Niantic, CT

We awoke to a beautiful, sunny day on Monday, June 30. We took Archie for a nice walk along the length of the beautiful Milford green. When we returned I did a load of laundry in the convenient facilities that were part of our marina (only $1 per load). After Jonny washed down Zendo, he invited a couple who were cruising south to come aboard. They had an interesting vintage picnic boat that they were taking to the Chesapeake. As he often does, Jonny helpfully shared with them some of the apps he uses for weather and navigation. They were very appreciative.

We left Milford at 10 bound for a mooring in Niantic that is owned by our boating friends, Bill and Joan Volmar.  They were very helpful to us on a past trip and continue to be so on this one. Our plan was to leave Zendo there for a few days while we rent a car to drive to Vermont to visit our friends Peter and Paula Zimmer.  It was a beautiful day for a long passage up the Connecticut coast and we arrived in Niantic by 4:30. We had a little challenge finding the mooring ball but we finally did so. Then we had another challenge figuring out where we could take Archie onto land because the waterfront was lined with private homes. 

We finally found a rocky beach which returned out to be a bird sanctuary! It was very pretty and almost deserted with only one family enjoying it with us. 

We’re having difficulty with the dinghy engine and we planned to leave it for repairs while we go to Vermont.  However, the dinghy ride to a place where we could leave it tied up for a few days was at least a couple of miles away and we didn’t feel comfortable taking it that far without a problem. The last time we left Zendo in Niantic on anchor, the place where we left the dinghy was much closer to a dock. We mentioned our concern to Bill who owns the mooring and he offered to loan us his electric outboard but even that arrangement had its challenges. 

That evening we concentrated on consuming our leftovers for dinner so we could leave the refrigerator without too much food since we would be away. We decided to delay our decision on where to leave Zendo until the next day.