In July of 1773, 189 Scot immigrants boarded the three-masted, square-rigged ship Hector, bound for Nova Scotia. Built in the Netherlands, the Hector had operated as a cargo ship for some 20 years before being converted into a transport vessel. Already nearing the end of…
Posts tagged as “Robert Bachand”
Despite the sailing ship’s constant forward and aft pitch and sway from side to side, the pirate lookout stood high up in the crow’s nest, as he searched for any approaching vessel in nearby waters. Using a spyglass, he would determine its nationality by its…
January 17, 1920, marked the beginning of Prohibition. One of its purposes had been to improve morals in society by eliminating alcohol. But within weeks, the continued demand for illegal spirits soon led to smuggling and organized crime. Long Island Sound, with its 600 miles…
Hidden in the shallows of coastal tidal salt marshes are very special gems, some of which are 5 to 9 inches in length. They are not glistening diamonds; they are turtles, whose shell is adorned with diamond-shaped plates (scutes) with different colored growth rings, giving…
Many of Long Island Sound’s beachgoers, scuba divers and boaters may not know that our waters harbor a species of coral, also found in the Caribbean and the west coast of Africa. Even scuba divers that have encountered the tiny, eye-arresting marine creature might not…
First established in April 1868, the site of New London’s Submarine Base first served as a storage depot and a naval yard for laying up inactive ships. Developed in Groton, the 112-acre site was on land donated by the State of Connecticut, situated along the…
Ships have traditionally used ballast at the bottom of vessels to maintain their stability. The early forms of ballast included stones, gravel, sand, iron and eventually water. As a ship approached its destination, its hard ballast was unloaded to avoid possible grounding in the harbor’s…
The first European settlers to reach the shores of Massachusetts often found piles of lobsters stranded on the beach. Then regarded as “cockroaches of the sea,” they were used as bait and fertilizers, and eventually fed to servants, prisoners and slaves. But by the late…
Long Island Sound’s 1,300 square miles of water surface area is host to over 120 species of fishes. Its scup, striped bass, bluefish, summer flounder, hickory shad, black sea bass, tautog and so many other species provide fantastic opportunities for any novice or expert recreational…
A calm Long Island Sound and a midday sun can reveal an attractive sight, just a few feet below the surface. As it pulses its bell and drifts in the currents, it is occasionally accompanied by several small, slate-blue colored butterfish. They closely follow the…