Long Island Sound Part 3, Martha;s vineyard (10030 miles)

Some lovely yachts at Martha's Vineyard. I sail to the  anchorage at Edgartown, the furthest town but a better anchorage, Exposed to the North but winds are light from the South. The town is remarkable in that a lot of the buildings are similar sizes, no massive hotels blight the collection of nice properties. Martha's Vineyard has no vines by the way, originally there was farming, fishing and whaling. in the summer there was not as much to do and a large Methodist revival meeting was held - with people coming from New York. A proliferation of tents and then tiny wee cabins came about and a property developer expanded this to create holiday homes  and then  as traditional industry died and summer residences become desirable the properties grew. The town came into being.  It is not that big, 3 or 4 streets and 7 or so avenues. It has no real heart, the roads are packed with cars trying to get into the many car parks. The cafes and restaurants are packed. The island has nice beaches and walks and the shops await the visitors. Jewelry, Art and craft predominate, lots of galleries, some of the restaurants are in the upper range, no Starbucks, Subway or MacDonalds here (no bad thing!)

I am forming ideas about my tour through the East coast - as I write this I am in Canada. I have been surprised that I have been in twee places the entire time - with the possible exception of Baltimore. I think the phrase is "Gentrification" maybe places price themselves up and up and the poor go elsewhere. I didn't invent the use of Gentrification, I have read a few thoughtful opinion pieces in the online Guardian app. There are not many (i.e Zero) beggars in Martha's Vineyard. Everyone has (to have) money.

Docks everywhere

 Nice boat a catboat

The ferry disgorges scores of tourists with bicycles.

State, Church and the Judiciary, what happy bedfellows.

It all gets a bit too much so I retreat to a nice air conditioned museum

Sorry for the quality - my laptop batteries are low and preclude cropping if I am to upload before losing WiFi (and my camera zoom is broken)

Claims to fame, Jaws was shot (sic) here.

I buy a book on shipwrecks - for a rainy day, but discover most are either recovered or taken by the sands...

Another nice old boat goes past the anchorage, which has two superyachts anchored in it too.

After a morning spent in Martha's Vineyard I head across the sound to the Island of Cape Cod and through a narrow gap at Wood's Hole to get into Buzzard's Bay, this leads up to the Cape Cod canal - a 10 mile long short cut that saves 50 miles of treacherous open sea. I "borrow" a mooring near the canal start as dusk falls and resolve to get up at 6 a.m the next morning to get down the canal. The two bits of sea at each end of the canal are usually at different heights and current flow in the canal is fast - I  will have it with me in the morning - I have trouble keeping to the 10 mph speed limit.