Good morning from the shoreline.

It’s the last weekend of August, and I’m planning to spend as much of it outside as I can. The full moon is Friday, and the bluefish are in.

Two quick notes of my own first. The Shoreline Almanac is at the printer, and the Crew gets first access today. More details below. We’ve got a date for the inaugural Shoreline Dinner Club! Block off your calendars for September 22nd. More details to come.

Here’s what I’ve surfaced this week.

In today’s issue: first access to the Shoreline Almanac · a full-moon cruise from City Pier Friday · Sound Waves at Stonington Vineyards Sunday · the Gungywamp stone chambers, with a guide · a $25,000 bluefish tournament with a weigh-in on Pequot Avenue · your poll results

Heads up: Gmail sometimes cuts this email short. Read the full issue online →

START HERE

FIRST ACCESS

I’ve printed something.

The Shoreline Almanac is a 40-page seasonal handbook for the coast from the Thames to the Pawcatuck. The first edition arrives from the printer at the start of September, and the Crew gets first access.

Order yours at theshorelinecrew.com/almanac. Copies are $20, with shipping and tax included, and will arrive straight in your mailbox.

I’m borrowing a tradition from my Coast Guard years. When a ship is commissioned, the members of her first crew are known as plank owners. For this first edition, I’m offering a Plank Owner copy for $25 (or more if you choose). Your name will appear in a dedicated section of the next edition, the Winter Almanac.

This first printing is limited. If readers support it, the Shoreline Almanac will return each season.

Check it Out →

EDITOR’S PICKS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 28 · 7:15–8:15PM

City Pier, 1 Waterfront Park · New London

The Thames River Heritage Park boats run a one-hour Sturgeon Moon cruise from City Pier Friday night, and Friday is the actual full moon (a Thursday sailing runs too, one night shy). It’s weather dependent and booked through the Chamber. If you’d rather paint the moon than float under it, St. Edmund’s Retreat on Enders Island runs a nocturnal plein air oil workshop the same night, 7 to 10pm with a 6:30 arrival; bring your own materials and a light source.

Cruise → · Workshop →

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 · GATES NOON, MUSIC 1–4PM

Stonington Vineyards, 523 Taugwonk Rd · Stonington

TVCCA’s second Sound Waves Music Festival puts Pirates for Peace and Fake Experience on the vineyard lawn Sunday, with food trucks on site and picnic baskets welcome. Tickets are $20 online through Saturday and $25 at the gate; kids under 12 are free. The money goes to TVCCA’s programs across the region.

Plan it →

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, AUGUST 29–30 · FISHING OPENS 12:01AM SATURDAY

Weigh-in stations at AW Marina, 178 Pequot Ave, New London and Hillyer’s Tackle, 374 Mago Point Way, Waterford

The 44th WICC Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth runs across Long Island Sound all weekend, with a $25,000 grand prize for the biggest fish. Two of the official weigh-in stations are ours: AW Marina on Pequot Avenue and Hillyer’s Tackle at Mago Point. Fishing runs 12:01am Saturday to 5pm Sunday, entry is $36, and the stations weigh fish until 10pm Saturday and 5pm Sunday. If you don’t fish, the weigh-in is worth watching.

Plan it →

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 · 9:30AM HIKE · 2PM LECTURE · 2–6PM AT OUTER LIGHT

Gungywamp · Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park · Outer Light Brewing · Groton

The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center leads a guided hike to the Gungywamp stone chambers at 9:30 ($30, $25.50 for members, registration required). At 2, Jerad Hurwitz is at Fort Griswold Battlefield State Park talking about Alamo of the Revolution, his book on Benedict Arnold’s 1781 raid on Groton and New London; the battle’s 245th anniversary is Sunday, September 6. Outer Light Brewing pours from 2 to 6 with guest bartenders behind the taps; $1 from every pour and all the tips go to the Zara Manzur Foundation.

Hike → · Lecture → · Outer Light →

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 · 6PM

Hygienic Art, 79 Bank St · New London

Hygienic opens two shows at once Saturday at 6. F-Stops Here is the juried photography exhibit, judged this year by Todd Gipstein, who spent decades at National Geographic; it hangs through September 26. E Pluribus Venus puts five artists in one room, including Catherine Gibson’s fused glass and Serena Bates’s sculpture.

Plan it →

THE FULL RUNDOWN

Closer to home, the T-Tones play the last of Stonington Vineyards’ Friday concerts at 6, and the Oasis on Bank Street has a sea shanty night Friday and Northfield Saturday, both at 9. All three are in the Events list above.

Full live-music list at wailingcity.com →

SAVE THE DATE

MONDAY, AUGUST 31
The Sabino’s evening music cruise leaves Mystic Seaport at 5:30pm: live music and a cash bar on the way downriver through the drawbridge and the railroad bridge, turning around off Noank. · Mystic

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
The City of Groton’s farmers market runs 3 to 6pm at Washington Park on Meridian Street, with CT-grown produce, baked goods, seafood, meats and eggs. It repeats every Tuesday through October 27. · Groton

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Kitch runs Lunch Box Treats with Baker Lisa, 6 to 8pm, $85: herbed cheese crackers and breakfast cookies for the school-week lunch box. Five seats were left when I checked. · Mystic

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
The Mystic Museum of Art hosts the Luxe CT Speakers Series with Xarea Lockhart and Toriana Sauro, 5:30 to 6:30pm, moderated by director Alana H. Ryder. It ties to the Luxe CT: Velvet Mills to Modern Runways show, up through October 11. · Mystic

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Elizabeth Wellington Rollins talks and signs The Three Graces of Pearl Street at Bank Square Books, 5 to 6pm, the day after the novel publishes. · Mystic

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
Los Lobos closes out the summer concert series at Jonathan Edwards Winery on Chester Maine Road in North Stonington, 7pm, with the Boston blues band GA-20 opening. Seating opens at 5:30pm, tickets from $80, 21+, rain or shine. Tickets → · North Stonington

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12–13
The Connecticut Maritime Heritage Festival runs at Fort Trumbull and Waterfront Park, 10am to 5pm both days: vessel tours, a Kids Nautical Zone, living-history encampments, free water taxis between the two sites. Saturday night the Burning of Benedict Arnold march steps off from The Social on Bank Street at 7:30, and a 300-drone light show flies over the Thames at 8. · New London

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
The Fall Market at Grey Sail Brewing runs 1 to 5pm on Canal Street in Westerly: 20+ local vendors, food trucks, yard games, and live music from Casey Rivers and Shane Patrick & Elemental Groove Band. · Westerly

COASTAL WEATHER

That’s your week. Friday has the full-moon cruise from City Pier, Saturday has Gungywamp in the morning and Bank Street at night, and Sunday has Sound Waves at Stonington Vineyards.

Pick one thing off the list and get out the door.

Talk Thursday.