NHPS Mooring

A home in the Thimble Islands of Long Island Sound

A mooring has been installed on the north side of High Island in the Thimble Islands of Branford. This is a club-owned facility for all members to use. Roland Greenwald, of Greenwald & Sons, set the 500-pound mushroom-style anchor and rigging which includes a new 24" mooring buoy with "NHPS" proudly painted on the side. A mooring of this size is rated for vessels up to 40' on an overnight stay.

It is our desire that with a central location dedicated for members, weekend raft-ups may become a normal occurrence. Common sense rules should apply for its use. This is not a first-come first-served scenario, however. All members shared in the cost, so all get to use it. If the mooring is occupied by a member (flying a squadron burgee would be a good way to be identified), they should expect and be prepared for other arriving vessels to raft with them, with appropriate fenders in between. Should the newer arrivals be larger vessels, it may make sense to switch the boat actually linked to the mooring so that the larger vessel is the one secured on the mooring and the smaller vessel rafted up alongside.

For those who have never attached to a mooring before, there's no need for apprehension, but there is need for a boat hook. It's as simple as pulling up to the mooring, grabbing the top of the ball with the hook, passing a line through the eye and securing it to a forward cleat on your boat, allowing a few feet of slack. The normal rules of anchoring apply here, such as, you need to be aware of how your boat will swing when the tide changes and make sure there won't be conflicts with other vessels.

To locate our mooring, look for High Island (AKA Kidd's Island) on the western side of the Thimbles. Mooring #484 is on the northeast side of the island near West Crib. The coordinates are 41° 15.082N by 72° 45.484W. Let's pull out the charts, program those GPS's, and head over to the new floating home of NHPS for some fraternal boating organization fun