Stratford has several small-craft facilities. The principal wharf has a depth of about 9 feet at its end. The harbormaster at Stratford controls anchorages and moorings, and has jurisdiction from the entrance of the river to the Shelton town line. Harbor regulations may be obtained from the harbormaster who may be contacted through the Stratford police or at the Town Hall.
A 5 mph speed limit is enforced on the river near anchorage and mooring areas and near boat slips.
Devon is on the east side about 1 mile above Stratford. Local small craft anchor near the east bank of the river, just north of the highway bridge, in depths up to 10 feet. A 40-foot marine railway at a small craft facility at Devon can haul out craft for engine and hull repairs; gasoline, water, ice, marine supplies, and storage are available. In 1981, depths of 4 feet were reported alongside the facility.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Stratford Point Light (41°09’07″N., 73°06’12″W.), 52 feet above the water, is shown from a white conical tower, with brown band midway of its height, from the southerly part of the point.
A Federal project provides for an 18-foot dredged channel from Long Island Sound between the breakwater on the east and Stratford Point on the west upriver for about 4.3 miles to the lower end of Culver Bar.
The channel in Housatonic River is narrow and crooked, with little depth on either side, and across the bars in the channel are dredged cuts 100 feet wide. The tidal currents are strong, especially in the lower part of the river. Small craft, without should proceed with caution and preferably on a rising tide.
When entering the river during a flood current, care must be taken to avoid being set on the shoals on the west side by strong westerly currents. In the vicinity of Milford Point care should be exercised to avoid a shoal that reportedly extends from Milford Point to the eastern edge of the channel. Care should also be exercised off the extreme northern end of Nells Island as a shoal is reported to have encroached into the channel. By steering a midchannel course no difficulty should be encountered.
