What's Up at the

Custom House?

With rushing winds and gloomy skies

the dark and stubborn winter dies.

March 23, 2025

#StandUpForScience #Museums4Science

The Custom House is Open Thurs.- Fri. 1-5 PM,

Sat. 10 AM-5 PM, Sun. 1-5 PM.

The Dive Gear display is local visitors' favorite exhibition. For those who've seen Men of Honor, the opportunity to lift one of the Mark V lead-soled dive boots is significant.

Photo, above: Sub Base visitors try lifting a 30-pound dive boot.

This week at the Custom House

Every Saturday from 10 to 5 I'm at the Custom House.

This week docent Regan Morse and I tore up the Shop, intern Joseph Gerry gathered additional information on the diving gear, and together we welcomed the usual Saturday slew of museum visitors.

Our guests can be remarkably knowledgeable about maritime subjects. Often the best thing one can do is listen. Among yesterday's mix of tourists, we had two active submariners, a veteran local diver, and the Captain off a Coast Guard Ice Breaker. This winter that ice breaker, the Sturgeon, worked on the Hudson River all the way up to Albany. She's moored here at the City Pier 'til Wednesday.

Grant, the USCG captain, photos, above, got to talking about lighthouses. It's almost as if the Coast Guard is two different services, he said, the aids to navigation and water safety team, and the enforcement faction. Maybe the safety sector should go under the Dept of Transportation and the law enforcement part stay under Homeland Security.

Last year, the Coast Guard ended their school for lighthouse maintenance -- specifically for teaching how to work on the old lenses. Soon no one will know how to fix the historic lanterns; they'll all be LEDs. And in the future when a lantern malfunctions, it will just be swapped out for a new one.

The Maritime Society works in partnership with the USCG on the lighthouses. They maintain the lanterns (period), and we preserve, teach about, and provide access to the historic landmarks that house them. That last preserve, teach, access part is our directive from the National Park Service. Twenty-five years ago the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 was established. Through this act, and with oversight from the NPS, more than 150 lighthouse properties have been transferred to new caretakers ensuring their preservation for future generations. To celebrate the anniversary, this week the US Lighthouse Society has organized three days of zoom talks and discussions for lighthouse stewards, overseers, partners, and technicians. You can bet we will be there!

--Susan

Sunday, March 30, 6-9 pm

Open Mic at the Museum

Co-hosted by Kenny 'Doc' Frazier and Christina Corcoran, our monthly open mic welcomes music, poetry, prose, stand-up, or just state what is on your mind. Show up at 5:45 and get on the list! Open to all ages and abilities for fun and camaraderie. It's a friendly crowd!



Sponsored by Kozmik Music Services.  Admission is by donation. The evening is available on the Open Mic at the Museum Facebook page. The page also posts many of the individual performances from past sessions. Photo, above: February Open Mic.

Tuesday, April 15, 1:30 pm

JIBBOOM CLUB #1

Join Jibboom in April when Gordon Videll, Chief Executive Officer of Sea Services North America, talks about Sea Services' unique co-operative model to use local fishing vessels to provide scout and safety (guard) vessel services for offshore wind developers.

Near the docks of New London, Connecticut, a fishermen’s co-op is making history.

Established by fishermen for fishermen, Sea Services North America serves as the bridge between offshore wind developers and commercial fishermen. Their mission is to improve safety on the open water and create opportunities for local watermen to earn extra income by providing guard, scouting, and environmental compliance services to the growing clean energy industry.

Jibboom Club is not a club, but a friendly gathering, with a speaker and refreshments, that is free and open to all! Please come and bring a friend. Generously sponsored by the Maco Family Fund!

Saturdays, Sundays, & by appointment year-round

a popular destination for more than a century.

Visit Inside NL Harbor Pequot Light

Visit Long Island Sound's oldest and tallest lighthouse. Photos: Saturday's visitors.

We offer Harbor Light tours every Saturday & Sunday at noon. Climb 116 steps up into the lighthouse lantern. The views are spectacular!​

Tours for up-to five people take approximately 40 minutes. Sign up today. To book a custom tour, send us an email.

Tuesday, March 25, 7:30 pm

UCONN Avery Point -- Coastal Perspectives Lecture Series  

Courtney J. Andersen, owner – Traditional Ship Rigging

Traditional Rigging in the 21st Century

Visit the Shop!

Stacking blocks and paper balloons

New this week in the Shop.

Day & night the NL HarborCam is your eye on the harbor. We've had 7.1M views. Photo, above: Sturgeon at City Pier 7 AM.

Please share Bluesky our new social media platform so that we can find our people! @customhouse.bsky.social

Photo, below: yesterday's selfies.

Photo, bottom: Tuesday's JIBBOOM!