Our anniversary! Our intent was to dock, spend a couple of nights at the Danford's hotel, which was excellent. Good restaurant for drinks, indoors or out, dinner and breakfast. We also had a lobster dinner down the block. Here's the best part. As we were motoring in, our heat alarm went off inexplicably, as the the temp gauge was at normal. I had zero expectations of finding a mechanic on a late summer afternoon, but I checked in with the dockmaster if he had a recommendation. John (I think) immediately made a phone call, hooked us up with Josh at Port Jefferson Marine Maintenance. Josh came by later, evaluated the situation (faulty temp sensor), got us a replacement sensor and also gave us some TLC recommendations for winter work on the motor. Wow!
Beautiful harbor! Moorings are the only option, but the water is delicious for swimming. Excellent showers WITH provided towels. Excellent dining room overlooking the harbor and sound. Alas, dining is only available to Indian Harbor YC members or members of reciprocal clubs. Worth calling the front desk in advance to confirm if you can eat there.
Yacht Haven is an urban marina, so your view is mostly office buildings. However, judging from the diversity of fish, birds and oysters visible from the docks, the water is plenty clean. Very important concern as you leave the marina. As you head to the main channel, there is a range marker which, from behind, looks like a channel marker, I drove our sailboat through what I thought was the channel, only to hit a rock about 5' below our waterline. Luckily, only 2 knots of boat speed, but still managed to knock off a chunk of fiberglass. The actual channel is to the LEFT of the range marker.
Good island to visit! I spent 25 summers on Nantucket through 2013, now come back every other year for a short visit. It can be a little intimidating to get a reservation as I suspect anxious boaters snap up every reservation available once booking opens in the spring. When I tried one month in advance, there were no moorings available for a 5 day stay arriving Monday, departing Friday. I just stayed in touch with the staff, and got myself on a waitlist. Sure enough, a slot opened up about three days before we arrived, and indeed there were plenty of empty moorings around us (not sure if transient moorings, or locally assigned moorings that were not in use.) On arrival, a work boat met us in the channel, guided us through a crowded mooring field and handed up the lines so that we didn't have to go fishing with a pole. Launch service runs 8AM-midnight, or you can dinghy in. Fuel and pump out service available on the fuel dock, water service available on the "town" dock. We elected to check-in to a hotel for 4 days, but sleeping on the mooring would have been fine - amazing views and no noise issues.
Love it! Fantasy Island. FYI for sailboats there are extremely limited options for tying up on a slip. There are one or two slots by the main wharf. The other option is 1-2 slots on the old fuel dock. However, it is a 6’ climb from your boat to the dock, no ladders. Best plan is to hook up on a town mooring or prepare to anchor just outside the harbor channel.
Small marina, home to deluxe sailboats and powerboats. About 1 mile inland from mouth of Mystic River. Abbots Lobster, Fords Lobster, Carson’s for breakfast and lunch all less than a 1/2 mile walk in a quaint 19th century Connecticut village.
We last visited Champlin's in July 2019. Our review after that trip was "5 Stars - Definitely coming back." Since then Champlin's was bought by new owners. I totally get the limitations of doing a major renovation on an island, but it sure was disappointing that on this visit there was no restaurant, no washer-dryers, just a nice little snack bar for coffee, breakfast and sandwiches. The pool is in urgent need of upgraded filters, and the bathrooms were generally unattended and in need of cleaning. All tolerable as I'm sure will be fixed by next season. The real problem was the courtesy (or lack thereof) of the other boaters. When we last visited, the composition was 1/3 sailboats, 2/3's powerboats. This time around, we were one of two sailboats - all the rest were powerboats. I wasn't sure if this was an organized fleet visit, or a coincidence, but the docks were swarmed with large families. Again tolerable. What was not tolerable was the disco music and loud conversations that prevailed until 2AM both nights we were there. At one point, we considered filing a noise complaint with the local police, but ultimately let it go. Bottom line, next time we visit Block Island, we'll stay on a mooring. Best David and Randy
Very quiet post Columbus Day. Dock master called us the day before with harbor details as docks unmanned. Only restaurant open thus time of the year was the Legionnaires Post. Good pizza and drinks, what else did we need? Mind the buoys in and out. We draw 7 feet, got stuck for 10 minutes on the way out. Mud bottom, so no big deal. Beautiful old fashioned harbor and island. Will make a longer visit next summer.
Very pretty location, well protected from bad weather. Fuel dock, ships store, modest shower facilities. New restaurant in marina, stores, other restaurants 1/4 mile walk.