Stonington and Mystic our first stop down the coast

We left Newport the day after Labor Day after taking care of some personal business first thing and rode the tide down Narragansett Bay. As we moved down the Bay the wind was building but right behind us.  Although, once we reached the ocean and turned south we could sail it. Near the end of the Bay we pulled out our sails and tacked out into Block Island Sound to get us past Point Judith and then turned southwest to parallel the coast.

With the wind out of the southwest we put in several tacks until the wind died off for a short while. As we began to position for our trip through the Passage the wind came back up stronger than before and we began moving smartly and we shot through the Passage rip with the wind ahead of the beam and the tide behind us running at 9 kts and hitting 10+ a few times. The Passage is 1 of 3 navigable cuts through the old wall that once contained Long Island Sound as a lake before the sea level rose to open it up.  Plum Gut, The Race and The Passage are like many of the cuts in the Bahamas and elsewhere where the current flows fast and strong through narrow and deep cuts in opposite directions when the tide changes. Through those 3 cuts flows all the water in the Long Island basin back and forth to the ocean. Not only is the current challenging, the barriers of the cuts have rocks that will easily puncture a boat unlucky enough to light upon them.

Once through the Passage we headed for Stonington Harbor and began pulling in our sails as we made into the channel and then onto a mooring where we spent 3 nights. Stonington is a quaint and charming town like most o the old New England seaports steeped in history and enjoyable for their iconic buildings and superlative dining opportunities.

After our arrival we took the launch to shore and wandered the streets admiring the buildings and stayed for dinner at the Dogwatch Cafe. Wednesday we thought would be our long day so we took a cab for the short trip over to Mystic. Mystic is famous for being the back story for the movie Mystic Pizza (which was really filmed in Stonington) but more importantly for the Mystic Seaport Museum.
As members of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum we were able to gain members access to the museum and all their features. What an excellent trove of historical artifacts on display to tell the story of the seafaring life of 200 years ago. Mystic like Nantucket was a key driver of economic growth for a young country.

We planned to leave Thursday to head down the CT coast but a cold front moved through with heavy thunderstorms so we stayed put and decided we would head straight for Port Jefferson on Long Island and cut out the extra visit. So between storms we went ashore and walked around visiting the self-service store and buying some local shrimp and scallops for a later meal.

After 3 nights we left to head down the coast again.