New London, Connecticut

Last night, while tranquilly moored in North Cove, we had an earlier than usual dinner and then played a card game, Phase 10, which most of us enjoyed. Shortly after we all retired for the night, light rain began to beat out a soft tattoo on the deck. It was still raining when we arose. There was no perceptible wind, so we dropped the mooring ball around 10 a.m. when the rain let up and motored out into Long Island Sound. When there is no wind for propulsion, the other natural means is current and we left in time to use the outflowing current to our advantage, boosting the speed provided by the engine. 

Gloomy skies at Old Saybrook

Old Saybrook Outer Light

We arrived at 1 p.m. at New London, Connecticut, which was the second largest whaling port (after Bedford) in the U.S. in the late 1700s and the first seven decades of the 1800s. We docked at the Waterfront Park Marina, a small floating dock with only one other boat tied up. We have been surprised in the last month by how few yachts we have seen anchored, moored or docked in the northern Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound and how few tourists there have been in the towns we have visited along Long Island Sound. 

After getting all our dock lines secured, we set off to explore the downtown area. Directly across from the dock is New London Union Station, opened in 1887 and designed by famed American architect Henry Hobson Richardson. Across the street from the station is a plaza with the Nathan Hale Schoolhouse, the Whale Tail Sculpture Fountain and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument. Nathan Hale taught in the one room schoolhouse in 1774 to 1775, when he enlisted and served General Washington as a spy. He was captured and hanged by the British in New York City in September 1776. Purportedly, his last words were: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

Union Station in New London and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Nathan Hale Schoolhouse

Whale Tail Sculpture Fountain

Bank Street and intersecting State Street are the main roads for restaurants and shops, although there are a lot of vacant storefronts. There are many historic buildings and some lovely murals. Hungry, we chose Muddy Waters Cafe for lunch; the desserts and pastries looked amazing, and Susan could not resist pecan pie (which she shared with Rob and Peter). We had soup and sandwiches, all of which were delicious. 

Mural on the side of a historic building, circa 1844

Bulkeley House on Bank Street

Mural on Eugene O'Neill Drive

After lunch, we visited the Custom House Maritime Museum on Bank Street, arriving just in time for a tour of the rooms. Two men were working (or probably volunteering) at the museum. The one who led our tour was well-informed and engaging. In the foyer was a display of early diving equipment and models of two sister submarines which were built in the area, one of which sunk to the bottom when the aft chamber filled with water while performing exercises. The sister ship responded to the calamity and, with diving equipment like that on display, rescued 33 of the sailors. Both subs were deployed in the Pacific in WWII. The sister ship who had responded to the sinking was captured by the Japanese and while the U.S. sailors were on board a Japanese ship being taken to land as prisoners, that Japanese ship was sunk by the sister sub. Quite ironic!

Another room, along with artifacts from the whaling industry, has models of three lighthouses, a Fresnel lens from one of them, displays on the U.S. Revenue Service (established in 1863) and also displays on the U.S. Lifesaving Service (which evolved into an official agency from volunteer rescue organizations along the East Coast). The Revenue Cutter Service and the Lifesaving Service were consolidated by Congress in 1915 to create the U.S. Coast Guard in 1915; the Lighthouse Service was incorporated into the Coast Guard in 1939. 

A large upstairs room focuses on the story of the La Amistad. This ship became renowned in July 1839 for a slave revolt by Mende captives off the coast of Cuba. These 53 captives, including 4 children, had been purchased in Havana by two Spanish plantation owners, José Ruiz and Don Pedro Montes, and were being transported to the south side of the island. On the third day of the voyage, the Mende captives revolted, killing the captain and the cook but sparing the lives of the two plantation owners because they needed them to navigate. The Mendes instructed them to sail toward the rising sun, which Ruiz and Montes did during daylight hours while sailing north at night. The revenue cutter Washington seized La Amistad, off the eastern point of Long Island. The ship was towed to New London. Lawsuits were filed by abolitionists on the Mende captives' behalf. The case finally went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 1841 that the captives were free men based on natural law. The United Missionary Society raised funds and 35 of the survivors were returned to Africa in 1842.

After being regaled with local lore by the other guide (According to him, playwright Eugene O'Neill was known as the town drunk before becoming famous for his dramas.), Peter and I set off on a walk to Fort Trumbull. Rob and Susan had already went off our their own to explore the town. The fortress is the third on the site; the original one was constructed in 1777. The current stone structure was built between 1839 and 1852. The original fort was captured during the American Revolution by British troops led by the traitor Benedict Arnold. During the Civil War, it was a place to train recruits into the Union Army. It served as the first site of the U.S. Coast Guard (or, more precisely the Revenue Cutter Service, then the Coast Guard) from 1910 to 1932, when the academy was relocated to a newly built facility upstream on the Thames. During WWII, it was the base for research and development of passive sonar systems and after the war it housed the Naval Underwater Sound Laboratory until 1970.

Barracks and officers' housing, Fort Trumbull

Fort Trumbull

Peter returned to the boat for a cup of tea around 6:30 p.m. and I explored along State Street. I found an older building built in the 1770s as well as a large church and public buildings. We all had dinner on the boat. Peter had a village board meeting on Zoom at 8:45 p.m. and I chose to stay aboard and write a post while Susan and Rob went back to Bank Street for a drink. A local artist-in-residence made a wonderful pencil sketch of them and gave it to them. What a great souvenir!

City Hall, built in 1856

First Congregational Church, built in 1850

House on State Street from the 1770s

Although the gray skies had cleared by mid-afternoon to reveal a blazing blue sky, by sunset a misty fog was lowering over the river banks and the chill has returned. Peter and I have humorously suggested the Rob and Susan brought British weather with them.

Misty fog over the Thames