Monthly Archives: July 2014

Wednesday, 30 July

The replica Amistad passed in Hog Island Channel, tall ship #7 seen so far.

Standing at the helm, there’s a high-pitched whistling that doesn’t stop. It sometimes changes pitch, rising, but it doesn’t stop. Just keeps whistling.

Or is it the wind asking a question, “Who-o-o-o-o-o-o-o?” as in “Who wouldn’t want to sail with me today?”

The answer, of course, is no one. The sun is bright, the sky blue and Buzzards Bay barely makes the bow bounce. The five knots NOAA predicted is more like—in fact, is—a steady 15 but who-o-o-o-o-o-o’s counting? There’s a reef in the main, the foresail’s reefed to working jib size and Steadfast still sails southward making 4½ to 5-knots. Not bad.

With lookout on the bow, the Ice Cream Boat trolls Onset Harbor.

In Onset last night, the fireworks proved to be a one-hundred year event, a show worthy of the Canal centennial. Two barges tied-off at the west end of the canal launched their first missiles about 2100 and kept at it for thirty minutes or more. Multiple bursts, many colors, going all the time. Quite a display.

Boats filled Onset Bay for the Big Show.

After laundry ashore and chores aboard, it was 1235 before Steadfast was underway today. Landfall in the Elizabeth Islands was the goal. Hadley Harbor, maybe Cuttyhunk. But NOAA’s shy westerly turned out to be a southerly with sass. She started kicking about the time Steadfast motored out of Hog Island Channel. Tacking from there, shore to shore, she somehow managed to squeeze three-and-a-half hours out of what is a five-mile trip “as the crow flies.” Go figga.

Many homes here date to when the whaling business was good.

But great fun, which is how she happens to sit tonight in the broad and deep harbor at Mattapoisett. That’s the port just east of Fairhaven and west of Marion. Where the locals built whaling 400 ships for New Bedford, ships with famous names like Achushnet (on which Herman Melville gathered material for “Moby Dick”) and Wanderer. Whaling is why streets are lined with home after home built in the first half of the nineteenth century.

The granite Town Wharf leads to the Town Green where colorful folding lawn chairs form neat rows for their occupants. A swing band takes its place under the copper dome of the bandstand and old standards float across the harbor.

The Town Wharf is full but there’s plenty of room to anchor in the broad harbor.

No whistling, though. Not ‘til tomorrow.

Steadfast out.

Tuesday, 29 July

Built in 1834 in the Greek Revival style, the Town Hall today is dressed to celebrate the town’s 375th anniversary.

An early morning fog erased the hull of this ketch which may be why she had a tough time battling the current.

One of many special stops on the 2012 trip was Sandwich, MA, at the east end of the Cape Cod Canal. Not very big—neither the town nor the town marina—Sandwich has the ambiance Kate usually enjoys. Reasons enough to motor—with the current, of course—the eight miles back through the canal and slip into Sandwich Town Marina.

Oh, and one more reason: to wash off three week’s worth of salt from the hull and decks. The transient rate at Sandwich is $2.25 a foot, a bargain for this part of the world. Heck, there are harbors that get that much to hang on a mooring.   It was worth every penny to get Steadfast clean again, albeit perhaps not for long.

Details like the second floor corner windows make this house a gem.

An early arrival Sunday allowed time to bathe Steadfast, then to clock off a few miles (some of us fewer than others) of the Canal Walk, a paved path that flanks the roughly seven miles of the canal proper, the man-made portion.

The Army Corps of Engineers took over the canal from the original developers in 1928 and has kept it since. And doing it well, from all appearances. While winds blew and thunderstorms threatened, there was time to tour the Corps’ Canal Visitor Center. Great fun watching the same radar, closed circuit TV and digital tracking displays that that are monitored in the Marine Traffic Control Center. Just a suggestion: be careful what you do when transiting the Cape Cod Canal. I’m just sayin’.

Thomas Dexter started grinding corn at this mill in 1654.  Yes THIS mill!

Sandwich itself was the first settlement on Cape Cod, dating to 1637. As is the case with so many New England cities and towns, its history remains visible today down every street, it seems, in its homes, churches and public buildings. Town Hall Square is only about a mile away from the marina and well worth the walk.

So is the Poppy Bagel McNagle at the Marshland Diner. The Marshland is a throw back to the 50s with booths around the walls surrounding low counter. While the lunch there has not been sampled, breakfast Monday was a return visit from two years ago and servings remain as they were, ample and delicious.

The Mass Maritime tugs Hercules and Alert squeezed into the marina to ready for the big parade.

While waiting for the current to turn once again, this time westward, Steadfast was joined on the pier by two, then three, tugs from Mass Maritime Academy. July 29 is the anniversary of the canal’s opening and the Corps’ celebration includes a Tug Boat Parade and much-talked-about fireworks display off a barge at Onset.

That being the case, Steadfast today came west on the canal and turned hard a-starboard at Green 1 to sit once again in Onset Bay, positioned to enjoy the evening’s entertainment. Only eight nautical miles today but tons of fun.

Steadfast out.

Tugs and tall ships all dressed for the centennial parade.

Saturday, 26 July

The bow wave rises and runs the 26 feet to the stern quarter before spanking the dinghy. When it hits, her bottom goes pop, pop, splat. A brief pause, then pop, pop, splat, the rhythmic riff repeats.

This can be heard and enjoyed this morning because Little Red rests. Steadfast sails!

A lonesome lobster boat was the only traffic on Mass Bay.

With 10 knots out of the so’west, Steadfast reaches southward down Massachusetts Bay toward Farnham Rocks, slipping along on a flat sea making five knots. There’s the promise of sun later but at 0730 it hides behind a thick overcast. The air temperature hovers at 60° so this has all the feel of a Fall sail on the Chesapeake. The plethora of pot floats only adds to that feeling.

Scituate Light dates to 1810.

Despite conditions that seem ideal, hers are the only sails to be seen round seven or so miles of horizon. This after a pleasant night in Scituate Harbor, MA, where Abigail and Rebecca Bates became the “Army of Two.”  One with a fife, the other a drum, they ran to the lighthouse their father tended and made enough noise to discourage a British landing during the War of 1812. The light still stands at the entrance to a long, sheltered harbor that has most landside services a sailor might want within a short walk of the Harbormaster’s office at the town pier.

Once Steadfast slid out past the breakwater, her heading was basically due south. She’d pass Howard Ledge (remember him? Hit .238 for the ‘54 Reds), then Mary Ann Rocks (and ain’t that the truth!). But ideal conditions last only so long. East of Gurnet Point about 1030, the wind died, then shifted more southerly. Little Red responded faithfully but the blow built a bit of a chop as Steadfast neared to the Cape Cod Canal.

Her arrival there coincided roughly with the time of maximum current westard which pushed her along at what was thought to be remarkable speed. From 4.5 knots, it jumped to 5.8, 6.5 and just that quickly, into the 8s. Passing under the Bourne Bridge, speed over the bottom broke ten (10) knots. Not bad.

Coast Guard Cutter Eagle joined the Charles W. Morgan at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy pier, part of the celebration of the canal’s 100th anniversary.

The Hood Dairy blimp hovered over the festivities for the Canal’s centennial.

The west end of the Canal was pandemonium, boats of all types and sizes going in all directions—and with great velocity—while that southerly breeze blew the westbound current into a swirling froth. Just nuts.

With nearly 39 miles under her keel, Steadfast turned into Onset Bay and the situation settled considerably. Not the relaxing sail of the morning but a good deal more sane than the canal turned out to be.

The atmosphere in here is festive, this being the assembly point for tonight’s centennial celebration “Lighted Boat Parade.”  Not, however, for Steadfast who swings on her mooring. The wind still blows.  And the dinghy delivers a comforting pop, pop…splat.

Steadfast out.

Wednesday, 23 July

The stacks at the electric plant are more of a Salem landmark than the 1871 lighthouse at Winter Island.

Steadfast rocks a bit, rolls five-degrees either side of even keel and swings in step with the gals on either side of her. NOAA got it right, so far: so’west 15 – 20, gusting to 30, with the promise of thunderstorms overnight. A witches’ brew, as it were. But then, this is the harbor of Salem, Massachusetts. You know, the Salem that invented the term “witch hunt.”

It was nothing like this when Steadfast yesterday motored away from Gloucester. Though just 12½ miles to the west, the two tall stacks of the Salem power plant were not to be seen, hidden behind a morning haze. But it was just a diaphanous veil, not fog, so it was a straightforward trip up Salem Channel and into the harbor.

The square-rigged East Indiaman Friendship rests where more than a dozen warehouses once stood on Derby Wharf in Salem Maritime Park.

Ever the accountant, Kate checks gables at the house Hawthorne made famous.

In its heyday in the nineteenth century, this was the sixth largest city in the US. Evidence of her fascinating history can be seen round every corner. A dark timber-framed house built in 1668 still looms over the harbor today as it did when it inspired Hawthorne’s fictional “House of the Seven Gables.”

It’s just one of a remarkable collection of historic homes, most bearing a hand-painted plaque that identifies the year of construction and original owner. In this town, “pre-war” means before 1776.

Customs collected in Salem once covered a big chunk of the US budget.

It was after the Revolution that Salem shipbuilders and merchants built a booming economy on trade with Europe and the Far East. Shipowner Elias Derby became the country’s first millionaire.  He built his stately mansion next to the Custom House and across the street from half-mile-long Derby Wharf.

For Salem, the issues were clear in the War of 1812.

Everybody here seems to have done well during the War of 1812, too, when the new country fought for “free trade and sailor’s rights.”  Shipowners converted their merchant vessels to privateers to prey on British shipping earning as much as 400% return on expenses. Several buildings from that era still stand, comprising the Salem Maritime National Park.

For every maritime site, though, there seem to be several seeking to capitalize on the witch trials. Witch House, Witch Museum, Witch Wax Museum, Witch Tees. Instead of the city seal, Salem Police cars carry the image of a witch on a broom!

Great, great, etc. grandfather George was among those found guilty of witchcraft.

But the witch trials of 1692 have nothing to do with hags in pointy hats. They have everything to do with real people, politics, pride and mass hysteria. Among the real victims is one of mother’s forebears, George Jacobs, Sr., convicted of being a warlock and executed. A well-known mid-19^th century painting shows his trial. This made mandatory a visit to Old Point Burial Ground and the simple granite memorial to the witch trial victims.

Hawthorne, the harbor, witch trials. Salem is full of stories.

And, for this evening, a good bit of wind.

Steadfast out.

Monday, 21 July

The famous bronze memorial was unveiled in 1923.

They that go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters; these see the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep. Psalm 107, 23-24 – inscription on the Gloucester Fisherman’s Monument

When a city traces its roots to 1623, it probably has a right to call itself “America’s first seaport.” And almost everything about Gloucester, MA—in its history and still today—is tied to the sea.

The iconic statue that stares out to the Atlantic across Western Harbor remembers the fishermen known to be lost at sea, a total of 5,368, most recently in 2011. In 1879, a single storm claimed 159 men.

The former Burnham’s Railway now is home to a museum that preserves the city’s maritime history.

City streets all seem to lead to the waterfront from which a small fleet of schooners still sails daily from the pier at Maritime Gloucester, a museum that includes railroad, dory shop, dive shop and extensive exhibits to capture the city’s past.

The waterfront spreads before the watchful eye of a sculpture of Fitz Henry Lane, poised on the hill where a small park now surrounds his modest granite home. Lane was a 19^th century watercolorist, the first of many well-known artists—Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper, among them—who drew inspiration in Gloucester. The tradition continues with the dozens of artists based in studios on Rocky Neck.

The first Unitarian Church in the US stands tall on a city hill.

Seafaring continues as a central theme, too, with the many workboats that bring the day’s catch to Gorton Foods and as seen in weekly episodes of National Geographic TV’s “Wicked Tuna.”

The reality series “Wicked Tuna” features the crew of Hot Tuna.

A handful of sail yachts—some foreign-flagged—lie at anchor in the inner harbor. Recreational boats of all kinds move about, too. But for this colorful harbor is built by and for “those who go down to the sea in ships and do business in great waters.”

Steadfast out.

Sunday, 20 July

There’s a nice little current running down the ocean side of Cape Ann this afternoon, nudging Steadfast along at an average of five-point-six knots over the southerly swell. Not much of the forecast five-to-10 northerly reaches the deck so Little Red does all the work.

The “back float” was Steadfast’s home in Rockport.

With farewells exchanged with Andrew and Ron at Sandy Bay YC, and Cap’n Bill on the wharf, Steadfast cast off from Rockport at 1215 and once abeam of Straitsmouth Island Light, turned south toward neighboring Gloucester, an easy 12 miles away.

The decision was made Friday evening, while studying the charts and the Maine Cruising Guide. From Rockport, it’s about 70 NM to Portland, ME. For Steadfast, and in all likelihood Little Red, that’s a 14-hour day. And Mount Desert lies another 120 NM east of Portland. Pushing that hard, then beating back against the prevailing so’westerlies, seemed inconsistent with the tenor of a trip averaging little more than 100 miles a week!

A list was made of a dozen harbors skipped on the way up. Add the several to be seen again and Steadfast has enough sailing ahead of her to fill the next eight weeks.

The Harvey Gamage tied off with Adventurer, each more than 110′ in length.

Which brings her to Gloucester, a working harbor more than a yachting center, homeport to the Andrea Gail before she ran into the “Perfect Storm.” And back in the day, to the schooner Gertrude L. Thebaud when she famously dueled Bluenose (see video at http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675075508_Gertrude-L-Thebaud-schooner_Lipton-Cup-Regatta_Bluenose-schooner_racing).

The 65-foot Thomas E. Lannon leads the double-ended “pinky” schooner Ardelle past the Gloucester breakwater.

That said, there’s no lack of handsome yachts here under sail on a Sunday afternoon, some with a decidedly historic look of their own. The artists’ colony on Rocky Neck is well worth a stroll. And in Smith Cove, a harborside table at The Studio, Rudder or Mad Fish adds an especially salty flavor to dinner.

The Tarr and Wonson Paint Manufactory has been a fixture in Gloucester since constructed in 1874.

Maine’s coast is unlike any other but Emerson’s words again come to mind: “Life’s a journey, not a destination.” And as journeys go, a setting a course through Gloucester ain’t bad.

Steadfast out.

Friday, 18 July

Like most clubs up here, Sandy Bay YC has an active junior program.

From the Town Wharf and Sandy Bay Yacht Club, it’s a short walk to The Red Skiff.  Joyce seems to serve a hearty breakfast to half of Rockport, at least, even the Harbormaster.  But the ample portions need to be worked off.  On this day that meant a three-mile hike out Atlantic Avenue to Long Beach to feast the eye on ocean views along the way.

it’s not the Cliff Walk but the town footpath that follows the shore offers spectacular views to sea.

Some of the route is on a footpath the town developed for several stretches along the way.  The rest winds up, down and over narrow roads through neighborhoods of homes, many built right on the granite outcroppings that define Rockport, each positioned to look out to the ocean.

The fist-sized rocks on Pebbly Beach “applaud” the surf as waves roll out.

The famous Motif #1 may be the most photographed site in New England.

There are two beaches popular with visitors and locals alike and a third, Pebbly Beach, understandably less so.  Pebbly is worth a visit, though, just to hear the rocks “talk” with each wave that washes over them.

Back on board, there’s just time to clean up before making the meeting of the 1630 Club, dine at Ellen’s and enjoy the glow on the harbor cast by a setting sun.

It seems all roads lead to Rockport.

Friendly folks.  Great food.  Glorious views everywhere.

Yep.  On a short list of favorite harbors, Rockport ranks as one of the top three.

No matter how you get here, it’s worth the trip.

Steadfast out.

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Thursday, 17 July

Eastern Point Light stands atop the rocks at the entrance to Gloucester Harbor.

It’s only 16 miles, harbor to harbor, so getting an early start out of Manchester wasn’t critical time-wise.  It was good to get going, though, especially after the soaking of the day before.  Plus Rockport rates high on the list of all-time favorite stops so, after taking on fuel at Manchester Marine, Steadfast was on her way into Salem Channel at 0818.

With Little Misery Island to starboard, she turned almost due east, motoring over long two-foot swells from the south and with a light nor’easterly over the bow.  Not a day for sailing but that’s okay.  More time to admire the four lighthouses along the way.  And avoid the lobster pots that abound off Cape Ann.  Those are much easier to spot on a flat sea.

Completed in 1861, Thacher Island’s are the last twin lighthouses still operating in the US.

There’s also the challenge of snaking through the gap between the islands off the Cape’s northeast point, Milk and Thacher.  There’s plenty of water in there for Steadfast…assuming she finds it and not the rocks that loom just below the surface on either side.  Going the long way around the east side of Thacher adds a couple of miles and subtracts a great view of the island’s unique arrangement of twin lighthouses.

The first light on Straitsmouth Island was built in 1835 to mark the entrance to Rockport Harbor.

Granite is everywhere in Rockport, once fueling a thriving business.

The Rockport Harbormasters do a great job of managing the mix of resident boats, both work and recreational, with the many transient vessels that stop in season.   After passing through the narrow gap in the breakwater, Steadfast was assigned “the back float,” a small two-boat pier in nine feet of water almost up against the rocks under Ellen’s Harborside Restaurant.

The 1630 Club meets most afternoons on aft deck of Bill Lee’s workboat, Ocean Reporter.

It was not quite noon, leaving all afternoon for a good stretch of the legs, out toward Old Granite Wharf and Pigeon Cove.  Maybe later, a meeting of the Sixteen-Thirty Club on Ocean Reporter.  There’s a lot to do in Rockport.

Good thing we got an early start!

Steadfast out.

Wednesday, 16 July

The rain threatened for the past couple of days finally moved in overnight, ranging since then from drizzle to shower to thunderstorm and back.  There have been brief respites but, so far, always fog.

Skies threatened for days with distant rumbles heard from Boston, Beverly and beyond.

So, not much to report today.  There was one significant event the other night that went unreported but

The first lobstah of the trip did not remain in this condition for long.

deserves attention.  Across from the library is The Landing restaurant with a pleasant deck out back that overlooks a harbor cove.  Featured recently is a “Lobster Bake Special” with red potatoes, corn, about a dozen steamers and a pound-and-a-quarter lobster, all for 20-bucks.  That’s what most places charge for a lobster roll!  If visiting Manchester-by-the-Sea, The Landing is worth your consideration.

And yes, the lobster was go-o-o-o-o-o-od.

Steadfast out.

Tuesday, 15 July

Ah, the age old questions remain to be answered: is the glass half empty or half full? And then, of more immediate interest aboard Steadfast, does fog keep you stuck in port or provide unexpected opportunities?

Given the day, the crew believes the latter in each case.

This old girl guards the entrance to Manchester-by-the-Sea, one of many stately homes that rim the harbor.

You know already that many Manchester homes, while not on the scale of the “cottages” of Newport’s Bellevue Avenue, are impressive. Discretion prevents disclosure of family names of note today but know that the late Gen. George S. Patton called this home and held membership in Manchester Yacht Club.

What was built for coastal defense now stands as a giant yard ornament in someone’s backyard.

Tucked among the homes on the harbor’s east side is a five-or-six-story structure one might think is a decommissioned light house. Research reveals, however (it’s amazing what you can learn from the launch skipper, akin to a big city cabby), that the tower is one of many along the New England coast built by the Defense Department during WWII. They were manned by spotters watching primarily for German U-boats that might be prowling the coast. As with others, this tower has long since passed to private owners.

David Strathairn as William Seward

There also was a conversation at the pier with the great-great-nephew of William Seward. There was a movie about Seward a couple of years ago starring David Strathairn as the Secretary of State. For some reason, it was called “Lincoln” but anyway, it turns out that Skip recently moved from Manchester to a home in Bristol, Maine. With Steadfast now generally headed in an easterly direction, Skip has offered to provide intel on harbors and anchorages Down East.

The day then allowed time for another trip to the provisioner, in this case to procure various libations.  The forecast promises more time tomorrow to study charts, gather intel and ponder deep philosophical questions.

For now, though, it’s clear the glass is more than half-full.

Steadfast out.