The Master Plan- just in time for fall sailing

You may have asked yourself this week on one of these  beautiful pristine summer days, "What happened to CCB?" Well I'll tell you. Despite an apparent summer hiatus, CCB has been going strong this summer with a new board of directors, new programs at Mystic River Yacht Club and at the Shehan Center, the addition of Team Chance and now, after much ado, at the start of the fall season, approval from the City of Bridgeport to begin work on the downtown waterfront so that we may begin to restore public access to the waters of Long Island Sound. 

The Master Plan- It may seem ambitious but this is
master plan for the future of CCB 

There is much to do this season, when we hope to raise the funds to move "Jumbo" downtown, move the Fairfield U Sailing Stags to a new home for the 2011 Fall season, teach hundreds of kids to swim for $1 a lesson and restart the maritime explorers program at the Cardinal Shehan Center, build an open space complete with kayaks, row boats and moorings for public use, have the largest clean up at the Stewart B. McKinney Wildlife Refuge ever and much much more.

To reach these goals, we're doing something we've never done before- offering two for one memberships- when you support CCB with a individual, discount or family membership this fall. we'll extend you all the benefits it offers until January 2013. That's free sailing aboard any of our boats (still in service and with more to come soon we hope), discounts on classes, and of course the knowledge that you are helping to rebuild the waterfront of Bridgeport, so that everyone gets a chance to enjoy our greatest natural resource.

So for the balance of the year after labor day, open sailing will be serve-yourself at the CCB Boat ramp and with luck, downtown as the facility comes online. We'll be hosting classes aboard our 34' flagship on Thursdays from 530- sunset and Saturdays 9 til Noon. We'll also be running a chase boat for racing in the FJ's for anyone wishing to participate on Saturdays from 12-4.

On Saturday September 10th we will host a rigging day at the CCB Boat Ramp to get the boats in order for a big Fall Season. Please mark the date on your calendar and come on down and lend a hand and put the "community" in Community Boating.

For now that's all- we've got big plans ahead so help us set sail by donating or becoming a member today! Thanks!

Get your membership here

Fish Stories

Lucky Fisherman wishes to remain mum on world record catch

It's not often that a sea monster is pulled from Long Island Sound. When I was a boy in Stratford,  all the papers were abuzz when a 12-foot shark was pulled in off Milford. Years later, I had fears that my boat killed a 1000-pound leatherback turtle that washed up on Stratford Point. Last year a manatee played for days in Milford Harbor. And just this past winter I tracked a harbor seal that was sighted for weeks playing off the beaches of Fairfield County.

We know there are sea monsters out there in Long Island Sound. But it's not often that one so rare, so important to the local economy, so important to the health of our greatest natural resource and such a success story that heads across the country are turning. That is of course if the lucky fisherman would see it that way. Alas he does not.

Here's what we think we know- Sometime between 9 and 10 PM last night off Westbrook, CT, one Greg Meyerson hooked into a fish that would change the way we look at Connecticut and Long Island Sound. When daylight broke this morning and Jack's Shoreline Bait and Tackle opened, Mr. Myerson walked in with a 81.88 LB Atlantic Striped Bass to register and weigh the leviathan. That's what we think we know. Then things got crazy.

Greg Myerson displays his 81.88 LB Striper after weigh in this morning

The internet became wild with the news that the biggest striped bass since Al McReynolds caught his 77LB Striper off New Jersey in September 1982 was caught in Connecticut of all places. The name "Al Stromski" and photos of a man with a huge striped bass sitting in the bed of his truck began floating around. This was great news.

The local media sparked interest and the search for the fish and the fisherman began.

Now it seems the smoke is clearing and the truth is now coming out. "Al Stromski" is in fact Greg Myerson. The fish, yet to be certified as a world record holder, appears to be the largest ever caught. And Mr. Myerson would rather keep the great news to himself.

But this isn't about a man and his privacy. Or for that matter even the biggest and best fish ever caught. Some might say, if he didn't want the world to know he should have just thrown it back. Well maybe so. But then Connecticut would have been robbed of some of the best news to come out of the Sound in generations.

Long Island Sound is Connecticut's greatest natural resource. It is the reason we flourished as an industrial economy for the last 150 years and it is the reason we will flourish in the next 150 years. Not because of manufacturing or shipping, but because Long Island Sound is becoming one of the best kept environmental secrets in the country. It is a boaters paradise. From sailing to water skiing, paddling to fishing, the Sound abounds with delights for everyone and everyone deserves the right to enjoy it.

This fish shows the amazing return of the striped bass to our local waters- at one time, you were not allowed to keep a striper for fear that the population had collapsed. Now fisheman regularly pull 30 and 40 pound lunkers from the surf. And with the grand daddy of them all coming ashore today, we can be very certain that the population is not just back, but back to levels not seen since the 60's. Lunker bass were once so common, folks didn't even flinch when an 60-pounder came ashore. Now they are back and if it does pull the record into Connecticut's waters, we can be sure that this will get world attention.

Mr. Myerson may not wish to be a fishing celeb and really who could blame him. But the fish is what's important. Connecticut is fast becoming a birder's dream. And with seals returning, we can be sure sea life is on the rebound too. But when the world's largest fish is pulled from our waters that puts us in line with places like the Great Barrier Reef, George's Banks and the Gulf of Mexico. And fisherman and boaters alike will come from the world over to try and land a world record holder at a time when we need people to come to Connecticut in a big way.

So even if the fisherman may not want to be known, the news of the world's largest fish being caught in Long Island Sound must be heralded from the rafters. Because it is a sign that we're doing something right with our waters, have something great to offer the world and proof that Long Island Sound can benefit every Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island resident.

Congrats Greg- thats a heck of a fish!

The Biggest Fish I ever caught- also a potential world record holder that wasn't- a 239 Big Eye Tuna- mishandled and ineligible for the record