Groton, Connecticut
25 September 2008
• Groton, Connecticut
by Mike
Groton, Connecticut
24 September 2008
41 21.418'N : 070 05.120'W
Day dawns on a beautiful, albeit chilly in the shade, morning. We got up about the same time that one of the other boats on the dock was getting ready to head out for a morning of conch fishing. Funny, I never thought that these would survive this far north. I had always pictured them as a tropical sort of shellfish, but nope. They thrive up here and are caught in the same sort of trap that we would use (illegally) for hand trapping lobsters. They use horseshoe crab as bait! Another tropical sort of shellfish. Our new friend and host Jim was heading out as crew on this boat and he promised to bring us back some conch to try. Hmmmm! Another taste sensation from this trip.
After giving Peri his shoretime, Barb and I went up to a small cafe that she found last night when going ashore with him. The Pearl of the Thames is a breakfast and lunch sort of place that she invited me to have breakfast at. This place also gets the tip of the Turney topper in approval. They make a French Toast from Portuguese sweetbread and it is waaaaaaaay to much for one person to eat although really good! We also found a deli and Quicky Mart just up the road as well as a NAPA Parts store. All very handy.
I have finally fixed, or at least temporarily fixed, the propane leak. We had suspected that there was a pinhole in the pipe leading from the main line to the aft heater and now we know for sure. I decided that since we were heading south for the winter, I really didn't need the aft heater. After all I had both Barb and Peri and even sometime Al in bed with me and each of them is a wee furnace, so my quick solution was to simply cap the line back where it split off from the main pipe. Later, when we are alongside for more than a day I can run some new piping.
Barb has made a friend in the owner operator of the place we stopped for breakfast. Somehow she convinced him to do the grocery shopping for her and when they were delivered they came with flowers!
We spent another good portion of the day exploring the town of Groton. Very interesting place with General Dynamics where they built a lot of the US sub fleet dominating the waterfront. Unfortunately there is not much work for them these days and the town has gone into a decline which is very unfortunate since it is a really nice place. We visited Fort Griswald which was the site of one of the more infamous adventures of the American War of Independence. On the way back we stopped off at Ken's Bait and Tackle shop and spoke at length with Dottie the owner and proprietor. At the end of the conversations I had purchased a salt water rod and reel with something to catch bluefish or striped bass for about $75. At home this would have cost me 10 times as much.
We're not sure what we will be doing over the next couple of days as the weather forecast is not too promising. If we must stay here, this is a great spot to be trapped.
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