Sept 24-25, Martha's Vineyard

We left Falmouth about 10:30 after refueling and proceeded less than ten miles to Vineyard Haven on the Island of Martha's Vineyard. This is a small town and is a port of entry for many tourists as most of the ferry's from Cape Cod stop here. The weather today is beautiful, 75 degrees, clear and the seas are calm.

Vineyard Haven, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Vineyard Haven

Vineyard Haven

We did not go ashore at Vineyard Haven but moved on to the next port just about 3 miles east on Martha's Vineyard to the town of Oak Bluff.

Lighthouse, West Chop Light, Martha's Vineyard

Oak Bluff, on Martha's Vineyard, is a very nice little harbor and we are at the Dockside Market Place and Marina right in the middle of things. We are off season now and so there are slips available but in the peak summer season we would be on a mooring here rafted to several other boats. We are at the dock and are plugged into dock power so we do not have to run the generator. I think we like it better this way.

Oak Bluff Harbor, Martha's Vineyard

"Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Association" is located adjacent to Oak Bluff and was known originally as "Weslyan Grove". It was founded as a Methodist Church "Camp Meeting" site in 1835 . The idea was that this would be a place where preachers would preach and sinners would come and stay for a week at a time. Hopefully to repent and be saved. Everyone lived in community tents set up around a preaching site in a grove of Oak trees. Initially there were 9 society tents with 65 people in attendance and the main emphasis was strictly religious. About 1850 or so families began to come for the good weather and social aspects as well as the preaching. By 1860 there were 500 tents (many of these tents now housed only one family) and as many as 12,000 people attended services over the course of the summer. By 1869 more than 30,000 people visited here . Around 1860 the tents were gradually replaced by "cottages" which could have a dimension no bigger on the ground than the tent that it replaced (approximately 24x40 feet).

Martha's Vineyard Cottages

More Martha's Vineyard Cottages

Thus the "Martha's Vineyard Cottage" came into being. It is unique in that it is relatively small, usually two story, has Victorian architectural elements, is generally in the shape of a tent, is highly decorated with trim (gingerbread) and is usually brightly painted with contrasting trim. There were 40 cottages in 1864, 250 in 1869 and 500 by 1880 and there remain 315 today.

Iron Tabernacle

The original preaching tent was replaced in 1879 by an iron building (in the center of the homes) known as the Tabernacle.

The town of Oak Bluffs started as a resort community in 1866 and was not welcomed by the people in the cottages who considered the developers of the new town to be "the devil" and a threat to the serious nature of the camp meeting. Owen says "Some things never change!"

Oak Bluff Homes are larger

Oak Bluff overlooking the ocean

Oak Bluff and Weslyan Grove now seem to be somewhat comfortable side by side. The town has grown over the years and now completely surrounds the original camp meeting site. There is still a religious element in the Weslyan Grove area but it is no longer just Methodist but non-denominational and open to all. Linda and Owen remember visiting Chautauqua, NY, another Methodist Preachers summer retreat site and stayed there and enjoyed several of their non-denominational thought provoking programs.

Tuesday we rented a car and toured the whole island. Drove through Vineyard Haven and then found several smaller communities, Menemsha, Chilmark, Aquinnah and West Tisbury.





Chilmark is a small fishing village and we found some large cliffs and the Gay Head Lighthouse at Aquinnah.




All these communities were very small and had a rural feel and did not look very prosperous. Then we headed for Edgartown and had lunch overlooking the small car ferry to Chappaquiddick.




More on Edgartown later as we plan a boat stop there later in the week.

Wind picked up to 15-20kts and we have a secure but noisy night.