f^. i3, 1904-1 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
1S8 
and to pay our respects to Mr. A. E. Adams, a prominent 
business man, a member of the Royal Kennebacasis Y. C, 
and a most charming and courteous gentleman to whom, 
and to Dr. Daniel, a former mayor of the city, we were 
indebted for many favors and much information. To them 
we extend our thanks and heartily commend any visiting 
yachtsmen. The yacht club have issued a small plan of 
the river which makes it easy for a boat drawing under 
eight feet to go up as far as Fredericton. Below Gage- 
town the navigation is very easy, above that point it is 
safer to have a pilot, and there is none better than Capt. 
Perley. The river is ideal for sailing or canoeing, and 
one could spend a whole summer exploring its beauties. 
One bright morning a tug pulled us through the falls 
on the "flood slack," and we sailed away up the river 
through picturesque placid reaches edged by high, 
rounded, wooded hills, and with many glimpses of little 
sandy points and stretches of gleaming waters. Anchored 
for the night oi¥ the grassy edges of the Mistake, and 
when morning came hoisted sail and again resumed our 
dreamy way up the river. By and by the hills began 
to recede, and we sailed through a flatter and more fertile 
land. But the wind kept light, we only crawled slowly 
up, and we reached our time limit at the upper end of 
Little Musquash and turned Istar's bow- homeward. 
The minute she started for home she began to go like 
a hungry horse turned toward his stable. With a freshen- 
ing wind and fair tide she reached rapidly down the 
stream, running in three hours nearly to our anchorage 
of the night before. Choosing a little cove by the church 
just above Van Wart's, we made snug for the night out 
of the way of any stray steamer or raft that might com'.; 
along. Did not get away from our anchorage until about 
9 A. M., and then soon had to anchor again and wait until 
noon for wind enough to enable Istar to beat her way 
against the incoming flood. Shortly after the wind 
freshened to a good whole sail breeze, but from dead 
ahead, and each time we came to a turn in the river the 
wind was still ahead. At 5 :30 we were tying up along- 
side a tug at Indiantown just above the falls, and at 8 
the next morning were passing a line to the Wm. H. Mur- 
ray for a tow through the gorge and out to the southern 
end of Partridge Island. 
Here we found a confused old sea and a light wind 
from S.E. The wind freshened rapidly and kicked up a 
stiff chop against the eastward-flowing current. At 9:45 
Musquash Light, marking the harbor where Altair had 
rested for several days on her last cruise, was abeam, 
and if was slack water. At 11:20 passed Point Lepreau 
close in to keep out of the rip and bore away for Bliss 
Harbor. Wind fresh E. When five knots N.E. from 
East Wolf decided to run down to Grand Manan Channel. 
Day cloudy. Considerable sea. Beautiful sailing. Passed 
South Wolf Light at 1:30. Set spinnaker, and at 3:10 
Quoddy Head was N.W. by W., distant two and a half 
miles. Here we met the three-mile current of the flood 
and made slower progress, not altering Little River, 
twelve miles beyond, until 6:24. Night closed in with 
rain and fog. 
[to be concluded.] 
Norwalk Y. C» 
BY GEORGE E. CURTIS, SECRETARY NORWALK Y. C. 
It has been said that the happiest nations are those 
which have no history. Be that as it may, it is certain 
that the existence ol the Norwalk Y. C. has been as 
harmonious as its history is brief and uneventful. 
Back in the early '90s, there existed in South Nor- 
walk, Conn., an organization known as the Norwalk 
C. C. Its membership, which was very small, was com- 
posed of good fellows who loved the water and who 
were never happier than when navigating the perilous 
expanse of Norwalk Harbor in their little craft. 
The "club house" was a little shack at the eastern 
end of the drawbridge, at the head of the harbor proper. 
The writer, not having been a fellow member with 
those choice spirits, cannot tell from experience of the 
doings in that little boat house when the members were 
gathered there after their boats were hauled in out of 
the wet. But no one who knows the crowd will sup- 
pose that they spent the time in sleep. As time passed, 
it was borne in upon this little group, who numbered 
less than a dozen all told, that for various reasons 
their quarters and facilities were inadequate. To re- 
main where they were meant that the membership could 
not be increased, nor was there suitable anchorage 
there for real boats, which by that time some of the 
members aspired to own. So out of their necessity was 
born the idea that resulted in the organization of the 
Norwalk Y. C. A committee was appointed to con- 
sider ways and means, and search for a suitable site 
was begun. 
The first one decided upon was across the harbor, 
nearly opposite the one then occupied. The owner of 
the property agreed to build a suitable house aiid rent 
to the club. Plans for the building were drawn, but 
before anything further was done in the matter the 
property owner died. Though the upsetting of their 
plans at that time was somewhat discouraging, it was 
really a blessing in disguise, for it would have been a 
great mistake to have located the club at the head of the 
harbor, several miles from open water, and connected 
with it only by a narrow and tortuous channel. This 
channel at low tide is really the only navigable portion 
of the upper harbor, as our canoe club friends had 
learned by bitter experience. Many a time and oft they 
had been compelled to beat up or down that narrow 
way against wind and tide, with a vast expanse of 
hardly submerged mud flats on either side; and some- 
times on returnig from a day's outing, had found their 
boat house several yards from the water's edge. 
While the search for a site was going, on, the very 
serious m.atter of financing the club was being consid- 
ered. That was no small problem, for at that tmie, the 
year 1894, "hard times" were upon the country, and 
money was not plentiful. 
After due consideration, the following somewhat 
novel plan was decided upon. The club (which had 
been incorporated in the meantime) would issue cer- 
tificates of ownership in its property, both real and 
personal, upon which it was promised to pay interest 
at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum. The shares were 
Chart of Course taken by Istar on Her Maiden Cruise. 
of the face value of $10 each, and it was provided in 
the constitution that each member must own and hold 
at least one share, beside paying an entrance fee. Own- 
ership of them was not restricted to members, how- 
ever, and a large number of shares were subscribed for 
by outsiders, who were interested in the club's success. 
Of course, many of the members subscribed for more 
than the one necessary share; some of them for blocks 
of five or ten shares. 
It may not be amiss to mention here that this plan 
worked sc well that it was adopted later, I believe, by 
the Grand Rapids, Mich., Y. C, and I quote here a 
portion of an article printed in one of the journals of 
fied in entertaining ideas of a more pretentious estab- 
lishment than they had at first considered. 
Shortly before the time of which we are writing, a 
trolley road had been opened between South Norwalk 
and Roton Point, making accessible the delightful 
shores of the lower harbor. Probably the most at- 
tractive portion of those shores is what is known as 
Hickory Bluff. 
Fronting on Wilson's Cove, a broad arm of the har- 
bor, it commands a beautiful view of the picturesque 
Norv/alk Islands, and beyond them the Sound. Here, 
it was thought, was the ideal spot, and ere long a build- 
ing lot running through from the highway to the water 
Norwalk Yacht Club House. 
that city the year following the opening of the Norwalk 
"At the annual meeting of the Grand Rapids Y. C, at 
the Morton, last night, C. B. Judd, H. Emery Pease 
and L. C. Stow were appointed a committee to consider 
the advisability of, and lay plans for, the erection of a 
new $3,000 boat house at Ottawa Beach. Mr. Pease is 
also a member of the Norwalk (Conn.) Y. C, and he 
gave a talk on how a boat house was erected there." 
Mr. Pease, who was one of the most active and effi- 
cient of the promoters of the Norwalk Y. C., moved 
to Grand Rapids shortly after its opening. 
To return to the affairs of the local organization, 
subscriptions for shares and applications for member- 
ship were secured in such gratifying numbers that the 
outlook became very encouraging, so much so, in fact, 
that the committee on location and building felt justi- 
had been purchased and a contract for the club house 
had been let. 
The formal opening of the new station took place 
on Decoration Day, May 30, 1895, and marked the 
commencement of a new era for Norwalk yachtsmen. 
The club house was a substantial and commodious 
structure, two stories high, with attic above. The first 
floor was fitted up as a storage room for the smaller 
craft, and was surrounded with lockers, while the one 
above made an excellent hall for receptions and dances. 
A broad balcony, extending around two sides of the 
building at the second story, added to its attractiveness, 
and it soon became one of the most popular seaside 
resorts in the town. The membership of the club steadily 
increased, and it was not long before the century mark 
was reached. For several years past the average mem- 
bership has been about one hundred and ten, running 
Norwalk Harbor, L. I. Sound, from Hickory Bluff. Norwslk Y. C House in toregrouncS. Sheffield Island in middle distance.. 
