Tag Archives: Stonington Town Dock at 11:30 a.m.

Connecticut: Organizers focused on ‘the important things’ ahead of 68th annual Blessing of the Fleet

Stonington – In late 1989, rescue teams and U.S. Coast Guard personnel spent more than 11 days combing 10,000 square miles of ocean off the coast of Nantucket using three aircraft carriers and two cutters following the disappearance of the Heidi Marie, a 72-foot commercial lobster boat out of Stonington that went missing just before Thanksgiving. The search teams found evidence of possible distress that was believed to have killed the boat’s five occupants, Capt. Mark Middleton and crew members Arthur Banks, Kenneth Raymond Gould, Michael Lane and Ray Morris. Their bodies were never found, but their story and the stories of other local fisherman who died will not be forgotten, thanks in part to a long-rooted tradition that will return this weekend when St. Mary Church in Stonington hosts its 68th annual Blessing of the Fleet. >click to read< 22:10