Not too long ago, I heard someone say, "God created time, so everything wouldn't happen all at once."

Just before hurricane Floyd pounded the Carolinas, I left my home port for Block Island, Rhode Island. This lamb chop shaped New England jewel is situated 15 miles off the coast of Montauk and 12 miles from Point Judith, Rhode Island. Timing my travel to coincide with the ebb tide in order to push me along towards my destination, I Left 3 Mile Harbor and once again found myself passing The Ruins off Gardiners Island. The seas didn't reflect the impending storm as of yet. The skies were mostly cloudy leaving small spaces for the sun to pop though. The wind shifted from S-SW to NE at about 5 to 10 knots. A pleasant 6.5 hour sail brought what appeared to be two islands into close view and I was greeted by the light marking the Great Salt Pond just before sunset.

In the morning, while hailing Oldport Landing on channel 68, harbor patrol pulled up to collect the off-season fare of $20.00 for the mooring that I picked the night before. The harbormaster reported that shortly after Labor Day the water taxis stop running. He suggested that, for easy access to the island, I travel to Old Harbor and tie up in front of Ballard's Inn to the bulkhead at the town dock, as I was without a dinghy.

Still recording no signs of the 400 mile long storm slowly moving up the coast, I moved cautiously north around the island into the unprotected North Atlantic Ocean. I wanted to circle the island by boat anyway. However, I was concerned the expected storm might make the return home more difficult from the east side. Seeing waves breaking on a shallow stretch of sand jetting out from the northern tip of Block Island assured that I was not going to cut inside red marker BI1.

Block Island, also known as the town of New Shoreham, was first discovered by Giovanni da Verrazano but his name "Luisa" did not stick and its namesake is accredited to Adriaen Block, who charted the island some 90 years later. Over 6 miles long with an elevation of more than 210 feet, cliffs, ponds, hilly terrain and old stone fences invite one in to relax and explore.

More than 150 years before they dredged and opened Great Salt Pond, oxen were used to build the breakwaters that created Old Harbor. This man-made harbor on the east side of the island is tiny in comparison to Great Salt Pond on the west. It does, however, leave you right in the center of the island's largest commercial district.

Upon your arrival, you will find a box perched outside the bathrooms that greet boaters. Not to be confused with a cover charge, this is where you are to deposit your 50 cent landing fee. Just a stone's throw from the boat, offering cars, mopeds and bicycles, Old Harbor Bike Shop is one of the many rental outlets available. This island is a dream for the bike rider. There are many winding paths leading to and from bluffs only available by foot or bicycle.

Once on the bicycle I headed south and west. Behind the Hotel Manisses I found a wonderful animal farm where domestic and exotic animals live together as pals. Continuing on, I saw many property boundaries marked with long, stone fences. Little ponds and Victorian architecture give the island a true New England feel and the hilly terrain adds a certain Scottish flair.

The bike ride was broken up with a pit stop at Bethany's Airport Diner. I had a nice sandwich as, behind my back, small planes took off and landed seemingly within reach.

I traveled through many wooded areas and soon noticed that on Block Island there were no squirrels. After 5 plus hours of riding, as the gray sky turned dark, I was ready to call it quits. I returned the bike and had a wonderful dinner at the Mohegan Cafe. The waitress there confirmed the bit about the squirrels and informed me that there were no chipmunks either. Both animals have healthy populations less than 20 miles away.

Back on the boat, the NOAA weather report and the tide schedule called for an early departure the next morning. Since I wasn't ready to leave until after 0700 I took the liberty of getting a large cup of coffee and a deliciously fresh blueberry muffin from Aldo's.

A tropical storm watch was issued covering my surrounding area. All pleasure craft were to be banned from the waters off of Long Island in less than 24 hours. I set course for the first marker outside this artificial harbor. Once at that marker, because of a heavy fog, I could no longer see Block Island and the visibility dropped to between 1/4 and 1/2 of a mile. I tried to use dead reckoning to reach the next marker but was not successful. I relied on my instruments from there on. Using the GPS, I plotted a course to BI1. Not establishing a visual until I was less than 1/2 mile from her, I came up on the north side as planned. As the day progressed the fog lifted somewhat to allow about 1 mile of visibility. Traveling through Block Island Sound was surprisingly calm. Personally, I wasn't comfortable with that. The wind dropped down to light and variable. I packed up the sails and turned into a motorboat. Marker to marker, I moved in the fog, slowly making my way home. Rain welcomed me as I approached the bell in Gardiners Bay. If it weren't raining, this is what it would look like. Even though hurricane Floyd was expected to be the strongest storm to pass through here in quite some time, it did little damage to this area.