Regarding Pleione: Sometime around 1967-71 I was at US Submarine School and later based out of Groton/New London on Submarines. Having a strong interest in boats and sailing I became aware of Mystic Seaport and the shore between Westerly and Old LYme. Back in those days I could get an afternoon off and would head over to Jamestown, RI, where one could catch the ferry to Newport (no bridge yet!) Of course the draw was that on those summer days in the passage to Newport we would get up close and personal views of the 12's practicing for the America's Cup........But one day I was kicking around the Mystic shipyard (I think-first one S of the Rt 1 bridge on the East/Stonington side) I was surprised to find the largest piece of lead I had ever seen-sitting in the launching cradle was a ballast keel so big I thought "where could this have come from?" Fresh from the recent 12 meter activity over in Newport I could only think of one of them! Then I remembered that Pleione was up the river at the Seaport. (Of course Vayu nee Doris was across the river!) So I ran on up to the Seaport and being after hours (and I was a member!), I jumped the fence. There alongside the south bulkhead was Pleione afloat. Her deck structures and hatches had been cutout of the deck and were lying on the lawn. Her bilges were freshly filled with concrete . The last 2 feet of the boat, transom and all had been sawn off and , like a tombstone, lay there with the name Plieone visible. That transom ended up in the NYYC Clubhouse at the Seaport. Her mainmast for a time became the flagpole just North of Cottrell's lumber yard on the East bank of the river. A very sad story/ JC
