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ThimbleIslands.com

Located off the coast of Stony Creek village (in the city of Branford, CT), the Thimble Islands are an archipelago of 25 small rocky, wooded islands topped with Victorian-era summer cottages (replete with ginger bread trimming). The area is a boating paradise where kayakers, fishing boats, ferry boats, paddle boarders, islanders, & home owners all co-exist to enjoy this picture perfect sanctuary.

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Did you know? The Thimble Islands are named after the thimbleberry bush that grows throughout the island area, and are not a reference to their petite size.

https://www.thimbleislandslobsterbakes.com/

Stony Creek Brewery

5 Indian Neck Ave Branford, CT

203-433-4545

https://www.stonycreekbeer.com/

Stony Creek Market

178 Thimble Islands Road, Branford, CT

203-488-0145

https://stonycreekmarket.com/

The Thimbleberry

~ seasonal, opens in April ~

2 Indian Point Rd, Branford, CT

203-481-2836

https://www.facebook.com/TheThimbleberry/

Volsunga IV

4 Indian Point Rd, Branford, CT

203-481-3345

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/volsungacruises/

The Islander

203-433-2233

http://www.thimbleislander.com

Sea Mist - Thimble Islands Cruise

203-488-8905

https://thimbleislandcruise.com/

Thimble Island Kayak Rental

203-859-0546

https://thimbleislandkayak.com/

Branford River Paddlesports

203-980-8451

https://branfordriverpaddlesports.com/

Hotels / B&Bs

Thimble Islands Bed & Breakfast

28 West Point Road Stony Creek ~ Branford, CT

203-488-3693

https://thimbleislandsbb.com/

The Islander -Thimble Island Tours

Review Highlights

“ Captain Dave is a local who grew up on Kidd Island (yes, as in Captain Kidd) in the Thimbles. ” in 2 reviews

“ Dave's boat, The Islander, hold 14 passengers and is much smaller than the Sea Mist . ” in 2 reviews

Location & Hours

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30 Indian Point Rd

Stoney Creek Dock

Branford, CT 06405

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The Islander tours provides a local, small boat tour of the Thimble Islands. Our smaller vessel allows us to go where the bigger boats can't, and Captain Matt is a true "islander," having spent every summer of his life on the islands, so he is able to provide a feel for what it is like to grow up there. …

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It was a phenomenal day for a boat ride, and as usual the Thimble Islands were as spectacular as the weather. The views of the homes and the rock formations are breathtaking. Our charming captain, who is very animated, delighted in telling us the various stories behind some of the homes since she has spent her summers there as a child. It is always a pleasure to be around people who truly love their jobs. After decades of time spent in this area, the waves were the most dazzling three and four footers I had ever seen here. The boat was clean, and the other passengers were friendly and very well behaved, including many children.

Thimble island

Fantastic cruise yesterday!! Thank you Captain Lee for the great stories about many of the islands! You really know your stuff having grown up there. The whole experience was excellent!! I highly recommend it to anyone.

Captain Lee's stories were really fun!!

A couple of the smaller islands.

I've taken this tour 3 times this summer with visitors. This boat which is smaller than the other tour group is more intimate and more fun. All the captains are knowledgeable and grew up on the island. This is the #1 tourist activity in the area.

Was visiting Milford and was offered to check out the Thimble islands. The temperature was in the 90's so we sat in the back on the main level we were covered and protected from the sun by the upper level. The breeze was awesome. The tour lasted about 45 minutes. It was informative and enjoyable. Jake, the first mate was working the bar as well as bringing beverages for purchase. It was there that I tasted the Thimble islands beer and was inspired to go check out the brewery which is about 10 minutes away from the ferry station. If you're in the area highly recommend checking out these unique islands.

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Absolutely awesome had a great time with my family . We all loved it. The captain was very knowledgeable and a great story teller. Seems to know everyone on the water. The boat was cozy and comfortable.

The tour was informative, the guide interesting, and the trip delightful. Well worth the trip time to the area.

It was a beautiful Sunday toward the end of summer and we decided to take a ride to Branford for sThimble Island Cruise. I looked on the website for information after googling and planned to take the larger boat Sea Mist. The 3 boats that provide boat tours are all located at the town dock in Stony Creek and set off at different times all without reservations unless you are a group of 10 or more. We saw that the Sea Mist was still boarding when we arrived ( parked at church across from town beach $5 on the honor system) and tried to catch that tour but it was filled with one other group of 3 in front of us also turned away. They pointed out the other options would arrive in 20 min. Dave's boat, The Islander, hold 14 passengers and is much smaller than the Sea Mist. This might be worth noting if seas look rough . There were 11 onboard including one child. I'll note that since a few other reviews of Dave imply he doesn't like kids. The little girl was quiet and well behaved. Other than being out on the water and enjoying the views, it's really not a " kid" activity. Captain Dave is a Thimble Island local who was born on Kidd Island and offers a personal perspective of the Thimbles, which are a group of over 100 small islands off the coast of Branford, CT, several with only one home and many uninhabited. Kidd island is prob the most well known with a tie to the infamous captain Kidd! Captain Dave's boat The Islander, being small can navigate much closer to the islands and into some inlets the larger tour boat cannot. There is no bar or snack bar but it is covered providing shade for about half the seating. There are life jackets. Cost is $13 adults, $12 seniors (65+) and $8 children. The trip is about 45 min though longer if you're on the last tour at 340. It wasn't the most polished narration but Captain Dave had some great local stories and info on the small islands and their owners. It was an enjoyable hour on the water and well worth the cost! Footnote: head over to Stoney Creek Brewery after your boat tour... always happening with lots of outdoor seating and a great summer vibe!

Very informative! He grew up on the islands so has a lot of information, I liked the smaller boat as it allowed for us to be in the sun but had a cozy feel. It seems like he has his spiel down so there isn't any time for questions but I didn't have any. He was a dollar cheaper then the other 2 tours and starts at 10:40 and goes out every hour. Not sure how the other tours are but definitely wasn't disappointed.

Captain Dave is a local who grew up on Kidd Island (yes, as in Captain Kidd) in the Thimbles. His smaller boat can get navigate the inlets better than the bigger Sea Mist. And Captain Dave gives a colorful and often hilarious history and commentary of the islands. He reminded me of "the dude" from Big Lebowski meets Jimmy Buffet. Highly recommend Captain Dave if your looking for a more personal and less touristy cruise. Great trip.

Caption dave runs a tight ship. He made several comments to the boat about keeping kids quiet, " I do 7 tours a day and I can't do them with all the chatter and side conversations". The boat only holds 13 people, which was 3 families, so 6 adults and 7 kids (all under 8). No one was being especially noisy. Just kids excited to be on a boat. If you want an authentic crusty sea captain look no further.

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Captain Dave's Thimble Island Cruises - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024) - Tripadvisor

Thimble Islands Cruise | Connecticut’s Vacation Retreat

Captain Bob Milne’s tours of Connecticut’s Thimble Islands are big on legend, lore, and history—but what he doesn’t tell you also reveals island truths.

By Wayne Curtis

Jun 24 2014

Captain Bob Milne on the stern of his tour boat, the Volsunga IV. He’s a native of Stony Creek, a mainland village of Branford, Connecticut, and has spent most of his life on the water.

Wearing a microphone headset and perched up in the bow of his 48-passenger tour boat, the Volsunga IV , Captain Bob points out the granite rocks of Cut-in-Two, then adds a critical detail: Tom Thumb carved his initials into those stones more than a century ago. The passengers murmur appreciatively; it’s a small, lulling sound, like waves against a hull. Then we pass Dogfish Rock, and Captain Bob points out that it’s one of the few manmade islands hereabouts—created by piling rock upon rock hauled from the mainland—and he uses this fact to launch into a brief disquisition into how owning an island could raise the status of members of the gentry during the late Victorian era. Near Bear Island, once home to an active quarry, he tells us that the island’s distinctive stone can be found today in the Lincoln Memorial, Grant’s Tomb, and the base of the Statue of Liberty. Lips purse into the universal “who knew?” expression, and heads nod.

Captain Bob is Bob Milne, a lifelong resident of Stony Creek, Connecticut. He’s the owner and operator of Thimble Island Cruises, leading 45-minute tours through these islands throughout the summer. It’s a little-known fact, but animating rocks is one of the skills honed by good tour guides. They can take something inert and uninteresting and inject a bit of wonder into it. They mine rocks for murmurs.

We motor on, and Captain Bob points out Governor Island, now populating it with one Mr. Weed, a businessman and avid gardener who lived there during the early decades of the last century. He paints a vision of a white-goateed gentleman puttering around the harbor in an elegant mahogany steam launch and wearing a white captain’s cap. “And the name of Mr. Weed’s boat was …?” Captain Bob trails off in a question. He awaits an answer, which isn’t forthcoming from the two dozen passengers this morning. “The Sea Weed, of course,” he says. A muffled groan arises, and Captain Bob waits for it to subside before adding, “If you’re overthinking it, you shouldn’t be on this boat.”

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One of the most common descriptions of the Thimbles—an archipelago of some 100 to 300 islands (the number depending on the tide and your own definition of an island, as opposed to a rocky outcropping) just off Stony Creek—is that they look like a piece of Maine that somehow broke free and drifted south before running aground in Long Island Sound. That’s a hard description to improve upon. Like their granite cousins to the north, these islands are craggy and stoic and come in eclectic shapes and sizes—some round like igloos, some long like bony fingers.

Two dozen of them are capped with houses: some small; others that seem out of scale, like a large hat sitting precariously atop a head. Many were built as island getaways for the affluent, who arrived by steamship or train from New York, or by streetcar from New Haven, about a dozen miles to the west. The Thimble Islands—named after the thimbleberries that grew on them, not their diminutive size—didn’t attract top-tier robber barons, but rather their court followers, including bankers and brass-mill owners. “We were a notch below Newport,” Captain Bob says.

Captain Bob is nearing 54 years old and grew up on the mainland in Stony Creek, when it was still more or less a blue-collar working waterfront, a poor-cousin coastal neighborhood that’s technically part of the town of Branford. He was one of six kids; he stayed as his siblings all moved away.

Captain Bob took to the water as a teen. “As a kid you could always work on the islands,” he told me. He began by hauling garbage—“I know the backs of all these houses,” he notes wryly—and at age 14 worked aboard the small private ferry and tour service that operated from the town dock. He started the lifelong endeavor of accumulating information about the islands, their residents, and the complicated relations between the two. (Growing up, he said, “it was Creekers and Islanders. Once in a while we’d mix. But they had nicer boats, and we had old dories.”)

Thimble Islands | When You Go

Wayne Curtis

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Volsunga IV makes 45-minute tours of the Thimble Islands daily. Captain provides lively narration of history and pirate legends. Available for private charter, groups.

Tour time: 45 minutes

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Departs from Stony Creek Town Dock. Indian Point Rd. Branford , CT 06405 United States

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Captain Dave's Thimble Island Cruises

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CAPTAIN DAVE'S THIMBLE ISLAND CRUISES (Branford) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

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Thimble Islands Cruise

ABOARD THE SEA MIST & ISLAND TIME

CLOSED TUESDAYS   (Boat and Office)

Office Hours 9:am to 3:pm M,W,T &F   Saturday and Sunday 9:am to 12:Noon!

203-488-8905 

Reservations click the “BOOK NOW” button on main page.

Dock Location:

• Narrated tours and Private charters on the SEA MIST , GPS is # 30 Indian Point Road, Branford (GPS is for directions to the boat only and not our physical address for the office. Please mail to: PO BOX 3138 Stony Creek CT 06405)
• Cruises on the vessel ISLAND TIME are from Safe Harbor(Bruce and Johnson Marina) GPS is # 99 Block Island Rd, Branford

Please Note: We are one of three tour boats  at the Stony Creek Dock. Each boat does the Thimble Islands. Each boat has a slightly different route. Each boat is different in size. Each boat has a different schedule and price. Each Thimble Islands Cruise goes by the boat name!  Sea Mist is ours! 

This was the first SEA MIST 1960 , twenty-six passengers!

Our family owned business was purchased by Matt Infantino in 1960 and I purchased it in 1978 when he retired. May 2018 marks my 40th year as owner and operator of Sea Mist Thimble Islands Cruise. Now along with my sons we hope you enjoy a tour around the historic Thimble Islands, this summer! Join Captains Mike, Justin, Bryan and the crew of the Sea Mist as you tour the famous Thimble Islands off the coast of Branford, Connecticut. For nearly sixty years, 1000s of seafarers have enjoyed tours and charters of the Long Island Sound with Thimble Island Cruise.

Safety: The Sea Mist is equipped with a life jacket for every adult & child on board plus two life rafts. We also have off shore medical kit / trauma kit with D-Fib and trained personal.

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                   90 Minute cruise in the Branford River & Harbor/28 person capacity/Departing Daily/$32.00 per … Read More... about Cruise The Branford River Aboard ISLAND TIME

2024 With our new online booking system, we will book month to month. Towards the end of each month we will open the following month for new reservations. … Read More... about Bookings

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Office is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday  9:am to 3:pm Please leave a detailed message if we do not answer! We will return your call asap!  Tours and charters will begin the first weekend … Read More... about We Are Open For 2024

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Sea Mist, LLC. Thimble Islands Cruise PO Box 3138 Stony Creek,Ct. 06405 Phone 203-488-8905

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Captain Dave's Thimble Island Cruises

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Captain Dave's Thimble Island Cruises - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

OUR MINISTER

Dr. Joseph Lozovyy was born into a Christian family in Elektrostal, Moscow Region, and was raised in a pastor’s home. From the age of fifteen, he began actively participating in the music ministry of the Baptist Church in Mytishchi, where his father served as a pastor, and also played in the orchestra of the Central Moscow Baptist Church. From 1989, he participated in various evangelistic events in different cities of Moscow Region and beyond. From 1989 to 1992, as a member of the choir and orchestra “LOGOS,” he participated in evangelistic and charitable concerts, repeatedly performing on the stages of the Moscow State Conservatory, the Bolshoi Theatre, and other concert halls in Russia and abroad. In 1992, his family moved to the United States. In 2007, after completing a full course of spiritual and academic preparation, Joseph moved to Dallas, Texas, to engage in church ministry. In 2008, he founded the Russian Bible Church to preach to the Russian-speaking population living in Dallas, Texas.

– Bachelor of Arts in Music (viola) from the Third Moscow Music School named after Scriabin, Russia (1987-1991)

– Master of Theology (Th.M); Dallas Theological Seminary, Texas (1999-2003);

– Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) Hebrew Bible (Books of Samuel): University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (2007).

– Doctoral research (2004-2005) Tübingen, Germany.

– Author of a theological work published in English: Saul, Doeg, Nabal and the “Son of Jesse: Readings in 1 Samuel 16-25, LHBOTS 497 [T&T Clark/Continuum: Bloomsbury Publishing]).

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/saul-doeg-nabal-and-the-son-of-jesse-9780567027535/

Joseph and his wife Violetta and their son Nathanael live in the northern part of Dallas.

Saul, Doeg, Nabal, and the “Son of Jesse”: Readings in 1 Samuel 16-25: The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies Joseph Lozovyy T&T Clark (bloomsbury.com)

Joseph, his wife Violetta and their son Nathaniel live in North Dallas, Texas where he continues ministering to Russian-speaking Christians and his independent accademic research.

Published Work

1. bloomsbury:, 2. buy at christian book distributors:, 3. buy on amazon:.

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Captain Dave's Thimble Island Cruises - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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