Tiny Umbrella Island

Sometimes GREAT Things are FREE (almost)

I want to take you on a short trip to a wonderful spot. If you come out of Branford Harbor, there is land to the East and West. When that land comes to completion, turn to the West and stay pretty close to the shoreline. After going for 1/4 mile in the northerly direction, you can go straight towards the shore at your own risk, or you can turn to the West. I always take the turn.

After turning to the West, there is a small island with a house on it, followed by some water and Umbrella Island. This was always my favorite spot. Why? It seems like nobody spends any time there. There is a small, somewhat rocky beach on the island and the space between the house and Umbrella Island is like a jungle. But I would always go swimming straight through there. Because it is like a jungle, many different birds make their nests there. When I would be on my swims, the birds would let me know that this was their home. They would dive at me, but never make contact. That was their not-so-subtle way of telling me to go away. Ultimately, I did.

This island is so small that it is not even visible on Google maps.

There was a man that always seem to be there. He was always in chest high water digging up clams. Because he was not very capable, he could not grab the clams on his own. That’s where Sporty, the wonder dog came in. I would never believe this until I saw it myself. Sporty would dive to the bottom of this chest high water, grab the clams and give it to his owner. True story.

So, I would sit in my boat, listen to some music, read the paper, get some sun and have a great time.

Everybody deserves to find their own great spot to just relax in. This spot took a boat to get to but it was only a 10 minute ride from Branford Harbor. Gasoline in the harbor is very expensive, so, that made my awesome spot very special because great places are usually very expensive to get to.