At Avery Point, A Marine Study That Spans The Ages

A tape measure weaves through iron pins jutting from a keel as UConn-Avery Point Professor David Robinson leads students from his Methods in Marine Archaeology course through a lesson documenting the wreck of William Gillette's yacht, the Aunt Polly, Wednesday in Lyme.


Lyme — Waves splashed knee-high on Arthur Williams, filling his rubber boots with chilly water as he and other University of Connecticut-Avery Point students surveyed an underwater shipwreck Wednesday.
The remains of William Gillette's steam yacht, the Aunt Polly, still lie on the shore of the Connecticut River. A tangle of timber and metal that burned in 1932, they bear little resemblance to the grand boat that once boasted a fireplace, a library and a piano.
For students of maritime archeology, a new minor offered by UConn-Avery Point, the site, next to the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, provided an opportunity to map actual wreckage.
With feet that seemed immune to the cold, Professor David Robinson waded in the water wearing sandals. He ran a tape measure 144 feet from the stern of the boat downstream, still visible at low tide, to the bow end, buried in the bank.
Wooden pilings stuck up out of the water and peg-like metal fasteners poked out of the wet sand. What appeared to be a tree stump was really a burned timber embedded in the riverbank.
A team in the water, Williams and Laurent Matson, shouted out measurements of parts of the ship. Rachel Sonn, on shore, plotted the data on a map and Dylan McCullough took photographs.
The goal was to monitor how quickly the wreck is eroding, and to help develop a long-term plan to preserve it.
Because it is one of only two shipwrecks in the state designated as an archeological preserve, the information will be used as a permanent part of the historic record maintained by the state.
Ken Beatrice, of the Friends of the Office of State Archeology and a local resident, pushed to get that designation. The remains of the boat have taken a beating over the years from ice that forms on the sides of the river in the winter, snapping off the timbers, and the waves created from boats passing by, he said.
People come to the picnic area and say, “What's this ugly thing? Why don't you get rid of it?” Beatrice said.
Beatrice tells them the history of the boat that served as Gillette's house from 1901 to 1919 while his castle was being built. It was later set in a concrete foundation to be used as a garden house.
There were rumors that Gillette, an actor known for playing Sherlock Holmes, burned Polly himself for the insurance money. But Gillette defended himself in a newspaper, saying there was no insurance. “I did not think of it in time,” he wrote in a letter to the editor.
Another rumor was that Gillette wanted to avoid paying taxes to the town of Lyme. In 1922, the value of his castle and grounds was assessed at $58,300. Gillette protested, declaring the value to be no more than $22,350.
But Beatrice said that the burning occurred in December, and the fire could easily have started from the commonly used kerosene heaters that protect the systems in the boat.
Helen Rozwadowski, an associate professor and coordinator of the maritime studies program, said UConn-Avery Point added the archeology minor as interest in the subject grew.
Students like McCullough hope to make it their career. He started out as an engineering major, and likes the technical side of such underwater documentation.
“I like investigating stuff that's been there for years,” he said.

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