“Bedford Falls?”

Wednesday & Thursday, 18 & 19 June

The sign says “Town of Milford” but, this evening at least, it might easily be confused with the fictional town of Bedford Falls. Couples stroll the sidewalk along Main Street. There’s a line in front of “Scoopy’s Ice Cream.” And a fife and drum corps rehearses on The Green.

The Milford Fife & Drum Corps practices on The Green, piping the “Star Spangled Banner” as a perfect coda to the day.

The sky had been right blue. Gorgeous sun. Fifteen out of the west, gusts to 20! A perfect day to head east up Long Island Sound.

That was yesterday. But instead of shoving off as planned, the day was devoured by one of those infamous 45-minute-boat-projects, as in, “Aw, we can knock this out in a half-hour, 45-minutes at the most.”

So it was the locker behind the stove was cleared, a teak batten removed, trim strip pried off the counter, and the white panel removed to reveal…not what was expected. Of course not. The Hutchins Company builds it right, builds to last.

The problem was of the owner’s making, having tampered with the track a few years back. The forward end recently began to lift. Not good, especially not when one wants to set a Genny in 15 knots out of the west.

The wind beckoned but bolts for the track were not yet accessible. There still was hull liner to peel back, a 2” wide tack strip to pull off and then, only then, might the bolts be replaced. At which point, it became clear there’d be no sailing this day.

A picturesque waterfall tumbles under Main Street feeding the stream that becomes Milford Harbor.

Instead, there was the half-mile walk to West Marine for nuts and bolts and parts for two other projects. There was a break for lunch and further mapping of strategy. And so it was new bolts were in—with stretching, twisting and bending to test a yogi—the track re-bedded, and the galley again good-to-go…at 1600, a mere seven-and-a-half hours after starting.

That project begat another, less demanding one, easy. But that repair revealed the need for yet another issue to be addressed. So…

Steadfast never got out of the slip Wednesday to take advantage of those ideal conditions. When she did leave Stamford today it was gloomy. Overcast. Light rain fell as it had off and on since not long after midnight. Not ideal but, undaunted, her intrepid crew shoved off anyway and was rewarded with a great day.

Once Steadfast was past the breakwater and submerged rocks called The Cows, she came left to a heading of 077 magnetic in hopes of making Milford some 30 miles away. An hour out of Stamford, a foul current became fair and she skipped along at 6-plus knots before 10 out of the so’west. Then 12, then more, enough to coax out the Genny and push speed-over-ground as high as 7-and-a-half, even while Little Red loafed along at just 2100 RPM!

The municipal pier at Milford Landing is close to downtown and a great value.

Rounding Stratford Point, the sun emerged from the clouds and, waddya know, up ahead was the channel to Milford Harbor where the breakwater becomes the gateway to the quaint New England towns of books and movies. And a short walk up to Main is rewarded with the first plate of fried whole-belly Ipswich clams in two years, every bit as delicious as remembered.

A Sam Adams Summer ale is the perfect complement to whole-belly Ipswich clams, a specialty of the Stone Bridge Inn on Main Street.

There’s a lot to like about Milford.  Granted, there’s no Jimmy Stewart. No Donna Reed. But Milford may as well be Bedford Falls.

Certainly, for those sailing into this little town on the Connecticut shore, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

Steadfast out.