Dolphins, Beached Whales, & Mudslides! 🐬 Block Island On Our Grand Banks 47 (June/July 2026)

We are back at our absolute favorite place on earth! Block Island holds an incredibly special place in our hearts—it’s where we eloped just this past November by the North Light! For our first trip back since exchanging our vows, we decided to take our "new to us" Blue Sky, our 2007 47' Grand Banks Heritage Classic, out for a 4-night adventure on anchor. This trip was full of firsts for us on Blue Sky: ⚓ First Night Navigation: We threw off the lines from Essex at 6 PM, caught a jaw-dropping sunset from the water, and navigated into Great Salt Pond in the dark. ⚓ First Time Anchoring: We successfully dropped anchor in the dark... though we woke up to realize we were slightly out of bounds and had to reposition in the morning! (Oops! 😂) Once settled, we had the ultimate Block Island weekend packed with our favorite traditions: 🥞 Dinghy rides to Payne's Dock for breakfast at The Cracked Mug and a stroll through the Farmer’s Market. 🏖️ Relaxation at Coast Guard Beach (watching the "boat parade" enter New Harbor) and running around town. Did you know all beaches on Block Island are dog-friendly? Nugget certainly approved! 🐋 A Close Encounter: We saw the 40-foot young humpback whale that had recently beached (and was famously filmed being eaten by a great white shark days prior). It was sad but incredible to see up close, and yes, it smelled terrible! 🍹 The Ultimate Mudslide Showdown: Matt swears by The Oar (where Nugget rolled in the grass and got incredibly stinky), while Heather prefers the mudslides over at Champlin’s Marina, where we caught the Conservfest music festival. 🌅 An Elite Lineup of Eats: Nachos at Yellow Kittens, dinner at Poor People’s Pub, martinis on the lawn at Spring House, and an incredible dog-friendly dinner at Dead Eye Dick's with our sister-in-law Nicole, who took the high-speed ferry to join us for the night! 🥐 Aldo's Bakery Boat: We wrapped up our trip with the ultimate GSP tradition—hailing the Aldo's delivery boat on the VHF radio for fresh morning pastries right to our swim platform! On the cruise back home to Essex, the ocean gave us one last gift: a dolphin jumping right out of the water in front of the bow! (Heather was practically crying happy tears!). Block Island, you never disappoint. We’ll be back at least once or twice more this season! Thanks for watching, and don't forget to subscribe for more trawler life adventures! 🌊☀️