Hiding in Gloucester

From Plymouth we decided to head directly to Gloucester.  We only had one day where weather looked good before another front moved through bringing with it wind and waves.  Luckily, we were able to reserve an ‘Inner Harbor’ mooring ball for three nights.  Our last visit to this town taught us that anchoring/mooring in the ‘Outer Harbor’ was not very different from anchoring in the ocean...particularly with any type of south wind.  This trip confirmed our last experience.  The outer harbor was plagued with massive swells the whole time we were there, but the inner harbor was wonderfully calm! 

It’s interesting to see the lobstermen set their sting of pots.  The pots are tied together, and once they send the first off the back the rest get pulled off as the boat moves forward.  That’s why these boats have no transom.

So many beautiful boats outside of Gloucester Harbor.

Gloucester is an interesting and eclectic mixture of the old and the new.

I find the old most interesting.

Once we got settled on our mooring ball it was time to people watch, and this was the perfect harbor for that activity.   It takes a lot of people to get the sails down.

Rowing is a big pastime here!  If there is a race I want to be against this boat.  There hearts didn’t seem to be into rowing, but they certainly appeared to have a good time...maybe my priorities are backwards and I should be wishing to be part of this crew?

We also witnessed some serious rowing!  There were races through the harbor in this type of boat, and these rowers were serious!

When the big sailing ships returned to port, this ‘bow thruster’ boat was always ready to assist in the turn around required to dock.

While at dock there was always maintenance and preparations.  Look closely at the top of the taller mast.

Yep, this guy was up there working!  That job is NOT for me!  I had goose bumps the whole time he was up there.

If you don’t like to row, there is also the option of peddling your way around the harbor.  This boat runs on peddle power...I do hope they have a back up.

In addition to watching the happenings, we found ourselves glued to the VHF radio.  There were several calls for help on this particular day, and the Coast Guard kept very busy going out in the rough seas to retrieve injured/ill passengers from boats.  This picture was taken as they returned from a distress call where a fishing boat with 34 passengers had a person onboard experiencing a medical emergency. Due to the rough conditions, the fishing boat estimated it would take them 90 minutes to get back to port, but this Coast Guard vessel was able to bring the person back, to a waiting ambulance, within about 40 minutes of the call.  Listening to the whole exchange was riveting!

We left Gloucester on Sunday, Aug 1 heading to Maine.  We have already seen so many fabulous sights in Maine that the next blog post will be coming soon!