Summer 2026 Wrap Up

This was certainly not the summer of boating that we had expected, but it ended nicely with two trips to Block Island.

Al decided it was time to check the generator’s impeller as preventive maintenance. This is routine work for him but this time the impeller was missing three and a half blades. Hmmm, he had to “dig” further to find the missing pieces because those missing pieces will restrict the water flow in the system. Not a good thing at all. He had to go all the way to the heat exchanger and found many, many more than the missing pieces. Obviously, previous owners had not tracked down any missing pieces and had just popped a new impeller on.

We were on the SYC mooring this time, rafted with another Shenny boat, GetAway Again, who had underwater lights. I am not usually a fan of underwater lights (As Al says, why would I put another hole in my hull??) but those lights gave us quite a treat. Dolphins were all over Salt Pond this summer. At night, the underwater lights attracted the squid which attracted the dolphins (dinner time). We stood on our aft cockpit and watched for an hour.

Enough boat maintenance! The weather was lovely and the beach called to us. And called to a lot of other people. Still pretty busy for late August.

The Block Island Farmers Market is at Legion Park on Wednesday mornings so we took stroll around it.

After a week at home, we headed back to the boat for one last trip on September 5th. Our first stop was Stonington.

Needing a walk and a stretch, we ventured out to find “The Velvet Mill“. I had read about an old mill that was converted into a space to house independent shops. The map said it was only .8 miles from the dinghy dock. (What did we do before the convenience of maps on our phones???)

From the website – “The Stonington plant was built by the town in 1888 as a means of encouraging the development of new industry. Originally, A. Wimpfheimer & Bro., Inc. imported velvets from abroad and sold them to itinerant merchants and to consumers. The passage of the McKinley Act in 1891 made it possible to start manufacturing velvet in this country. At first, the Wimpfheimers attempted to weave and dye fabrics in their mill in Astoria, Long Island. However, because of a malaria epidemic, they relocated to Stonington, Connecticut.”

Off to Block again on Monday, Labor Day.

I had a great vantage point to watch a trio of young sailors sailing around the mooring field. They were amazing! Their parents remained on their boat and appeared to be completely at ease with their offspring’s antics, as well as confident in their sailing abilities.

The dolphins were still here and still captivating to watch. It just doesn’t get old. I think we saw more dolphins here at Block Island than we ever saw on our two trips to the Bahamas.

Except for the dolphins, I really didn’t take many photos. At this point in the summer, it felt better to just enjoy the water. That said, we had opportunities to catch up with some other boating friends that we had not seen in a while and I did not take photos which I regret now.

We returned home for a family birthday party.

Which brings me to the end of the 2026 boating season. Kindred Spirit is now on land in her winter resting space and Al is busy doing all the winterizing chores.