Emily has veered out to sea, but there are still small-craft advisories for rough seas, so we'll wait until tomorrow to leave. We're planning on stopping in Groton on the way to Narragansett Bay. The nuclear submarine Nautilus is on display there and is open for public tours. Groton is directly across the Thames River from New London, so I looked up both Groton and New London in the Waterway Guide. Came across a New London marina that provides excellent protection from hurricanes. It also has a grocery store, a laundromat, and is close to downtown New London. We'll check it out while we're there.
The Jofian is close to a small island that has an old abandoned house on it. We paddled over there to look at it. The place has been thoroughly trashed, but there's still a small airplane, a rowing scull, a lot of tools and books, and all kinds of other stuff. We looked around for a while, wondering about the history of the place, and then continued paddling up the river.
We had read in the Guide about an interesting place called "Gillette Castle" just a few miles up the river, so we went there. The castle itself is high on a hill, but we found a small ramp next to the ferry dock, so we pulled our Royaks up there and walked up the hill.
It was well worth the effort. The "castle" was built for a million dollars from 1914 to 1919 by the world-famous actor William Gillette (so famous I'd never heard of him). He was especially known for playing Sherlock Holmes. This was his dream home, and it is certainly unique. The exterior is stone, and the interior is hand-carved white oak. Roy greatly admired the craftsmanship and the quality of the wood. The house has 24 rooms, but only 12 are open to the public. The view of the river from the windows and the terrace is truly beautiful.
We ate lunch at a little sandwich place on the grounds. Then we strolled along some of the paths. Gillette's hobby had been a small train that he enjoyed taking guests for rides on. The train no longer exists, but the old trackbed is used as walking trails.
It was well past four when we returned to the Royaks and began paddling back to the Jofian. The wind was pretty strong against us. I had read in the Guide about Selden Creek, which sounded as if it might be a shortcut and at least would keep us out of the wind. I had noticed the southern end of the creek on the way up, but I wasn't sure where the northern end was. We turned into the first creek we came to. It kept twisting around and branching. After a while, Roy decided to go back to the river and return to the boat, but I kept exploring. Went down every branch there was, but on the last one, I ran out of water and had to turn back.
When I got back to the river, I checked the chart that I'd brought with me and saw there was another creek just a short way down the river, near a green buoy, so I paddled down there. By then, it was 6:30, only an hour of daylight left. I had to make a quick decision. If I went down the creek and it wasn't Selden Creek, I would have wasted a lot of time and wouldn't have a chance of getting back to the boat before dark. If I stayed on the river, fighting the wind and dodging power boats, I might just barely make it back in time. I ventured a short distance into the creek and saw a sign on the bank that said "Selden Neck State Park". That was encouraging. Next, I saw a sign on the bank that said, "MAX SPEED 6 MPH", so I knew I was on a navigable waterway. Then I rounded a point and saw boats at anchor or tied to docks. I was 95% certain I'd found Selden Creek, so I kept going, and I'm very glad I did. The creek was calm and quite straight, so I really made tracks. When I emerged at the other end, I was almost to Brockway Island, and it was only five to seven. I quickly crossed the channel to the west side of the river. Could see the Jofian about a mile away. Recognized her by her mizzen sail. The wind was blowing fairly hard, but I paddled as hard as I could and reached the boat by quarter past seven, with fifteen minutes of daylight to spare. I had definitely saved time by taking Selden Creek. Roy was overjoyed to see me.
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