We departed Brewers Sterling Harbor marina at about 0830, and headed eastward out the channel, across Gardners Bay, and out Plum Gut. While it was hazy in Greenport, the visibility quickly deteriorated. The visibility quickly dropped from 1/2mi, to 1/4, to 1/8, to about 500 feet or less.
Plum Gut is the deepwater pass between a shoal area, complete with lighthouse marking the shoal off Orient Island, and Plum Island. The current is funneled into the cut, making for interesting tide rips from the current. I was not watching tide rips this morning, however, as I was a little busy tracking a dozen different radar targets with AIS (automated identification system) and ARPA (automated radar plotting aid). With GPS, chart plotters, day time screens, and radar overlay, navigation has gotten so much simpler than it used to be!
Unfortunately, it used to be that when it was foggy, you didn't have a lot of recreational boats on the water, and that has changed with the sophistication of electronics. I think a lot of folks have some of the equipment on their boat now, but, aren't real sure how to use it.
After we got away from the concentrated traffic around Plum Gut, the radar targets thinned, though the fog did not until we were approaching New London.
We went to the gorgeous floating municipal docks at New London, with nice power pedestals, and there were no boats at the dock. There were no boats on the municipal moorings. We had been told there is free docking for 4 hrs to see the town, but a phone call to the posted number said there was no one in the office for another couple of weeks. We slid into the dock, and I walked off the pier to investigate. The local clientele sat watching the vessel, and I decided it wasn't a place that I wanted to leave the vessel unattended when we were the only ones around. It is really a shame, since the facilities are so nice! Had other boaters been around, we might have perceived it differently.
We continued up the Thames River, and passed the United States Coast Guard Academy on the west side of the river. We continued up to the New London Submarine Base, where we had reservations at an MWR (military) facility.
In the afternoon we walked a mile and a half to the other end of the base, where the NEX and Commissary are. The walk is interesting. Thee roads around the Naval Submarine School are all named after sunken submarines. The sub name, number lost, and date are on each of the road signs. It is pretty sobering.
There were historic guns, and torpedoes, and a Japanese mini sub on display near the school. Walking back from the store, pulling a loaded wagon, gave me adequate reason to pause to read every plaque. Going up the hills to get back to the boat, I even stopped to look at bugs, flowers, the view, or any excuse I could think of. I didn't stop for any reason as the heavily loaded wagon chased me down the hills. Once Ellen grabbed the back of the wagon to keep me from getting ticketed in the 15mph speed zone as we careened down the hill to the marina.
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