But, compared with the overcast -- and occasionally stormy -- weather of the past few days, Sunday was ideal beach weather. Yet Westport's Sherwood Island State Park wasn't packed with swimmers, sunbathers and naturalists. There was a smattering of people, including many fishermen and a few families looking to enjoy a day at the beach.
But it probably wasn't as crowded as it should be, said Tina Green, a member of the Friends of Sherwood Island, a group that works to maintain and improve the state park. Green, who lives in Westport, said Sherwood is one of the region's overlooked gems.
"This park is very underused," she said. "People don't realize what a great resource it is in this part of the state."
Sherwood Island's East Beach was the starting point for the ninth day of the Hearst Connecticut Media Group's Breaking the Sound Barrier project. Beginning at 9 a.m., photographer Phil Noel, Connecticut Post intern Katrina Koerting and I walked a little more than three miles of Westport's shoreline, through Sherwood Island and Compo Beach. For the most part, the walk went smoothly, though the Compo Cove area, which we traversed about halfway through our journey, is private property, and we needed a resident to accompany us.
We were joined by several local experts throughout the course of our walk, including Green, fellow Friends member Marilyn Bakker
Most of the people in our group are devoted to this stretch of shoreline, particularly Sherwood Island. Green is an avid birder and frequently comes out to observe some of the park's feathered denizens, including ospreys, killdeer, great egrets, and heron. "I love it so much," she said. "It's such a great bird spot."
Back to nature
Given that many Friends of Sherwood Island members are nature advocates, it comes as no surprise that one of their major projects of the past few years has been opening a nature center at the park. The center was our first stop during the walk, and contains several aquariums full of wildlife common to this stretch of the Long Island Sound, including garter snakes, a bullfrog and horseshoe crabs.
The nature center also contains several posters and displays about the health of Sherwood Island and Long Island Sound. Every year, Balboni explained to me, Sherwood Island participates in the International Coastal Cleanup, in which concerned people come out to collect trash along the coastline. Balboni said the most common item found during these cleanups are cigarette butts. The most unusual item ever discovered? Probably a baby shoe covered in barnacles, Balboni said.
After our visit to the nature center, Balboni and Bakker left us, but Bakker met up with us again later in our walk. Green stuck with us as we continued along the beach.
A few minutes later, we encountered the Maillet family from Winsted. It was the family's first trip to Sherwood Island, said Michelle Maillet, who was there with her three children, Lindsay, 5, Justin, 7, and Derek, 9. The family had spent the weekend seeing sights throughout the area and wanted to include Sherwood. "This is our vacation," Michelle Maillet said. "[The kids have] never seen the ocean."
Exploring Compo Cove
Not long after encountering the Maillets, we were joined by Allen Raymond, Westport municipal historian, who has spent summers at Compo Cove his entire life. And at 86 he was, as he proudly admitted "the oldest person you're going to talk to today." Raymond's main job was to help us gain access to the Compo Cove area, at the end of Sherwood Island. Compo Cove is a piece of land that's the site of roughly 20 private residences, including the one Raymond owns and lives in during the summer. There is no road to the area, only a sidewalk and two footbridges. These passages are owned by the local homeowners' group, the Compo Cove Park Association, and there is no public access. The lack of roads also means that the area isn't accessible by cars. Fortunately, Raymond was able to sneak us through and take us into the area where his summer house sits. He said he remembers when the houses in the area were bordered by large lovely beaches. Now, the area around his house is seriously eroded and vulnerable to the elements.
history at
Compo Beach
After we made it through the Cove, we kept going until we reached Compo Beach, a 29-acre park primarily used by town residents. At the end of the beach, there's a giant cannon which, according to Raymond, has no historical significance of its own. But it does stand as a monument to an important chapter in Westport's history. In April 1777, 1,850 British soldiers came ashore and landed on Compo with a plan to invade Connecticut. The soldiers marched out to Danbury and back, boarding their ships while under fire from the local militia. They were not eager to return to Connecticut after that.
Like Sherwood, Compo was pretty empty for a decent Sunday morning. But some were enjoying the day, including Wendy Jarrett of Westport, who was walking the beach with her mother. Though she usually prefers Burying Hill Beach, she appreciates Compo as well.
"It's nice," she said. "It's restful and peaceful here."
Staff writer Katrina Koerting contributed to this report.Next: Burying Hill Beach and Wetlands
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