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Milestones: Sea Mist Thimble Island Cruises
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Business New Haven
11/24/2003
By: Karen Singer
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Sea Mist Thimble
Island Cruises
P.O. Box 3138
Branford, CT 06408
Tel: 203-488-8905
Fax: 203-488-3416
Web: www.seamistcruises.com
Ownership: Michael Infantino
Milestone: 25 years
Timeline: In 1978, Michael Infantino bought a sightseeing boat from his uncle, who was ready to give up a weekend business of shuttling tourists around the Thimble Islands. Infantino had grown up on one of the islands, where his father was a caretaker, and was well acquainted with the history and folklore of the area. He learned to pilot watercraft by age nine, and especially fond of his uncle's boat, the Sea Mist, which he had been allowed to pilot only after spending hours cleaning and inspecting its various parts.
His uncle didn't make it any easier for him when the opportunity arose to buy the boat.
"Being an old-school Italian, he put a 'Boat for Sale' ad in the paper, and said, 'You have the first option,'" Infantino recalls. "I still have a document on my wall saying if I missed any payments he'd get it back.
"But that gave me the drive to keep going."
Sightseeing boats plying the waters around the Thimbles have been popular since the 19th century, a tradition Infantino at first pursued on weekends while working full-time for the public works department in Branford and elsewhere. Around 1983, however, Infantino decided to devote his full attentions to operating the boat during the week as well. "Both my father and uncle said, 'It'll never work,'" Infantino recalls.
But it did.
Over the last couple of decades Infantino not only has expanded the number of sightseeing runs, but also has added chartered parties, including catering, and seal-watching excursions to his repertoire. He also runs the local ferry service.
Along the way, he bought a larger passenger vessel, also called the Sea Mist, which accommodates 49 passengers. There are two other sightseeing boats traversing the Thimbles, but the Sea Mist has the longest season, running from March through November.
Looking Back on a Changing Industry: Developing and growing the business has not all been smooth sailing.
For one thing, the number of international tourists "dropped off dramatically" after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as did the volume of corporate charter bookings. Both markets are slowing returning to their previous levels, Infantino says.
The more-foul-than-fair weather of 2003 hasn't helped, either, so to compensate Infantino has offered discounts and other incentives as part of his 25th anniversary celebration. An updated video with new voiceover will soon be available on the Web site.
Infantino is concerned a proposed natural gas pipeline across Long Island Sound may put a damper on the seal watching.
"It will run right through one of the seal areas," he says. He's also considering expanding his ferry service along the coastline, perhaps up the Branford River or to New Haven Harbor.
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