See full version: North Rip, Block Island, RI
Before the last glacier melted 18,000 years ago and raised sea levels a couple hundred feet, a 12-mile-long tombolo (a sand or gravel bar joining an island to the mainland) connected Block Island to Rhode Island. Part of the remnant of that tombolo is the northern tip of tear-drop-shaped Block Island where it vanishes into the clear waters of Block Island Sound and becomes the bar beneath North Rip. here
The rip-creating geology of this nearly 1-1/2-nm long subsurface spit begins at Block’s Sandy Point and tracks northeast into 120 feet of water. With tidal currents approaching 4 knots on moon tides, the bar can be a tricky place to fish. But once you learn its waters you’re almost guaranteed bass, blues and even an occasional tiderunner weakfish.
For daytime trolling, use chartreuse parachute jigs or umbrella frames sporting small teasers and tubes fished by stemming into the current on the up-tide side of the rip at about 2-1/2 knots. Don’t slide down-tide to the rip line, as you risk spooking any fish staging there. And replacing hard-to-handle wire line with measured and marked braided line will greatly improve your success. After dark, try switching to trolling with swimming plugs like Luhr-Jensen’s J-plug in silver size-5. But be sure to replace the double treble with a single hook if you’re releasing your catch.
Block Island, pear-shaped island coextensive with the town (township) of New Shoreham (inc. 1672), Washington county, southern Rhode Island, U.S., between Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Lying about 9 miles (14 km) south of the mainland, it is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) wide and has a land area of 10 square miles (25 square km). Originally called Manisses (“Manitou’s Little Island”) by Narragansett Indians, the island was sighted by the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and later named for Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who visited there in 1614. Settlers from Massachusetts arrived in 1661, and Block Island was admitted to the colony of Rhode Island three years later. here
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The economy, once dependent on fishing and farming, is now based mainly on resort activities. The Mohegan Bluffs, spectacular clay cliffs (185 feet [56 metres] high), are on the southern shore. A large area on the island has been set aside as a nature reserve. The Old Harbor (eastern side) was formed in 1873 with the construction of a breakwater; the New Harbor (western side) was formed (1896) by building a channel from Block Island Sound to Great Salt Pond. Old Harbor, with Victorian-style buildings along its waterfront street, has become the island’s main settlement; ferries from the mainland dock there. Year-round ferry service is provided from Point Judith, and seasonal service is available from Providence-Newport; New London, Connecticut; and Montauk, New York. The island also has an airport. New Harbor is the centre of pleasure boating on the island. Block Island Race Week is an annual yachting event. Pop. (2000) 1,010; (2010) 1,051.
Block Island, pear-shaped island coextensive with the town (township) of New Shoreham (inc. 1672), Washington county, southern Rhode Island, U.S., between Block Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Lying about 9 miles (14 km) south of the mainland, it is about 6 miles (10 km) long and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) wide and has a land area of 10 square miles (25 square km). Originally called Manisses (“Manitou’s Little Island”) by Narragansett Indians, the island was sighted by the Italian navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and later named for Dutch explorer Adriaen Block, who visited there in 1614. Settlers from Massachusetts arrived in 1661, and Block Island was admitted to the colony of Rhode Island three years later.
Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [links]
The economy, once dependent on fishing and farming, is now based mainly on resort activities. The Mohegan Bluffs, spectacular clay cliffs (185 feet [56 metres] high), are on the southern shore. A large area on the island has been set aside as a nature reserve. The Old Harbor (eastern side) was formed in 1873 with the construction of a breakwater; the New Harbor (western side) was formed (1896) by building a channel from Block Island Sound to Great Salt Pond. Old Harbor, with Victorian-style buildings along its waterfront street, has become the island’s main settlement; ferries from the mainland dock there. Year-round ferry service is provided from Point Judith, and seasonal service is available from Providence-Newport; New London, Connecticut; and Montauk, New York. The island also has an airport. New Harbor is the centre of pleasure boating on the island. Block Island Race Week is an annual yachting event. Pop. (2000) 1,010; (2010) 1,051.
Finn: Go in there, buddy.
Ben James: For 50 years, Elizabeth Dickens kept that daily record. Kim never met Dickens — different generations — but Edith Blane did. [links]
[Release, bird call] more
Ben James: Back at the banding station, some guests have arrived. This happens all the time during banding season. Old friends, newly-interested bird people. Kim chats with them the same as she’s chatting with me. She’s a natural teacher, unfazed by repetitive questions or sudden bursts of enthusiasm. Among this group of seven is Chrissy, a woman in her twenties, who’s suddenly deputized by Kim to hold our Ruby-crowned Kinglet. here
Scott Comings: So we're standing on a trail that is surrounded by grassland and coastal shrubland. [links]
Finn: Oh my God. There's a hummingbird.