool water. Then we rode back to Edgartown, bought salads at the A & P salad bar, and sat outside and ate them. Crossed the street to the Dairy Queen for ice cream for dessert.
It was after seven when we left Edgartown, and we were afraid it would get dark before we got back to the hostel. We wanted to at least get off the highway and on to the bicycle path in the State Forest before dark. Made it a few minutes before eight and reached the hostel by quarter to nine, just as dark was descending.
Wouldn't you know--they just raised the rates July 1st. Went from $10 a night to $12. We paid for two nights and sheet sacks. I was plenty tired. Took a shower and went right to bed.

Saturday, July 9, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Phoned the hostels first thing this morning and had no problem getting through. Made reservations at Martha's Vineyard for tomorrow and Monday nights. It would have been smarter if I'd made the Nantucket reservations first, because the earliest I could get there was next weekend. That means we'll have to come back from Martha's Vineyard on Tuesday and then go again on Saturday. We had hoped to be able to go directly from Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket, but I goofed.
We walked over to the New Bedford Visitor Center to go on the nine o'clock walking tour. It turned out on Saturdays the tour starts at 9:30, so we had to sit around for half an hour. Saw some interesting old buildings, mostly built in the early 1800's.
Had sandwiches for lunch at a little cafe next to the Visitor Center. Then we visited the Seaman's Bethel of Moby Dick fame. Yes, the pulpit really is built like the bow of a ship.
Spent several hours in the Whaling Museum. Many interesting exhibits. Saw a movie made in 1921 of an actual whaling expedition.
When we got back to the boat, Roy went over to the shop to get the generator engine he had left for repairs several days ago. Brought it back to the boat and tried it. The choke still didn't work, so he took it back to the shop. The linkage was in backwards again! The guy apologized and fixed it right away. Roy brought it back to the boat. This time, the generator started right away but only put out 100 volts, not enough to run the microwave. It was time for the shop to close, so Roy just told him about it and said he'd bring the engine back in when we return from Martha's Vineyard.
An ambulance came with a bunch of EMT's and police. A small Coast Guard boat brought in a guy who had jumped in the water. We saw them taking him by on a stretcher. Roy found out he was a drug addict.

Friday, July 8, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Our plan is to take out bikes there on the ferry, stay at the hostels, and ride around for a few days. Then we'll return to the boat, sail to Nantucket, drop anchor in the harbor, and paddle around in our Royaks. The ferry part is easy enough; they run several times a day and don't require reservations. The hard part is trying to get reservations at the hostels. I phoned both half-a-dozen times and got nothing but busy signals.
Also went by the Visitor Information Center in New Bedford and got maps and a bunch of information. This time, we'll visit the Whaling Museum that we didn't get around to last year and go on the Walking Tour of the waterfront.
In the afternoon, I hauled the dirty clothes to the laundromat and washed them. Roy rode his bike around and got a haircut.
In the evening, there was a light rain, which cooled things off considerably.

Thursday, July 7, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

To our amazement, by morning the freighter had unloaded its cargo and left. There are now two mountains of salt sitting on the parking lot, in addition to the plateau that was there previously.
The transformer on the boat has been overheating, so Roy spent most of the day figuring out ways to cool it. He drilled a bunch of holes in the case and installed a fan. Now it's nice and cool.
I rode my bike to the copy place to make copies of the forms needed by Kaiser, the letter I wrote to Kaiser, and my new ham license that arrived in yesterday's mail. Then I went across to the A & P to check out their prices. Roy had bought English muffins at Shaw's yesterday for $2.09 for a package of six. At the A & P, I got them for 59 cents! Found the same bulk cookies I'd been paying $2 a pound for in Norfolk for 99 cents a pound. And to my utter amazement, they had chicken leg quarters for 28 cents a pound! That is not a misprint; it's really twenty-eight cents a pound! Those are depression prices. Haven't seen stuff that cheap for years. Didn't have room in my backpack for the chicken, so Roy went back later to get it, but couldn't find it. Then I went back. What do you know--it was all gone, every last bit! I kicked myself for not getting it in the morning, but I didn't feel so bad when I found out it was last week's chicken.
Couldn't cook lunch on the boat, because Roy had the electricity disconnected, so we walked half a block to a Chinese buffet. It turned out to be really good. A nice, clean, attractive place with a good view of the harbor and delicious, all-you-can-eat food, including real ice cream, for $5.95 each. What a deal! We hadn't gone there last year, because we're not especially fond of Chinese food, but this turned out to be really good.

Wednesday, July 6, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Rode my bike to the post office after breakfast and picked up fifty pounds of mail. At long last, our mail has caught up with us. Some of it is three months old. Got the old phone bill with $700 worth of phone calls to and from the Netherlands. Fortunately, Steve straightened that out. Neither of us ever phoned the Netherlands in our lives.
Spent most of the rest of the day going through the mail and responding to some of it. Still a lot more to do. My Kaiser claims are still hanging fire, and Roy found out his mother died a year ago.
The weather here is hot and muggy. A shower sure felt good.
In the evening, a big freighter came in to this little harbor. We don't know how it fit. It draws 26 feet, and the place it went is only 4 or 5 feet deep according to the chart. It brought in tons of crude salt for next winter. They ran a conveyer belt from the ship to the parking lot near here and began dumping piles of salt.

Tuesday, July 5, 1994 - New Bedford, MA

Here we are again, right back where we started from last November.
Jay Jay was tickled pink to see us. Gave us a good slip, almost the same one we had before. He even came out in a motor boat with a welcoming committee!
Roy and I had been wondering what rate we'd be charged this time. To our amazement, it was the same--$30 a week! How can he do it? We can stay here ten weeks for less than it cost us for one week in New York. And we're familiar with everything here; we know where the stores are and the post office and the buses. We feel right at home.
Got here too late to go to the post office, so we'll do that in the morning. Got our bikes out and rode to the store for some groceries. Much better prices than on Block Island, but higher than down south.

Monday, July 4, 1994 -Block Island, NY

When I got up this morning, the boat next to us was getting ready to leave and I didn't see any sign of the flashlights, so I dressed quickly and got my Royak ready. Woke Roy up and asked him if the flashlights had been returned. He said they hadn't, so I jumped in my Royak and paddled to the other boat, just as they were pulling up their anchor. When I asked about the flashlights, the man said he'd taken them over in his dinghy and laid them on the starboard deck. Sure enough, there they were. I had looked around on the deck but hadn't seen them. Anyway, I was glad to get them back.
What a perfect day for the Fourth of July! Blue sky for the first time in days. Calm, sunny, warm, with a light northeast breeze to keep it from getting too hot.
The exodus began early in the morning. Boat after boat, going out the channel. We watched them for a while and then went paddling, again in different directions but agreeing to meet near the ferry dock to watch the one o'clock parade.
At 11:30, I returned to the boat, ate lunch, and set out for town. As I was paddling across the harbor, I saw what looked like another yellow Royak in the distance, so I paddled towards it, thinking it was Roy, but when I got closer, I saw it was just a plastic kayak, so I continued on. The guy in the kayak paddled over to me and struck up a conversation. Turned out he rents kayaks here on Block Island. He has fifty of them that he rents for $35 a half-day. Of course, I sang the praises of Royaks, and he seemed interested.
I figured Roy would have gone to Harbor Pond, which is close to town, so I paddled over there, but didn't see any sign of his Royak. I pulled up on the far side of the pond, near the road. The tide was low, so I pulled my Royak up about twenty feet and put it in back of a large rock to protect it from the rising tide. Walked to the road and up towards the ferry dock and even past the ferry dock, looking for Roy. Thousands of people lined the streets, but none of them even vaguely resembled Roy. After twenty minutes or so, the parade started, so I gave up looking and stood at the side of the street, watching the parade. One group that went by was throwing out salt-water taffy, so I grabbed a couple of pieces and was eating one when I noticed a familiar-looking blue shirt out of the corner of my eye. Looked more closely, and sure enough, the shirt was on Roy. He had walked right in front of me without seeing me. I scurried up to him, took his arm, and asked, "Are you looking for a parade?" He was so startled, he jumped! But he was very glad to see me. We happily watched the rest of the parade together. We were really impressed by what a good parade this little town put on. Best we've seen in years. They had several brass bands and a bagpipe band. Very good and lots of fun.
Roy hadn't had any lunch except the candy the paraders had thrown out, so we went to a nice little restaurant after the parade. He ate lunch, and I ate a dish of delicious ice cream.
Bought a loaf of raisin bread and returned to our respective Royaks. I was very glad I'd put mine in back of the rock; the tide had come in, and the water was all the way up to it. Roy had put his Royak in the same place we'd been a couple of days ago.
Roy went to the boat to paint the wind generator, and I paddled to the other side of the harbor, where the creeks are. I had tried to go up the creeks a couple of days ago, but the water was too low. Had no trouble getting up them this time, but they didn't go very far. I had hoped to be able to land on sand and walk across to the ocean side, but there was nothing but marsh grass.
Saw a lovely little doe, standing stock still. I stopped paddling and watched her for several minutes. Then she ran off.
When I got back to the boat, Roy was washing the hull. He had given up on painting the generator, because it was too windy.
What a perfect day this was, from beginning to end! We're so glad we decided to spend the three-day weekend at Block Island.

Sunday, July 3, 1994 - Block Island, NY

No fog today. Calm, cloudy, and cool, but good visibility. We took our bikes ashore in a launch and rode around. First time I'd been on my bike since the accident, but this time I wore elbow pads.
Block Island is about six miles long and three miles wide. In 1661, it was settled by a small group from the Massachusetts Colony who wanted to create a different type of society. There had been Native Americans living here for centuries, of course. We went by the place where the Europeans first settled. They had a large fresh-water pond but lived in caves and primitive shelters.
We were surprised how many ponds and small lakes there are on this little island. They're all over. Lovely scenery, too. Green trees and bushes and grass. Lots of hills. Quite different from Nantucket, which is mostly flat and treeless.
There are miles of paved road, and we rode just about all of them. There were lots of other people on bicycles and mopeds. We saw a group of about half a dozen young bicyclists coming towards us. All of a sudden, one of the girls flew up in the air and crashed to the ground! Somehow or other, she had managed to get her foot caught between the spokes of her front wheel!!!??? Fortunately, she was wearing a helmet. She landed on her head on the pavement, but her head wasn't damaged. She seemed to have broken some ribs and maybe some other bones. Of course, her friends stopped to help her, and we stopped, too. Roy flagged down a passing car. The driver drove down the road until he found a policeman. The police car arrived within minutes and called an ambulance, which also arrived within minutes. Poor kid. Her holiday's ruined.
We stopped at Mohegan Bluff and the old Southeast Lighthouse. What a view! In 1590, warring Indians drove 40 braves of another tribe off the bluff to their deaths. The bluffs are 168 feet high. They have been steadily eroding. Last year, the big stone lighthouse had to be moved back 240 feet to keep it from falling into the ocean. That must have been quite a project.
We stopped in the town of Shoreham for lunch and then rode out to the north end of the island. Walked out to the old lighthouse that was built in 1867. The first lighthouse, built in 1829, was too close to the point and took too much pounding from the sea, so they dismantled it and built another lighthouse farther inland. Unfortun-
ately, it was too far inland and led boats into the land instead of away from it, so they built a third lighthouse. This one, like the first, was too far out on the point. Finally, they built the present lighthouse, which was used for over a hundred years. Now it's a museum.
Hundreds of boats have come to grief on Block Island. One problem was that skippers would mistake the Block Island Light for the Point Judith Light, eight miles to the north, so they'd try to stay south of it and would run right into Block Island.
Walked out to the point and watched the waves coming from both sides of the island and crashing into each other. Quite spectacular!
Rode back to the launch dock, but there were so many people in line, we figured we'd never get on with our bicycles, so we rode over to the other launch at Champlin's Marina. Not so many people waiting there. When the launch came in, we were able to get on it and eventually got back to the boat. We decided taking our boats ashore was more hassle than we cared to go through a second day, so Roy folded them up and put them away, while I fixed supper.
A guy on a neighboring boat came over in his dinghy and borrowed a flashlight. Roy let him have two flashlights. I hope he returns them before he leaves.
We had a perfect view from Jofian's deck of the fireworks display on the other side of the harbor. For such a small town, they put on quite a display. Boats all over the harbor were blowing their horns.
When the official display ended, some boaters started setting off their own fireworks, and Little Boy Roy just couldn't resist the temptation to fire a couple of old flares, even though I kept warning him not to. Fourth of July or no Fourth of July, it's against the law to shoot off flares unless you're signaling for assistance for a vessel in distress. Roy knew that, of course, but he shot them off anyway. All of a sudden, here came a harbor patrol boat with its blue light flashing. Fortunately, he let Roy off with a warning. If the Coast Guard had caught him, Roy would have been in serious trouble.

Saturday, July 2, 1994 - Block Island, NY

Awoke to dense fog. Around noon, it lifted somewhat but then came in again, thicker than before.
We got in our Royaks and paddled in different directions. Roy went ashore for a while and then went looking for me. I explored all the little coves and ponds and inlets. Went completely around Great Salt Pond. The wind was pretty strong. Saw a small sailboat that had turned turtle, but the two guys managed to right it.
The three marinas are completely packed, and there are docks where cabin cruisers are rafted eight deep. What a mess! The ones closest in won't be able to leave until the outer ones leave. Monday afternoon is going to be chaosville, with all those boats trying to get out the narrow channel at once. Sure glad we don't have to leave then, and I'm glad we're anchored, not docked.
Roy and I met back on the boat around two. Ate lunch and then paddled to a pond close to the little town, so we could buy a few groceries.
There are water-taxis here that take people ashore from their boats for $1.50, so tomorrow we'll take our bikes ashore and ride around.

Friday, July 1, 1994 - Block Island, NY

Dead calm in the morning and foggy. Visibility about half a mile.
We motored for several hours, and then the breeze began stirring and the fog lifted, but there was still a lot of haze. The wind kept getting stronger and stronger. By afternoon, we were sailing nicely without the engine.
We needed a place to stay for the night. I suggested Block Island. Neither of us had ever been there, though we'd heard of it all our lives, so we headed in that direction. Without the GPS, we might never have found it. There was still so much haze that we couldn't see the island when we were two miles from it! But the GPS took us right to the entrance buoy. For once, we arrived at a good time. It was still daylight, so we had no problem entering the channel and finding a good place to anchor.
The harbor on block island is called Great Salt Pond. It's about a mile long and half a mile wide. What a forest of boats! There are well over a thousand boats anchored or moored here, mostly sailboats. Most of them anchor using rode (line) instead of chain. We, of course, use chain. We found a good spot to anchor in fifty feet of water. This is going to be a fun place to explore. We'll spend the whole weekend here.
I went to bed early and was fast asleep when BLAM! -- the whole boat shook. In all this vast harbor, some idiot had dropped anchor directly in front of us, using rode, and then had gone below without checking to be sure their anchor was holding. The anchor dragged, and their boat smashed right into ours. I was afraid it had damaged the prow that Roy had so carefully repaired, but luckily it hit the metal where the bow rollers are. Did more damage to their boat than to ours. I heard Roy yelling, "You're ramming our boat!" The woman said, "OK," in a cheery voice, as if it were nothing, but later Roy told me she did say, "I'm sorry."

Thursday, June 30, 1994 - Fort Jefferson, NY

Departure day. Right after breakfast, Roy rode his bike to the grocery store and bought a few things. I washed the dishes and began getting the boat ready. We left right at ten o'clock. No problem getting away from the dock.
We motored around the Battery, up the East River, and under the Throg Neck Bridge. Once on the Sound, our course was almost due east, and there was a Southwest wind blowing around twenty knots, so we were able to sail. Zoomed along at seven and eight knots under full sail.
Long Island Sound is 100 miles long. I didn't want to keep going at night, so we pulled over towards the shore just past Fort Jefferson and anchored in 12 feet of water. The wind soon died, and we enjoyed a calm, peaceful night.