Connecticut

Deep River, CT
July 22-24, 2007

We are unable to make it to the mouth of the Connecticut River in one day from NYC, so, like last year, we elected to stop at Cold Springs Harbor for the night of July 21. Despite being a weekend crowded with day boaters we were able to find a good spot to drop the anchor early in the day. Then, we just had to wait out the rest of the afternoon and endure the powerboat noise and wakes from passing boats. This harbor is so scenic with high, thickly treed hills all around and architecturally distinct estate homes with beautiful grounds.

The next day we reached the CT River around 1700. Since it was a beautiful day for boating, the river was jammed with boats of all sorts. We are so amazed how generally rude the power boat operators of this area are to all other boaters: failure to yield right-of-way, ignore slow and no wake zones, no overtaking and passing skills, careless driving, and poor radio use. These are serious issues in this area where the waterway is narrow and confined; two weeks ago 3 people in a sailboat were knocked overboard when hit by a powerboat, and 1 of them was killed. We have to move cautiously up the river to where we hope to anchor and are thankful that the weekend is coming to an end, and the waterway will be calmer during the week.

CT River Take Off

We have decided to travel upriver about 10 miles and drop the anchor for a few nights. The trip is very scenic; passing tidal marsh lands, the historic town of Essex, with hills of varying elevations bordering the river all make for lots to see.

Our anchorage ends up across the river from Gillette Castle State Park. We visited the park last year as part of a land adventure and had the opportunity to tour Gillette's home (the castle). At the time we remarked about the wonderful view of the river valley and surrounding Seven Sisters hills from the castle, and now we see that the view looking up from the river is just as beautiful. There are big boulders and interesting rock formations rising up from the river's edge. Many species of hardwood trees densely cover the slopes, and it is easy to see why the river is crowded during the fall foliage season.

Gillette's Castle

We can also see the Chester-Hadlyme ferry going back and forth continually across the river. A ferry has been in operation here since the Revolutionary days, and this one ferry boat that, for $3, will take you and your car across the river, has been operating since 1947. The tiny ferry landing is quaint picturesque New England to the max, complete with picket fence and garden flowers.

Ferry Docking

Ferry Landing

The Becky Thatcher replica tour boat passes a few times a day. One evening, after tour hours were over, we watched the crew undergoing on water safety drill tests: man over board, broken bones, fire, and heart attack. Water based emergency services boats assisted, so there was lots of activity.

Looking for Tom Sawyer

Several times a day an old steam locomotive, a narrow gauge tour train from Essex, slowly passes by on shore, tooting its horn and blowing up a steady stream of steam. We can see people sitting on the little train through the open windows. It is so quaint New England!

The Essex Steam Tour Train

On one dinghy trip to shore we have to pass under the railroad tracks, and the people on the train wave to us as they pass over the little creek. We continue up the creek, passing under the Rt 154 (old Rt.9) overpass to where we land the dinghy ashore near Chester to tour the town. Finding a place to land the dinghy can be a real challenge in some locations. Marinas don't take kindly to using their dock space if you don't rent a slip from them, and a lot of towns can't afford to provide public dock space. We decide to walk over to Deep River to have lunch at the Whistle Stop Cafe, a wonderful place we found last year on our land tour. We walked the 2 country miles only to find out the place was closed on Tuesdays! Oh well, we needed the exercise anyway, but I wasn't happy catching poison ivy on the way.

Chester Dinghy Landing

We take a dinghy ride on Selden Creek which circles Selden Neck State Park, an island park adjacent to the Connecticut River. Selden Creek is narrow, but deep, with high hills and cliffs on the sides, so some boats go up the creek to get out of the river traffic and enjoy the quiet, isolated wilderness. During the Revolutionary days, Selden Creek was used as a place for for boats to hide from British raiding parties. No musket fire on our trip, just lots of birds and a doe with two fawns. Thank you, Mother Nature.

Pickerelweed

We kayak up Whalebone Creek with its entrance marked by a gigantic overhanging towering boulder. Paddling through twisting channels with tree-lined banks out into open marsh, we see traps set for Alligator Snapping turtles. One trap has a large turtle in it, future soup no doubt. We packed a picnic lunch with the hopes of being able to make landfall, but the headwaters wind up in shallows of private property, so we have to settle for sitting in the shady area of a big tree over a mud flat. The tough life of full-time cruisers!

Whalebone Creek Entrance

Kayak Lunch

On July 26, 0900, we dinghied over to the ferry landing area park and picked up my brother, sister-in-law, her sister, and a friend for a day cruise to our mooring destination at Old Lyme Marina. It was the first time we had guests aboard for an on-the-water cruise, and it was the perfect day. Instead of immediately heading south to the marina, we headed north so everyone could see the Gillette Castle state park lands and fully restored Victorian Goodspeed Opera House along the East Haddam shore. By the time we made it to our marina mooring the bread that had been baking all morning was done and we had lunch aboard. Everyone volunteered for future crew duties!

Goodspeed Opera House

Old Lyme Marina, Old Lyme Connecticut
July 26 – August 12, 2007

We're back at the same place we stayed last year where we were hit by another moored boat. We didn't think they would even let us come back, but they welcomed us like nothing happened. That is, except they put us on the very end of the mooring field (closer to the I-95 bridge overpass which makes FLUKE really dirty) and moved other boats away from us which makes us and them sleep better at night. At least we really aren't carrying the plague!

This marina makes life comfortable for us. We can walk to stores, the post office, a park, and have easy access to land the dinghy at the marina dock whenever we want. Plus, we have found WiFi connections that are available when FLUKE is in most positions. Like last year, my brother has given us his truck to use, so we aren't just restricted to getting things done by foot or bike. Even Ursa likes it since she can get regular walks on land. This is the area where we have all made arrangements to rendezvous with family and friends.

While we are attending a cookout feast at my niece's house in Waterford, Eddie strikes up a conversation with her step father-in-law (Bob) about working in the shipyard in years past. Eddie tells a story about one of his old buddies owning a creamery, and Bob said his cousin had one too. Turns out that his cousin was Eddie's buddy (Dickie), and we were planning on driving to Dickie's home in Franklin, CT to visit with him and his wife Sylvia. Small world syndrome! While we are there, another one of Eddie's ex work buddies, Cosmo, makes a surprise visit. Since he is interested in Eddie's new lifestyle we invite him and his wife, Gerry, to visit for lunch and take a FLUKE tour.

More boat guests included our friends Carole and Walter who have a home in Smithfield, RI and a home in our Vero Beach neighborhood where they reside in the winter months. They drove down for a late afternoon, early dinner, gabfest. A couple of women, Fern and Judy, who Eddie went to grade school with, and who still live in Old Lyme, came out to see Eddie's new “crib”.

Our friends, Carroll and Joan, former Vero Beach neighbors, ex-cruisers, and now current residents of the beautiful town of Old Saybrook right across the river from us, joined us on board for dinner. Then we made a follow-up visit to their home on North Cove to see all the work they had done to their historic home, including the addition of a 3 seasons room, since our visit last year. We admire their attention to detail and quality.

We had our first overnight guests, Kathy and Joe, who drove down from their Hewitt, NJ home. Since it was a beautiful day we dropped the mooring line and headed north again on the CT River to show them the waterway sights. Despite being long-time friends and avid blog followers it was the first time they had seen FLUKE, so we were so glad they could finally meet up with us and get a good feel for our new lifestyle.

Joe, Eddie, Kathy, Carol, Wayne

Our nature interests don't wane just because we are in “civilization”. The marina's resident osprey family fledged 3 offspring this year (last year we only saw 2). They grow up so fast: when we first arrived the parents were still feeding them, despite their large size, and by the time we left, they were flying and catching their own food. We have seen hundreds of osprey and their nests (they love raising their families on the channel markers!) as we travel northward; their ages are related to how far south they are, with those farther south being the most mature.

Fledgling Ospreys

The low tide brings forth a mud flat right next to us where geese, cormorants, gulls, wading birds of various sorts, and even vultures stop to preen. It is amazing how many feathers are in the water floating by us with the outgoing tide; it is like someone had a pillow fight. The area's top birding experience for me was getting to watch a pair of Baltimore Orioles picking caterpillars out of a tree on shore; their brilliant sunshine yellow and jet black plumage was in such vivid contrast to the chartreuse foliage.

One morning we take a kayak adventure out to the tidal marshes on the north side of the mouth of the CT River. The CT River is the third largest river on the east coast of the US. Because the area has always been dominated by shifting sands, shoaling, and extensive marshes no major port development for shipping ever established itself at the mouth of the river. So it still remains today as an important coastal estuary system to support the myriad of organisms of the lower part of the food chain for the CT River habitat.

Purple Loosestrife and Swamp Rose Mallow

However, the habitat is being altered by the invasion of the common reed plant called Phragmites. This exotic species, whose growth is encouraged by marsh disturbances and fresh water runoff, crowds out the native marsh grasses, reducing the species diversity necessary to support wetland animals. It makes kayaking through the area boring since the plants are so tall we can't see over them in a lot of places.

Lost in Phragmites

We pass by an interesting riverfront estate property. The owner bought these lovely Clydesdale horses from a local beer distributor. Instead of hauling the beer wagon they now look out over the Connecticut River every day and can be seen by travelers on I-95. He even moves them around periodically!

Low Maintenance Horses

One of our favorite walks takes us along a small stretch of busy RT 156 to an abandoned road that leads to Bridge Head Park. It is the site of the old bridges that crossed the CT River and where I-95 now crosses the river. Park plaques give past bridges information and some geological history of the area, including the interesting factoid that the area was once covered in glacial ice 1 mile thick! This walk has let us see coyote, chipmunks, deer, turkeys, and pick wild raspberries for our breakfast cereal. It is also where I managed to get more poison ivy. Everything has a price, I guess.

Breakfast Treats