Gloucester

Gloucester Mass, N 42 36.679 W 70 39.297

Thursday, September 7, 2006

This morning I planned to row ashore and explore the islands in the Isles of Shoals, however a nice north wind came up, and I changed my mind to take advantage of it. The north wind and pleasant temperatures made for a fine sail from the isles down to Gloucester. Gloucester is one place we didn't see on the way North so we'd like to do it today.

We entered Gloucester Harbor via the Annisquam River. In general we really like exploring rivers, but this wasn't one of the best ones. The scenery wasn't that good and the hazards were many, shoaling, foul currents, and very very narrow passages under the bridges. In this case, I wish we had sailed the long way around Cape Ann. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

Gloucester Harbor lives up to its image. It really does have a big fishing fleet. Its shores really are lined with fishery related businesses. The monument to 'Men Who Go Down To The Sea' sits prominently on the shore. It's a charming place. We didn't spot the bar that was featured in the Perfect Storm story, but my sister says that it's still here.

One sour note. We navigated to the designated anchorage area only to find it filled with moorings. Gloucester is yet another one of those places that have converted all their anchorages to moorings. This time it cost us $25 to rent a mooring in the place where we would have liked to have anchored. Grrrrr.

Tomorrow morning we'll play tourist and see what we can find downtown.

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