Greenport, NY

Race Rock Light’s massive masonry foundation took 7 years to complete.

Thursday, 21 August

There was a sense of it on the approach. Once stepping ashore, it was confirmed. Steadfast is not in New England anymore.

Underway this morning by 0830, she motored out of Stonington Harbor and across Fisher’s Island Sound toward The Race. That’s where the Atlantic speeds in and out of Long Island Sound. At one point, the depth drops from 40-feet to 300 putting a charge into currents that run up to five knots or more. Between the tricky currents and a rock-strewn reef, this was the site of many shipwrecks until Race Rock Light was completed 1878.

It’s fairly easy to spot now, though, and with her arrival timed to meet the ebb, Steadfast sped past at nearly eight knots. But that meant she’d buck the ebb the rest of the way, across Block Island Sound, into Gardiner’s Bay, along Long Beach and the west side of Shelter Island, down to Greenport. The light easterly was of no help, so all of the 28.4 nautical miles were due to the faithful efforts of Little Red.

The original screwpile light off Long Beach Point was replaced with a frame house.

The plan had been to pick up a town mooring in snug little Stirling Harbor. The mooring fee, however, seems to have doubled in the recent past. It now costs nearly as much for a mooring with no amenities as for a slip with full facilities at the town’s Mitchell Park Marina. So Steadfast headed back out of Stirling Harbor, around the corner and slipped into Mitchell Park, right in the middle of downtown Greenport. This put her just one pier away from the famous Preston’s Marine Supplies and a block down from the well-stocked Greenport IGA supermarket. A major re-provisioning then ensued.

Preston’s may be one of the last waterfront chandleries on the East Coast.

This was just Thursday, keep in mind, but things were hopping on Front Street. Sidewalks filled on both sides with couples and families window-shopping, weighing dining options or enjoying a cone of ice cream. Likewise up Main and its array of shops and cafes including 1943 Pizza Bar, where the crew secured a front row seat in front of the wood-fired brick oven. This allowed full appreciation of the pas de trois performed by the salad boy and two chefs shuffling pies and sides in, around and out of the oven. Most entertaining.

Bob leads the brick-oven ballet at “1943.”

The same may be said for Greenport, too. She’s an interesting blend of a commercial waterfront, a big plus for boaters, and the mostly middle-class neighborhoods a few blocks away where the larger Victorian-era homes are reminiscent of Cape May, perhaps.

The ubiquitous cedar shake of New England is not seen here. Nor will one hear Joe and Dave on “The Shaw’s W-E-E-I Red Sox Radio Network” (given the Sox’ atrocious play of late, this may be a blessing). And there’s a faster beat on the street, a rhythm much different from Stonington, East “G,” Wickford or Dutch.

With the only mast among so many slips, Steadfast felt somewhat alone at Mitchell Marina.

But still fun and, without a doubt, well worth the visit.

Steadfast out.