Lure of Charles Island Difficult To Resist

From CTPost: Lure of Charles Island Difficult To Resist

MILFORD -- Standing on the shore of Silver Sands State Park, it's difficult to resist the tantalizing pull of Charles Island, the half-mile distant wildlife sanctuary connected by a sandbar that's visible at low tide.

One of those who attempted to walk to the island on Independence Day was Rocco Daddio Jr., 34, of Hamden. Authorities said he was walking with a 9-year-old boy about 3:30 p.m. when they were swept off the sandbar by the incoming tide.

The boy was rescued by a jet-skier, but Daddio drowned. His body was recovered by rescue workers more than two hours later.

"He was one-of-a-kind, and a jokester," said his boss at Lee Partyka Chevrolet-Mazda in Hamden, sales manager Andrew Quintyne.

"An incredible human being, always with a smile on his face. He was a vital part of the dealership and our sales team, and no one will be able to replace him."

Most of those on the beach Tuesday morning said they treat the sandbar with a good deal of respect, particularly after the July 4 tragedy.

"As far as going out there to the island, never," said Sladjana Pokrajac, 21, who was in charge of several children attending a private day camp Tuesday morning.

She said she was at the beach with her brother as the emergency unfolded. "As soon as I heard what was happening, I stayed out of the water." She said she soon left with her brother. "I didn't want him to see what was going on."

Like many who spent their summers on the beaches of Milford in their formative years, she said she did walk on the sandbar on occasion.

"But I was always too chicken to go all the way," she said.

"The rocks are very slippery," said Carl Lucas, of Southbury, who was walking on the sandbar with his wife Monday morning. "We have walked out to the island, but when you do, you don't have much time to get back to the beach again."

"He must have been caught by the current," said Mike Cumpelik, who now lives in Florida but grew up in Milford. "You have to use common sense if you can't swim. It seems like such a fun idea to do -- to try to walk out there."

A father, walking with his 6-year-old son, said they wouldn't venture out very far.

"My son wanted to go out all the way, but that's too dangerous," said Andrew Bordley of Wallingford.

Officially, the island is closed to the public between May 24 and Sept. 9 because it is a nesting site for herons and egrets, and a warning sign to this effect is posted on the beach. But on a typical sunny weekend in July and August, dozens of beach-goers attempt the walk to the island.

On June 8, responders from the Milford Fire Department and pleasure boaters rescued three teen-agers who, like Daddio, were swept into deeper water while walking on the sandbar. A week before that incident, three other children were pulled out of the water by a pleasure boater near the same spot.

The 3,000-foot sandbar is almost completely submerged at high tide. At low tide, the first 1,500 feet or so seems wide, dry and secure, but the sandbar narrows the closer one gets to the island. About 1,000 feet from the island, it becomes little more than a narrow row of slippery rocks, so not much of a current is needed to knock unsuspecting walkers off of their feet and into the water.

There are three signs posted by the state warning of the danger. Two are on the beach -- one facing east, the other west ­-- and a third is on the sandbar itself. They read: "DANGER! Sandbar floods twice daily with strong currents and undertow."

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has no plans to change the wording of the signs, or to add more signs.

"We do believe that the wording on the signage that we have right now is fairly strong, and it should be enough to deter people from going out there," said Dwayne Gardner, a spokesman for the DEEP. "The island is also off-limits this time of year because of nesting shorebirds."

The 12-acre island was owned by United Illuminating between 1949 and 1981, when it was purchased by the state, along with 59 acres of beach property for $522,950. In the late 1940s, UI had considered placing a power plant on the island, cooling it with water from the Sound.

In the late 1980s, as plans for development of the state park were taking shape, a proposal was floated to build a boardwalk connecting Charles Island with the Silver Sands beach, but this plan never materialized.

It was thought at the time such a boardwalk would limit beach erosion at Silver Sands, in addition to making the walk out there a good deal safer. But the city and the state squabbled over details; Milford wanted a jetty with a walkway on top, but the state DEEP wanted a raised boardwalk structure that would allow a natural flow of water to take place.

In the 1960s, the state had considered turning Silver Sands into a rival of Hammonasset State Park in Madison. To this end, more than 220,000 cubic yards of sand was dumped there, but it all washed away within eight years.

The island was known in earlier days as "Hard Luck Island," owing to the people who tried and failed to start businesses there, including a farmer who wanted to set up a tobacco plantation. There used to be a monastery there, too, but that washed away in a storm.

In 1982, state crews succeeded in placing a concrete cap on a 20-foot-deep well on the island that was viewed as a safety hazard.

In 1984, the Milford Harbor Commission wanted to establish an pleasure boat anchorage between Charles Island and the mainland, in part to keep speeding boats away from swimmers. That idea was soon scrapped.

In 1992, treasure hunter "West Coast" Don Johnson, president of Sunken Treasure Inc. of Fort Myers, Fla., was slapped with a cease-and-desist order for selling stock in a Charles Island treasure-hunting scheme. Johnson said he would search for Captain William Kidd's rumored treasure on the island. But the DEP never granted him a permit to dig for the pirate's supposed riches.