is no schedule of rates based on draft, but it is customary to vary the rates according to tonnage. The present rate from Saybrook to Hartford and return is $50 for the larger type of vessel and $35 to Middletown and return.

Supplies.-Coal and water for steamers can be had at the wharves at Saybrook Point, Middletown and Hartford. The river water is fresh at and above Deep River. Gasoline and other motor boat supplies can be had at the principal towns and landings.

Repairs.-There are railways and facilities for repairing small craft at Essex, Portland, and East Hartford.

Hospital.-At Hartford there is a relief station of the United States Public Health Service.

Freshets occur principally in the spring, when the snow is melting, although occasional floods have occurred in every month of the year except July and September. The average annual variation in the height of the river at Hartford is about 18 feet, and the maximum about 6 feet more. The highest freshets are generally of short duration, but the period during which the river at Hartford is at the level of 8 feet or more above mean low water averages nearly two months each year. It is stated that a freshet of 22 feet at Hartford gives a freshet of about 15 feet at Middletown, and below this point it rapidly decreases. At the mouth the variation in water level is due to the tides.

Tides. High and low water occur later than at New London, as follows: Saybrook Breakwater 55 minutes each; Deep River 22 hours each; Higganum 3 hours 5 minutes and 4 hours 0 minutes; Middletown 4 hours 20 minutes and 5 hours 10 minutes; South Glastonbury 5 hours 10 minutes and 6 hours 25 minutes; and Hartford 6 hours 0 minutes and 7 hours 45 minutes.

The mean rise and fall of the tides at Saybrook Breakwater is about 32 feet; Deep River 22; Higganum 214; Middletown 2; South Glastonbury 134; and Hartford 114.

Currents. At the entrance the currents have considerable velocity at times, and always require careful attention, as the tidal current of the sound often sets directly across the direction of the current setting out or in between the jetties.

Öff Lynde Point, slack before flood comes about 1/2 hour after the current turns westward at the Race (about 3 hours after low water at New London) and slack before ebb about 4 hour after the time the current turns eastward at the Race (about 22 hours after high water at New London). The strength of the tidal current has an average velocity of about 34 knot and occurs about 1/2 hour after the strength of current at the Race (about 1/2 hour before the time of high and low water at New London) and sets 345° true (N. 1 W. mag.) on the flood and in the opposite direction on the ebb.

At the railroad bridge, Lyme, the average maximum tidal current is about 2 knots. The strength of the flood and ebb occur about 3/4 hour after the corresponding strength of current at the Race (about the time of high and low water, respectively, at New London).

Because of river discharge the ebb currents will usually be greater and the flood currents smaller than given above. Ebb-current velocities of 1 knot or more have been observed, under normal conditions,

CONNECTICUT RIVER-DIRECTIONS

169

on the bars in Connecticut River between Higganum and Hartford; the velocities of the flood currents are much less.

Ice closes the river to navigation a part of every winter, the average date of closing and opening navigation being January 12 and March 15, respectively. The closed season, however, varies greatly, in one lasting only a few days and in another nearly four months. In recent years the dates of closing navigation have ranged from December 9 to February 27 and of opening from February 20 to April 14.

DIRECTIONS, CONNECTICUT RIVER

For charts of Connecticut River, see index map facing page 1. From eastward.-Pass southward of Hatchett Reef and Saybrook Bar, or keep Cornfield Point Lightship, bearing westward of 241° true (WSW. 5% W. mag.) until Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse bears 315° true (NNW. 7% W. mag.). Steer for Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse on this course, which will lead through the buoyed channel between the south end of Saybrook Bar and the east end of Long Sand Shoal, and on approaching the lighthouse keep it on the starboard bow. The dangers eastward of the entrance are described with the coast preceding.

From westward.-Passing 1 mile southward of Falkner Island Lighthouse, a 76° true (E. % N. mag.) course will lead about 3% mile northward of the lighted bell buoy on the western end of Long Sand Shoal and about the same distance southward of Cornfield Point Shoal buoy. Then steer about 67° true (E. 7% N. mag.), with Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse a little on the port bow. Long Sand Shoal and the dangers westward of the entrance are described with the coast following. Cornfield Point Shoal is covered by a red sector in Saybrook Breakwater light, the southerly edge of which bears 74° true (E. 14 N. mag.) from seaward.

Entrance to Saybrook Point.-Pass about 200 feet eastward of Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse, steer 4° true (N. by E. 2 E. mag.), and pass the buoys which mark the edges of the dredged cut between the jetties, at a distance of about 150 feet. When past Saybrook (Lynde Point) Lighthouse, head up for the red buoy opposite the northeast end of Lynde Point, and leave the buoy 200 to 300 feet on the starboard hand on a course about 338° true (N. 34 W. mag.). Anchorage can be had in the channel about 200 yards off the steamboat landing at Saybrook Point, in about 4 fathoms.

Saybrook Point to Hartford.-Local knowledge is required to carry the best water in the river, and strangers are advised to take a pilot at Saybrook Point. Small craft, with the aid of the chart, should have no difficulty in following the channel, and the following remarks indicate the channel now used. Most of the range lights have white target daymarks; front diamond shape, and rear square. From Saybrook Point steer for the railroad lift bridge at Lyme, with the station at Saybrook Point astern; follow the east bank between the bridges, and then follow the west side of Calves Island at a distance of about 500 feet. Pass 170 feet westward of Calves Island Light and head for the northwest end of Goose Island (marked by a white daymark) until through the cut at Calves Island Bar. Follow the west side of Goose Island at a distance of about 500 feet, and then keep in mid-river until abreast the lower

end of Nott Island. Pass about 200 feet eastward of Essex Reef Light (off Haydens Point), and when past black can buoy No. 5, head for red nun buoy No. 12, leaving it about 150 feet on the starboard hand and then steer for mid-channel until eastward of the light about 0.3 mile above Ely Wharf.

Above the light follow the eastern bank, or small craft can cross the river below the light and follow the western bank at a distance of about 350 feet to the lower end of Eustasia Island. At Brockway Bar pass eastward of Joshua Rocks Light, favoring the light, and then midway between Brockway Reach Light and Meadows Light. A dredged channel, 12 feet (3.7 m) deep, leads close westward of Joshua Rocks and Brockway Reach Lights; but there is no guide through the channel. The channel then widens to nearly the full width of the river to the lower end of Eustasia Island. A channel follows both banks of the river passing Eustasia Island and the shoals above it, but the eastern channel is easier to follow. The 34-foot (0.2 m) sounding lying 1/4 mile below Potash Bar is on a rocky patch, marked by grass in summer. At Potash Bar the channel leads about 300 feet off the edge of the grass at the mouth of Selden Cove; Whalebone Creek range lights (red posts with white targets) lead through the short dredged channel at Potash Bar.

Above Potash Bar the channel follows the east bank until abeam of a creek about 3/4 mile above Hadlyme Landing, then the west bank until past the mouth of the creek 3% mile above Eddy Rock Light, then to the center of the drawbridge at East Haddam, beyond which it follows the east bank, passes westward of East Haddam Meadows Light and the shoal which extends 300 feet from the east bank at the mouth of the Salmon River, then in mid-river for 34 mile, passing southward of red buoy No. 14 and then follows the west bank to Red Store Landing. The channel then follows the east bank until the Haddam Island range lights are in line astern. This is a slow range which leads in the channel until approaching Rock Landing Light. Follow the east bank at a distance of about 200 feet until abreast the mouth of the creek just above Rock Landing Light, then cross Rock Landing Bar in the dredged cut with the range lights in line astern, and then favor the west bank to Higganum.

Above Higganum follow the west bank at a distance of about 200 feet until abreast the north end of Sears Shoal, a rocky patch bare at low water and marked by a bunch of grass and sometimes by a stake. Then stand across the river with the Sears Shoal range lights, in line astern, which leads about 350 feet westward of the training wall extending southward from the mouth of Hurds Brook. Then follow the eastern bank past Middle Haddam to Paper Rock Light. Pass 150 feet off the light, stand across for the point on the south bank 1/2 mile above it, favor the south bank until approaching Bodkin Rock Light, and then cross to the north bank at the light. Then follow the south bank through the narrow channel from the next point on that side to Mouse Island Bar; the shoal on the north side of this narrow channel has rocky patches, partly bare at extreme low water. Pass 150 feet off the light, stand across for the point on the south side of the channel at Mouse Island Bar; the channel is narrow and care is required at Mouse Island Bar. From

the second light edge out quickly and keep about 200 feet off the coal landing and the next point westward; there is a submerged crib in the water off the point near the 5-foot sounding on the chart. Then follow the south and west bank past Middletown.

From Middletown pass through the bridges and in mid-channel eastward of Willow Island, and then cross over gradually and follow the west bank to the upper stone bulkhead at Cromwell. Then cross over and follow the east and south bank, drawing in to 100 feet when passing the point of the shoal making off from the lower end of Gildersleeve Island. At the mouth of the stream, lying southeastward from the lower end of Gildersleeve Island, the outer one of the remains of two rock cribs is a danger; the inner one shows above water and is marked by a tree and brush, and the outer one has 6 feet (1.8 m) over it at low water and lies 100 feet off the tree. Pass about 75 feet off Siam Dock light and then follow the east bank at a distance of 100 feet until on the line of the Pistol Point range lights astern, which lead in the dredged channel across Pistol Point Bar. From Pistol Point Bar follow the west bank for nearly 111⁄2 miles, and then follow the east bank until on the line of the Dividend Bar range lights astern, which lead in the dredged channel across Dividend Bar. The channel then follows the west bank past Rocky Hill to abreast Calf Brook, and then through the partly dredged channel in the next reach on the line of Two Piers Channel range lights. The channel then leads about 200 feet from the east bank, drawing in to about 125 feet abreast the next set of range lights just above, and is narrow. Follow this range (South Glastonbury range lights) for nearly 11⁄2 mile, and then follow the eastern bank at a distance of 150 feet for 1/2 mile. The channel then widens and follows the west bank until on the line of the Press Barn Bar range lights.

From the Press Barn Bar range follow the east bank to the coal wharf at Naubuc, and then cross over and follow the west bank to the mouth of Wethersfield Cove; two range lights mark the dredged channel at Cys Hollow Bar, and will be carried in range astern when bound up the river. There is an old stone pier, sometimes marked by a stake and flag, on the west side of the channel nearly 1/4 mile below the mouth of Wethersfield Cove. From the mouth of this cove cross over gradually and follow the east bank, drawing in to 100 feet from that bank for a distance of 1/4 mile below the Clay Banks range lights; the range leads in the dredged channel across Clay Banks Bar. Then follow the east bank until on the line of the Colt Pier range lights, which lead about 100 feet eastward of Hartford Jetty Light. Follow the jetty at a distance of about 100 feet, and then follow the west bank to Hartford.

CONNECTICUT RIVER TO NEW HAVEN

Long Sand Shoal extends 6 miles westward from off the entrance of Connecticut River and has a greatest width of nearly % mile. The general depths on the crest of the ridge are 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.7 m), bottom hard and lumpy; but as the lumps are shifting in position and size, spots with but 4 feet (1.2 m) over them may sometimes be found at extreme low tides. The shoaling is abrupt on both sides of the shoal, but especially on the south side, where the 10-fathom (18 m) curve is only 200 yards from it in places and the

161875°-33-12

15-fathom (27 m) curve about 1/4 mile. The shoal is marked at its eastern end by a horizontally striped buoy. The 4-fathom (7 m) curve at the western end of the shoal is marked by a horizontally striped lighted bell buoy.

Cornfield Point Lightship is about 1 mile southward of Long Sand Shoal, midway of its length. The lightship is red, with "Cornfield " in white letters on each side, and has two red skeleton steel towers with black lantern galleries at top. An occulting white light, 49 feet (14.9 m) above water and visible for 12 miles, is exhibited from the foretower or from the main tower if the regular light is disabled. A fixed white riding light is shown on the forestay.

The fog signal is an air siren, blast 2 seconds, silent 13 seconds. If the siren is disabled, a bell will be struck by hand, 1 stroke, silent 30 seconds, group 2 strokes, silent 30 seconds. The submarine bell strikes groups of 4 and 8 ("48") every 32 seconds. The radio station receives and transmits radio messages. Call letters WPX.

About 1 mile to the southward of the lightship are vertically striped bell and lighted whistle buoys.

Lying 1 mile southward of the western end of Long Sand Shoal is an area about 11⁄2 miles long, with depths less than 6 fathoms (11 m), in which the bottom is rocky and broken. The least depth found is 23 feet (7 m), but the area has not been closely developed.

Sixmile Reef is an area of broken ground about 3 miles long, in a west-northwesterly direction, with depths less than 6 fathoms (11 m). The shoalest part of the reef is an area about 1/2 mile long with depths of 4 fathoms (7.3 m) or less, and a least found depth of 19 feet (5.8 m), lying 6 miles 253° true (W. % S. mag.) from Cornfield Point Lightship. The bottom is rocky and shoaling abrupt in places. There is a lighted whistle buoy off the southerly edge of this reef. With extreme low tides, due to northerly and westerly winds, this shoal may be dangerous to vessels of as little as 15-foot (4.6 m) draft. It is on the direct course of vessels from southward of Stratford Shoal Lighthouse to Cornfield Point Lightship. The safer course is to pass southward of Sixmile Reef, keeping Cornfield Point Lightship bearing anything northward of 67° true (E. % N. mag.).

A ridge 14 miles long, with depths of 434 to 6 fathoms (8.5 to 11 m), as determined by means of a wire drag, lies near mid-sound southward of Sixmile Reef and 5 miles north-northwestward of Horton Point Lighthouse.

Cornfield Point, lying 2 miles westward of Saybrook Lighthouse, is marked by a large red-roofed building. Cornfield Point Shoal, a small, rocky patch with 3 feet (0.9 m) over it, lies nearly 1/2 mile southward of Cornfield Point, and is marked on its south side by a lighted bell buoy. Small craft passing inside the shoal should proceed with caution, especially at low water, when crossing the broken ground, on which the least depths found are 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 m), extending 1/2 mile west-southwestward from Cornfield Point. On the north side of this broken ground and 1⁄2 mile west-northwestward of Cornfield Point is Half Tide Rock, which has not been closely developed, especially on its northwest side.