At the mouth of the Connecticut River, between Old Saybrook and Old Lyme, interior New England meets Long Island Sound and the Atlantic.
By this point, the waters of the river have traveled more than 400 miles from the Canadian border through four states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The river carries silt along its twisting course and deposits much of it at the mouth which creates a large sand bar at the entrance point. It is one reason there is no major port on the southern end of the Connecticut River.
Above: Essex marina. Great Island channel, Old Lyme. A sailboat moored in Essex.
The Connecticut River is navigable all the way to Hartford, but it is in Essex where you begin to sense the connection to the sea. The lighting changes and you can feel the possibility of a wide open space - the ocean - ahead and just past the horizon to the south.
The river is clean. You can fish it and you can swim in it. Before efforts to clean the Connecticut began in the late 1960's people would say you could walk across the river because of the pollution.
Today, here at the mouth of the river, wildlife is abundant. The tides of Long Island Sound push back against the flow of the river and the resulting currents swirl at the midpoint. The dark waters are both inviting and dangerous. Large fish, including striped bass, lurk beneath the surface. Eagles, egrets, heron, gulls and other shore birds are on constant patrol.
As I paddled through this end of the river in my kayak, exploring the coast of summer, I wondered what life is like here in the middle of winter. Still flourishing, I am sure, but with less interruption.
Credits:
© Dean Pagani 2020