We left Edgartown and headed to Lake Tashmoo, a lovely pond on the west side of Vineyard Haven. We have made Tashmoo a frequent stop on our cruises.
Crossing the entrance to Vineyard Haven, a ferry and a sightseeing sailboat.
Entering Lake Tashmoo – The peaceful setting inside is worth it, even though the entrance is shallow. Go in on a rising tide, but only if your boat has a draft of less than 5 feet.
For many years we were able to anchor in the back of the pond, a sweet spot. But Tashmoo began to forbid anchoring a couple years ago. This year there are now 8 transient moorings available, four near the entrance on the west side and four in the back of the lake where we used to anchor. Our friend Colin, whom we met there in 2016, secured a mooring for Limerick and Kindred Spirit.
Thank you, Colin!
We invited Colin and Diane for dinner. Cindy and I cooked but we ate on Limerick because there is more room. One of the best parts of cruising to various harbors is catching up with people you have met on the water.
The local residents in Lake Tashmoo – one of the swans and the osprey on the nest along the entrance channel.
Our stay was just an overnight this time. Note to self – plan on staying longer here in Lake Tashmoo next time.
Leaving the lake through the well-marked channel.
There’s a bit of a current as we leave the channel!
The next morning we had an easy ride from Lake Tashmoo to Cuttyhunk.
The west coast of Martha’s Vineyard slides by.
August cruising, on a Saturday……. boats everywhere. We often anchor in the outer harbor, but it was crowded.
Cuttyhunk’s inner harbor mooring field is very neatly arranged – look at those rows! We slowly moved through and saw no open mooring (first come, first serve) just like at Oak Bluffs. As we slowly and dejectedly passed the front row of moorings, a woman on a trawler’s bow hailed us and said, “we are leaving right now- take our mooring!” Are we lucky or what?
Front row seats!
And like Oak Bluffs, it was a little close in some wind directions. That said, Cuttyhunk is a much more comfortable mooring field than Oak Bluffs.
A very large catamaran moored next to us carried a lot of toys. He pulled out all these remote control sailboats and held his own regatta.
I saw that Exuberant had anchored in the outer harbor on their way back from Maine to Stonington, CT. Although Prue and I email, we aren’t often in the same place. Bert and Prue live in South Carolina in the winter, and spend every summer sailing Exuberant up here in the north. It was fun to see them again!
We try not to miss a breakfast at The Fishing Club when we stop at Cuttyhunk. Colin and Diane joined Don, Cindy, Al and I.
Oh my, what a loooong wait we had for a table. Good thing the setting is lovely.
After an hour of waiting, we finally ate breakfast (brunch, lunch?) On the positive side, the food was good and the company was great.
There is a story to this silly picture. Last year on our stop at Cuttyhunk and breakfast at the Fishing Club, I bought a long sleeve sun shirt without trying it on. Back on the boat, I realized it was much too large. The Fishing Club had closed for the season and I was unable to exchange it. I kept the shirt and the receipt and waited a whole year to exchange it. Alas, no more of those shirts. All that was left was this very cozy sweatshirt.
After that very hardy breakfast/brunch, we took our walk around Cuttyhunk.
The Cuttyhunk Museum was open.
There were several artistic renderings of the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club. From the description next to one – “The Cuttyhunk Club, built in 1864, operated as a private fishing club until 1922 when it was purchased by the Wood family. Robert and Eleanor Moore acquired the club in 1948 and hosted memorable July 4thcelebrations. In 1997 the property was repurchased by Oriel Wood Ponzecchi who renamed it the Cuttyhunk Fishing Club and established a popular bed and breakfast managed by Cuttyhunker Bonnie Veeder through 2022. New managers Julie and Rud Mason are in place for 2023.”
Time for our trek up the hill to the lookout.
The views were incredible. As always.
There is Kindred Spirit and Limerick on their front row mooring.
A photo of the four of us that is not a group selfie.
Cindy and I stopped in the only shop on Cuttyhunk to check out the local merchandise.
Every shop should have chairs outside for the guys to sit and relax while we look around.
This house on its own little pond is always interesting. There is a “no wake” buoy in the middle and a frog prince sitting on the rock.
The Blues Brothers are back! These statues sat on the road by that house and pond for years, then disappeared. It was fun to see them again.
“We want your pretty colored empty glass bottles! Today’s empty-Tomorrow’s sea glass.” Oh yes! I totally agree with that sentiment. And love the little lady sitting by this bucket.
Boaters can throw their trash bags into the truck bed.
The ice cream shop on the dock was still open with only two flavors left and ice cream cookie sandwiches.
I love interesting and curious boat names. This is one of the best I’ve seen.
Tashmoo and Cuttyhunk, two of the best little harbors around.
i love your posts…the pictures always make me feel like i should be there with you…i’m very jealous but i also recognize that there’s a lot of work that goes into cruising…i could probably live without the ice cream but not the eating!!! i’m so glad you have something that gives you so much joy…journey on! 🙂
Ellen Seltzer
i love your posts…the pictures always make me feel like i should be there with you…i’m very jealous but i also recognize that there’s a lot of work that goes into cruising…i could probably live without the ice cream but not the eating!!! i’m so glad you have something that gives you so much joy…journey on! 🙂