Niantic, CT return trip

We went up for a light breakfast to say our goodbyes to everyone on Wednesday July 16, the last day of the Rendezvous.  We had to move Zendo from the dock to a nearby anchorage because a large number of boats were expected to come to the marina that day.  We were delaying our departure from Mystic because we had plans to have lunch with our friends Susan and Ralph (Susan is another childhood friend of mine from Fairfield).

At 11:15 we rowed the dinghy into the Seaport dinghy dock and met Susan and Ralph who had come in from Westerly, RI where they had recently moved from Connecticut. They drove us to a waterfront restaurant called Red 34 where we had a delicious lunch and caught up with each other’s lives. We always enjoy seeing them and encouraged them to visit us in Philadelphia.

Returning to Zendo in time to catch the 1:40 bridge opening leaving Mystic and we were off.

 Our destination was an anchorage in Niantic where we have stayed in the past. It is close to the shop that is repairing our outboard. We were hoping to pick it up and continue our westward passage back to Delaware City.  We arrived at 4:00 and dropped the hook in a calm bay surrounded by attractive waterfront homes. We know a couple who have a dock that they graciously allow us to use to dock our dinghy while we’re there.

The next day and a half proved to be pretty frustrating especially for Jonny. The repair shop had not even started to repair our outboard with its pesky oil leak until that day even though they had it for over a week. Jonny was really upset especially when he learned that they were unable to determine the exact problem and would need more time. We need to continue moving and can’t afford to wait longer with no guarantees about when it will be operational. 

In the meantime, there was nothing we could do so we spent the day relaxing and reading.  Jonny was recovering from a stomach bug so this reprieve gave him time to get better.  Of course, Archie provided comfort in his time of need!

The next morning we awoke to dense fog.

Rain had been predicted but the days were actually quite nice and not too hot. We spent some time on the foredeck after dinner watching the sunset on a balmy evening.

Mystic, CT

We took our time leaving our peaceful anchorage on Fishers Island on Sunday, July 13 and by 10:30 we pulled up anchor and took off for Mystic. It was a foggy morning which was one of the reasons we left a little later - to let the fog burn off.  This was another relatively short cruise and we arrived in Mystic by noon. Mystic is a beautiful town with lovely homes lining the shore.

We had to wait for a couple of bridges to open to arrive at the Seaport.

The MTOA Northeast Rendezvous was taking place at Mystic Seaport which is a fascinating place, an excellent recreation of a historic whaling village. We tied up at the marina which is actually inside the Seaport. This area is a major sailing and boating center filled with boats of all shapes and sizes.

Our group consisted of 60 people and 25 boats. We enjoyed three days of fun activities and interesting experiences.  The first night started off with docktails and apps on the dock followed by an excellent pot luck dinner.  On Monday morning there was a pancake breakfast and Jonny and I volunteered to be cooks. That day we also went to a private planetarium show at the seaport followed by a guided tour of the L.A. Dutton, a fishing schooner built in 1921 that is undergoing restoration. There are several of these historic boats at the Seaport.

Mystic Seaport is lined with several shops that recreate the services provided to seafarers of the past including a cooperage (barrel maker), a print shop, a drug store, a general store, a bank, and of course, a tavern. Many of them have guides who explain how things were done back then.

After another evening of docktails and apps, we went to dinner with a group of friends at AJ’s, an Italian restaurant.

On Tuesday, we had an interesting presentation by Bruce Lemkin, a retired US Navy Captain who shared his experiences commanding a nuclear powered submarine. Afterwards we visited the Mystic Aquarium which was fascinating, but extremely crowded with families and school groups on this hot summer day. We saw seals, beluga whales, penguins and lots of interesting sea creatures.

I was particularly fascinated by the amazing array of jelly fish, some of which were truly psychedelic!

We all had lunch vouchers for Mango’s, a delicious pizza restaurant, which was hopping but worth the wait. We sat with our friends Liz and Steve who we always love seeing. They drove all the way down from upstate NY where their boat is docked just to be here.

That evening we had an awards dinner followed by dancing to a fun band called Jen and Tonic that played all the favorite dance tunes of our youth. The next day everyone would be departing after breakfast. This group of MTOA members came from as far away as Florida and the Midwest, but most live and cruise along the beautiful coastline of New England. This is definitely one of our favorite cruising grounds and we love having friends like these throughout the region!

Fishers Island East, NY

We walked all through the charming village of Noank on Saturday morning, July 12 passing by some rather historical buildings. 

Stopping at the very quaint Carson’s Store, we got a real taste of the local scene.



That morning we went back and forth trying to decide whether we should stay at our mooring in Noank or take a quick trip back over to Fishers Island and explore the east end of it. Always game to try something new, we decided to head over there. We sent our thanks to our mooring host and headed over to Fishers Island at 2:30.

A quick 40 minutes later we arrived at the lovely bay on the east and more exclusive end of the island. As expected, there were quite a few boats anchored on a beautiful summer weekend but we knew most of them were day trippers and would be gone before dark.  We anchored on the perimeter of the area and planned to move later that afternoon so we could be closer to shore. Jonny is still having to row Archie in because our outboard is in the shop for repairs. 

Later that afternoon, after moving Zendo closer in, Jonny rowed Archie in for a walk. There was a small beach where he could pull up but the surrounding area was private and inaccessible.

In the meantime, I made dinner and when they returned we relaxed on board.  It was a lovely evening and we were in a beautiful and tranquil setting so we were happy with our decision to come here.  We knew we were going to be very busy the next few days because we would be in Mystic for the MTOA Rendezvous with lots of other people and a wide array of scheduled activities (quite different from our usual routine)!

Noank, CT

I took advantage of being at a marina on Friday, July 11 and did laundry while Jonny walked Archie. They found a beautiful waterfall but neglected to take a photo. But here is a cute photo of Archie instead!

Our plan for the day was to stay on a mooring in Noank at the home of a friend and sailing buddy of Michael Bracken’s. We took off from Norwich at 11:30 on a sunny day but as we cruised down the Thames River, it became very windy and quite chilly. There were white caps on the river and we were concerned that the Sound would be quite rough. It turned out that the Sound was calm and we think the rough water on the river was due to a wind tunnel effect.  

We stopped for lunch at a mooring across from the UConn branch at Avery Point.  The building in the photo below was the Plant mansion and is now part of the university. 

After lunch, we had a quick one hour cruise and took another mooring at Steve Stollman’s home, our acquaintance from Key Biscayne who has a waterfront home in Noank.  Jonny rowed us up to his dock.

We saw Steve working on a project in his yard. His historic home was built in 1754!

After chatting with Steve, we strolled through the charming Village of Noank, part of the Town of Groton.  The village is filled with lovely, old, well-kept homes with beautiful gardens.

Steve invited us to return for a drink but it was getting late and we wanted to get back to Zendo. I made sausage and peppers and a salad for dinner and we watched a couple of episodes of Shameless which had been recommended to us. It was indeed, shameless!

Norwich, CT

We awoke to a cloudy, rainy day in New London on Thursday, July 10 but fortunately the rain let up in time for us to go ashore.  We were meeting Sandy, a good friend of Cathy Mallove (Jonny’s cousin) for breakfast at Muddy Waters Cade. Jonny has his grandmother’s wedding ring that his mother, Janice, wanted Cathy to have since they were very close.  Cathy lives in Toronto and rather than mail it to her, we are bringing it to Sandy because she, Cathy and their group of girlfriends are vacationing together in Block Island next week.

Sandy has a dog that looks a lot like Archie (Cocoa is a doodle, Archie is a Cockapoo). The dogs look like kissing cousins but they mostly ignored each other! But we had a nice time over breakfast chatting about New London and the various acquaintances of Jonny and Sandy.

Walking back to Zendo we passed some of New London’s interesting landmarks.

Our plan for the day was to cruise up the Thames River to Norwich. Jonny had never been there by boat even though it’s a short distance from New London and I think I’ve only been there once or twice in my life. We left New London at 11:50 for a pleasant cruise up the river.  We passed Windscilla, a wind farm installation vehicle that was on a huge scaffolding structure. It looked like an oil rig because it has to drive the wind turbine deep into the ocean floor. 

We also passed the Coast Guard Academy and the US Submarine base with the Nautilus docked by the shore.

Interestingly, both Harvard and Yale have boat houses on the shore for their annual crew races.

The river was an interesting mix of bucolic scenery, academies and industry.

This impressive building is the Mohegan Sun casino.

We entered Norwich Harbor and arrived at the Marina at American Wharf by 1:40.  

The marina has recently been totally renovated. We were pleasantly surprised by how attractive and efficient it was. The marina staff greeted us and helped us tie up on a T dock. The grounds were very attractive, so much so that they were in the process of setting up for a wedding that would be held under a tent overlooking the marina on the weekend. 

We went to the equally attractive restaurant and brew pub on the grounds and had a beer and some nibbles.

The Norwich area is the home of two significant casinos that are owned and managed by two different Native American tribes. Foxwood is owned by the Pequot tribe and Mohegan is owned by the Mohegans. We had never been to either of them, probably because we’re really not into gambling. Mohegan Sun was very close and the marina provided transportation so we decided to go. What an amazing facility it is! It is creatively decorated with a Native American theme, but everything is “over the top” with a large waterfall in the atrium, a huge Dale Chihuly glass sculpture, Native American art and sculptures, four thousand slot machines and other gaming options, and scores of bars, restaurants and shops. Pretty amazing!

We soon learned there were no happy hours so we decided to have dinner at Michael Jordan’s Sports Bar. We split a delicious order of their special fried chicken dinner with all the fixings and a Caesar salad.  After dinner we walked around the casino and I pretended to try my hand at one of the slot machines.

Having gotten our fill of the casino experience we headed to the door, surprised to see that it was still light outside. Being in the casino feels like nighttime all the time! We got an Uber back to the marina and spent the rest of the evening relaxing aboard Zendo.