Mystic Seaport by boat

Visited the museum by boat last week. We had a great time. If anyone is interested I posted highlights on our blog: mvprivateer.com.

Nice read. I'd love to visit there someday. Is the "classic" a Nathaniel Herreshoff?

Mystic Seaport is a wonderful stop overnight. It isn't cheap, but the price includes seeing all of the Seaport's exhibits. And as I have said before after the tourists and staff leaves you are there by yourself in an almost magical place. It truly feels like you are tied up at a 19th century whaling port.



David

dhmeissner said:

Nice read. I'd love to visit there someday. Is the "classic" a Nathaniel Herreshoff?

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Yep, a Herreshoff

We have been to the seaport many times over the years and could not recommend the trip any stronger for those with kids or those that just want to act like kids.
The Seaport is a great destination unto itself with many exhibits , demonstrations, shows and the like - could not really get thru it in one day myself.
From the seaport we also have a short walk to the shops and that great aquarium - a days worth of activity at either one if you have shoppers or nature lovers in the group. You can also take a taxi to the submarine base at Groton from the seaport - well worth the trip and the day experience for anyone with half a curiosity about the submarines of old and new. As a bonus the restaurants have grown in quantity and quality over the past 20 years offering a lot of choices within walking distance (or dinghy ride) from the seaport.
Wish we were there now....

And for those old enough to remember the movie "Mystic Pizza" the pizza place it was filmed in is still there and making good pizza. The name of the restaurant is oddly enough "Mystic Pizza." https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mystic-pizza-1988

Mystic Pizza - Restaurants and Frozen Foods

Fully agreed, took my 10 and 5 year old there two weeks ago, just as I had done with my parents 30 years ago. Everyone loved it- even in the rain.

A great place to visit, Particularly after closing when the place is all yours. A Must see, don't miss it.

We've been based within Fishers Island Sound for 11 years. An amazing amount of destinations in a relatively small area. New London, CT installed public Moorings and docks and the restaurants and bars on Bank Street are fun. A visit to historic Fort Trumbull in New London is also worth a stop.

Anchorages at either Rams Island or Napatree Beach/Watch Hill, RI are great. A number of restaurants with dock access in Stonington, CT.

Thanks Shrew. We have been based in Newport for a couple of years but just beginning to nose around the area. Lots to see and do within a day of us. New Bedford is next, then Sag Harbor.
The big event coming up here in Newport is the start of the Newport- Bermuda race on Friday. I did the race in 2012 and it was a spinnaker start. My wife was watching from Castle Hill and said it was a spectacular sight when all twelve boats in our start popped chutes approaching the line. I was way too busy to notice.
This year we will both be at Castle Hill watching. After two years on a trawler I dont missed the sailing at all. The other day returning to Newport it was cold, raw, windy and wet. I was warm and cozy in the pilot house, T shirt and shorts, enjoying a cup off coffee while I pushed a couple of buttons on the autopilt. I should have come over to this side sooner. Sorry for wandering off subject.

Sag Harbor is a great town, one of our favorites. An awesome anchorage if you can fit under the highway bridge.
Check out Il Capaccino one of the best Italian restaurants ever.

We love Sag harbor. The Pond is great if you can fit under the bridge AND know how to skirt the sandbar between reds and follow the unmarked channel into the anchorage . Close inspection of charts, depth contours and the depth gauge will get you in. Gotta be low enough to skirt the bridge and the water has to be high enough to skirt the sandbar. (I call it a sandbar, it's really more of a sand 'hump'.

Our problem is it can get HOT back there and the air doesn't always move. We anchor outside the jetty during hot days and will go inside in spring and fall.

Sorry for the hijack.

Shrew said:

Gotta be low enough to skirt the bridge and the water has to be high enough to skirt the sandbar. (I call it a sandbar, it's really more of a sand 'hump'.

Our problem is it can get HOT back there and the air doesn't always move. We anchor outside the jetty during hot days and will go inside in spring and fall.

Sorry for the hijack.

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I can easily make it with a 4 ft draft on a dead low tide.. Done it many times.
Make a 90 degree turn 50/60 feet after the first small red buoy and stay south of the 2 or 3 moorings. Piece of cake.

We did a 29 boat Mainship raftup in there years ago, in the early 2000s. The harbormaster loved it, 2 or 3 taxpayers hated it. LOL

We've been on the Mystic for a couple of decades, and have been members of the seaport longer than that. We dinghy up there all summer, usually spend a few nights at the dock just to experience the seaport at night. There is a dinghy dock in downtown Mystic just south of the highway bridge right where there are many restaurants, ice cream shops, and curio stores. A little farther south on the west side is a small town dock where you can tie up and go to the Daniel Packer Inn. Go to the pub in the basement and order the goat cheese medallion salad. If its morning, walk two blocks north and stop at Sift, an incredible bakery, or across the street at Rise, an awesome but more traditional breakfast diner. Just a touch further south on the east side of the river, but still north of the railroad bridge is Red 36, a relatively new but great restaurant with a wonderful view of Fort Rachel, the marina I stay at. Just south of the restaurant is it's dinghy dock. They have a chocolate creme brulee which is incredible! If you are going to come to Mystic, remember that the swing rail bridge is hailed by locals as "mystic rail" and the bascule bridge just north of the rail bridge is "mystic highway". If you hail either as "mystic bridge" you will be soundly ignored. During the day mystic rail is open unless there is a train coming so don't ask for an open if it's closed. However, if it's open check in with the bridgemaster when you're approaching Brewer's marina to let him know you're coming. The highway bridge opens every hour at the :40. If you ask the highway bridge dumb questions you will be ignored. Check the tides, when the bridge opens boats with the current have right of way. If you attempt to violate this most sacrosanct of rules the bridgemaster will scold you and all the onlookers downtown will mock you. Yup, a lot of us carry portable vhfs. Channel 13 btw. If you don't want to stay at the Seaport (you can also anchor just north of the seaport but watch your depths), call Fort Rachel Marina. I believe it is the best marina on the Mystic. The rail line is a breakwater so it is as flat as a mill pond and you are a short dinghy ride or walk from everything. Oh, and Don the manager and the rest of the guys (and Laura) are amazing.

Worth it to note your arrival schedule if visiting Mystic for the first time....

If you have contacted the Mystic Seaport dockmaster and have permission to arrive early there can be a problem with bridges and arrival if not planning this out.
The first swing bridge (rail) is mostly always open and when you get as far as the town just prior to the road bridge (bascule) there is a dock alongside the waterway just north of the dinghy dock. That frontage does not allow you to tie up so if you get 'trapped' between the two bridges you will need to hover between the two until either one opens. The trick is that the road bridge will not typically open at 12:40 (check current rules) and that may leave you hovering for quite a long time if you miss the 11:40 opening.
Timing your trip and approach all the way from Noank is key with a mind to the limited speed and bridge opening quirks on the river. The rail bridge may hold you up for a train and the approach from the head of the river is a slow go.
A great place to visit especially for a first timer.

Rkfitz said:

If its morning, walk two blocks north and stop at Sift, an incredible bakery

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Adam Young the owner of Sift Just won Best Baker in America on the Food Network. Another plug!

Rob

20 to 25 minutes from the entrance to Moank harbor to the RR bridge at river speed.
(5 knots more or less)
Then probably 2 to 3 minutes to the draw bridge.
So you probably want to be entering Noank entry channel about the top of the hour at the latest to Give you some fluff time.
With the exception that the bridge does not open at 12:40 as noted above.
My marina is just south of the RR bridge. I've done the river for almost 30 years.

I am sitting on the flybridge of my boat in the marina and I see the drawbridge open and it's 12:40.
So I guess they now open