Marina at American Wharf on Thames River in Norwich, CT

[RobS]

Anyone been to the Marina at American Wharf on the Thames River in New London CT? Someone I had met in Essex was heading there for his next stop and said all good things about it....

Here's the link - Any feedback is appreciated. Considering a Sept or Oct trip there.

http://www.americanwharf.com/

[jleonard]

Only been to the town dock next door for a few short stays.

It's a nice trip but.....
Stay in the channel in the Thames River.
Follow the bends of the river rather than going directly from bouy to bouy if you know what I mean. There is an old stone wall that borders the channel in a few places that can be very unkind to those who wander.

Also...do not be surprised if a small Navy or CG vessel (with a mounted machine gun) "dogs" you as you gently motor past the sub base. Maintain your distance from the subs, your speed and course and they will stop once you clear the base.
It's been 3 years since I've been up that way so I am not positive they are still being that active on the river. We used to do it every fall as a nice foliage run.

[RobS]

J, I was hoping you'd have some feedback on this one. I've seen those CG boats with the machine guns quite a few times, I seem to notice them when I'm on the Orient Pt New London ferry.

I was thinking of doing a foilage run next month.

So no playing connect the red and green dots...
water
rocks

[jleonard]

J, I was hoping you'd have some feedback on this one.

Anchorages and the cruising area I know.
Marinas not very much...I'm too "frugal" (ok cheap) to pay for dockage except for rare occasions.
(We actually prefer to anchor)

I think the stone wall is shown on the chart but it is not made obvious (that's from memory..no chart handy to verify)

[Mariner]

We have a similar situation at Sub Base Bangor here on Hood Canal. It's a long, relatively narrow waterway with the sub base on one side and virtually no commercial and minimal recreational traffic. I haven't been by there in a boat, but my friend who is a navigator on the USS Ohio said that so long as you steer clear of them, maintain a slow speed and steady course, you're fine, even if you do cut through the exclusion zone.

[RobS]

I don't know about you trawler folks but my 28 can out run these guys...

[jcollins]

I don't know about you trawler folks but my 28 can out run these guys...

How fast do those bullets go?

[jleonard]

I don't know about you trawler folks but my 28 can out run these guys

If they were in a hot air baloon on a calm day I "might" have a chance.

[Grendel]

Ah the Thames river! The beautiful sprawl of the USCG Academy campus... the dry docks of General Dynamics and the collosal submarines under construction! The comings and goings of the Block Isalnd ferry... the home of one of the prettiest lighthouses I know of, ledge light...

Also the stink of the Phizer plant. Yeah, that part leaves a little something to be desired.

At any rate, this was the playground of my childhood, and my wanderings here were done on a 12' MK II Futura Zodiac with 30 HP Mariner. What posessed my father to put me alone at the helm of this little red monster is beyond me, but thank God he did! I loved every second of it. Fun as it was, the little red runabout was, shall we say... not the most DISCREET thing in the world. Passengers on the ferry couldn't miss the sight of me leaping off the ferry's wake - engine roaring as the boat left the water.



Current version of the Zodiac MK II Futura - design hasn't changed at all, near as I can tell, since the mid 80s.

And the coast guard crash boat, and the coast guard 41' SAR boat, and the harbor patrol, and well, anyone with a badge and a boat, never seemed to miss it either. It got to the point where I had to laminate the boats' registration / paperwork and tape it to the underside of the flip up bow hatch. It ended the same way every time. Life jacket? check. Fire extinguisher? check. Registration? check. grumble grumble grumble..... slow down, son. Be on your way....

So the days of summer unfolded year after year, with me slowly cruising past the docks of the naval base, past the glowering eyes of Marines and their AR-15s, and not so slowly hammering through ferry wakes. The Thames was home.

As for outrunning the crash boats, I'm IMPRESSED that you could do it in a 28, or , for that matter, in anything. Those RIBs with twin outboards can really hustle.

How fast do those bullets go?

According USCG info on the web, some of the jet drive RHIBs can clip around close to 40 knots.

Cool as those are, It's the Coast Guard's NEWEST toy that really tickles me. Have a look at this "Response Boat - Medium". My old man (another AlbinOwners member) was USCG reserve here at Coast Guard Station Groton / New london for about 13 years, running 31' patrol craft, and more frequently the old 40' (not 41') SAR boats. If memory serves, Dad, it was hull 40448. Needless to say, I was really tickled to shoot this link over to my old man and say, "hey Pops... take a gander at THIS.. imagine what it would be like to do service in eastern long island sound in THIS thing".

http://www.responseboatproject.net/default.aspx



I would strongly reccomend against trying to outrun anything that can do a 180 degree turn at 30 knots. Twin VECTORED jet drives rated around 1600 HP. OOF.

Back to the question at hand, cruising north under the bridge past the Nautilus and the sub base shouldn't draw much unwanted attention, provided you're not weaving around, throwing a huge wake and / or beer cans. The channel is unusually deep (as you might expect, to accomodate the subs) but outside the channel, it drops off quickly to I think around 8-12 feet in places. Don't wander. As for the American Wharf Marina, there were a couple of occasions where we brought our trawler (at that time, a 38' Ocean Nova) up the river to American Wharf to hide from a hurricane, and as a hurricane hole, American Wharf is as good as any. Well protected with hills on both sides, and I seem to recall that the docks were relatively new and sturdy - and of course, in the fall, the foliage is really, really beautiful.

Hope nobody minds my rediculous ramblings.

Fun and safe boating!

[RobS]

provided you're not weaving around, throwing a huge wake and / or beer cans.

not a problem, not a problem, might be a problem

Hope nobody minds my rediculous ramblings.

Absolutely not - great story - keep 'em coming, thanks for the feedback

[jleonard]

Hope nobody minds my rediculous ramblings

Stories about boating are NOT ramblings.....

Also the stink of the Phizer plant. Yeah, that part leaves a little something to be desired

Might give the dinghy a hard bottom...
(poor attempt at humor...now THAT could be considered rambling)