The beautiful waters of Connecticut

We left Mamaroneck after breakfast on Tuesday for a long 81-mile run to Saybrook on the Connecticut River. The Sound had calmed down and was very pleasant. We were able to speed along at 20 miles-per-hour through the very center of Long Island Sound. At the mid-point of the sound you can see both the north and south shore, but they are a long way away. This is a big body of water.



We pulled into a really nice Marina that is attached to the Saybrook Point Inn. We refueled and were tied up in our slip by 1:00. We watched the crazy Yankees swim in the outdoor pool (air temperature 58 degrees) as we made our way to the indoor hot tub. We walked around and found the town cemetery with headstones from the early 1700s. Early English and Dutch settlers built a fortress here to protect the very navigable Connecticut River. The CMO treed many squirrels while Linda and I read old headstones.

On Wednesday morning, Linda wanted to make good use of the resort's fitness center. We pulled away about 10:40 for our short 29 mile trip to Mystic. We had two low bridges to get under in the town of Mystic -- a railroad swing bridge and a highway bascule bridge. The railroad bridge has lots of commuter trains running over it and the highway bridge only opens at 40 minutes past the hour. So we slowed way down in an attempt to time it just right. We almost blew it because the rail bridge was held closed for a train. But the highway bridge tender took pity on us and delayed his opening a few minutes to let us get up to his bridge and pass under with a sailboat that was waiting. Thankfully, the two bridges are very close to each other.



So, at 12:50 we were under the bridge and idling up the tiny little Mystic River passing the tall ships that were on display or being repaired in the Mystic Seaport Museum shipyard. I radioed the dockmaster and couldn't believe my eyes when he directed us to a dock right in the middle of the Museum grounds. We were so close to everything that he gave us a sign to post on the boat asking museum visitors not to board our boat! We felt like one of the displays and the CMO enjoyed showing off for all the school kids that were touring the museum.






We were in candy land for boaters. You can walk through the historic vessels and enjoy the many exhibits and displays about whaling and boating in the 1800s. We were very surprised (and delighted) about the hands-on attitude of the place. Children were allowed to pump the bellows for the blacksmith and climb the rat lines of the old ships. In other venues, we've gotten so used to the "nanny state" not letting anyone get close to anything.












There was so much to see and absorb that we stayed for two days. We walked into town and saw "Mystic Pizza" where Julia Roberts made her first film. On the second day, a spectacular 70-foot custom sailboat pulled up next to us. It was one of the trustees of the Mystic Seaport Museum arriving for a board meeting. We enjoyed telling him how impressed we were with the hands-on attitude. He said they really work on that aspect of the experience. Linda and I vowed to bring our grandchildren here as soon as they are old enough to "get it."









On Friday morning we left the dock in time to make the 9:40 bridge opening. We were the only boat going under. As we got within 10 feet of passing under, the bridge tender blew his horn frantically and called us on the radio asking us to back up. I did and we saw a fire truck that needed to get across the bridge. What a way to start our 44 mile trip to Newport!

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