| Frank,
To the best of my knowledge, there are no CO beaches in So. CT.
There are a few traditional "skinny-dipping" locations, however,
most of which are old quarries. But there is a spot on the Connecticut
River near Haddam, CT, that has a history of nude use. It is a
small island that is accessible by boat from the Atlantic / Long
Island Sound. It may be your best bet.
This spot shows up in Baxandall's Guide to Nude Beaches ..., but
I don't have a copy in front of me for particulars.
Enjoy!
Jack
|
|
Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I entered the base
note for this topic. Two years between replies, that must be a record.
Anyway, I finally had an empty weekend and decided to visit Haddam
and see if it was anything like its description in the World Guide. Now
this is no small task considering that I live in Northport, L.I. and
the Connecticut River is about 50 miles away. But I didn't want to keep
you folks waiting any longer for a site report. :-)
By boat the trip took me about 3 hours from Northport to the mouth
of the Connecticut River. After refueling just inside the Saybrook
Breakwater the trip upriver took another hour or so (there's a 5mph
speed limit on the river anytime you're near a marina, so you have to
slow down a few times during the trip). As you approach Haddam Island
from the south you'll have to go around it on the right side because
the water at the south-west end is too shallow (as witnessed by one
boater standing up alongside his boat trying to push it off the
bottom).
According to the World Guide, the north-east end of the island is
where the nude use exists, so that's where I headed first. However, as
I was looking for a place to anchor I looked ashore and noticed that
EVERYBODY was wearing a bathing suit. In retrospect, this is
understandable since the north-east end of the island is in full view
of boaters heading up- or down-river past the island. Not exactly what
you would consider a quiet, private spot.
During my approach to the island I noticed boats on the west side of
the island (which is no doubt where the stranded boater was heading)
and decided to look there for like-minded sunbathers. Looking at the
chart of the river, it indicated that the water just off the northern
tip of the island was also very shallow, leaving me wondering how the
boats on the western side made it there (and I certainly wasn't going
to go through the south-west and join the grounded boater). I finally
spotted a boat coming out from the western side of the island and
noticed that he headed up-river before crossing over to the deep water
on the east side. Sure enough, when you look at the chart it shows that
you can go about 1/4 mile north of the island and swing over to the
far west side where the water is between 6 and 10 feet deep.
So I made my way around to the west side of the island and found
more boats at anchor, and a couple of boats pulling water skiers. On
the disappointing side though, once again it was obvious that there
were only clothed bathers on this side of the island also. (And the
same observation of the east side holds; that is, the beaches are in
clear view of boats making their way into the western side of the
island, and to the skiers as well.)
I would have to guess that at one point the north-WEST side of the
island experienced some use by nude bathers, but over time the lack of
privacy (and who knows, perhaps complaints) may have driven them away.
As for me, I stayed for just a short while and then made my way back
to Northport. Certainly I was disappointed in not finding a nude beach
on Haddam Island, but having never been on the Connecticut River
before, the trip was still enjoyable. The river is beautiful once you
get about 3/4 mile north of the railroad bridge.
Unfortunately, it was too expensive a day for me to want to make the
trip again anytime soon. I spent $80 to refuel when I arrived at the
mouth of the river, and I put another $40 of fuel in after making the
round trip up the river and back (I needed the fuel in order to feel
comfortable for the trip back to Northport). I also lost my speed
transducer after hitting some junk floating in the river.
To wrap up this note, it seems things have changed in Haddam. If
anyone out there has had a different experience there (recently), I and
no doubt others reading this conference would be happy to hear about
it. (I'll be glad to post any notes from read-only noters if you mail
me the text, or mail it to the moderator.)
Frank
|