6:50 am, anchored in Gloucester Harbor enjoying the morning rowers. It's the dawn of another windless scorcher.
The Blynman Canals Southern entrance is in outer Gloucester Harbor. After a morning of exploring Gloucester, we headed for the canal as the tide finished flowing out. LW is not recommended for sailboats but we're a centerboard boat drawing 4'. And I have been through the canal a previous time a few years ago, at the preferred high water. With no wind or chance to sail to keep cool, I had a plan.
From my last passage through, I recalled beaches, enormous beaches, at the Northern end. So we shot through the first drawbridge at about noon, LW. It wasn't lost on me that we were the only sailboat surrounded by buzzing small motorboats. According to my depth sounder, we had enough water. Just enough water in fact in stretches but I never felt any contact with the nearby bottom. I stopped looking at the sounder and paid attention to the well defined channel on the GPS.
It's a lovely trip through this canal with changing vistas and interesting architecture both on shore and floating. The second bridge opened without a VHF call and the final is fixed at 65 feet.
Sure enough, the beaches were there.
We borrowed an empty mooring and jumped in! The water was clean and refreshing, the low tide beaches, endless. Swimming, wading, beaching combing were the best way to spend the hot mid day hours of these early August days of 2018.
The flooding current (which flows into both ends) put a bit more water on the shallowest stretch in the north end, so we headed for Rockport the lesser (coined by me to avoid confusion with,...the greater), around the corner of Cape Ann.
Based on harbor size alone, Rockport the lesser, doesn't even begin to describe how small the harbor is. We had reserved a mooring in the morning via cell phone so help arrived to get us 'into' our mooring. Fore and aft mooring anchors as there is no room to swing, it was too tricky to make the connection on the first try. For a second try, you have to go nearly back out to sea to turn around, and make another pass. But with perseverence, sweat and a little help from the staff, we were tied into the cats cradle of lines and buoys.
First task was to rig the awning. The afternoon sun was relentless! We didn't dare leave the shade - which moved to the side deck as the sun lowered - to explore the town.
Those of us with long legs could dip our toes to cool off. Those that could not, looked on with envy...
We watched the locals on the shaded porch at the Yacht Club, watch us.
Everyone was happy to be out of the sun. Grilling was the only way to cook, the stove below would have been deadly.
The next morning we headed into town for a long walk and explore before the heat set in.
Rockport the lesser is lovely! Beautiful old buildings, walkable sidewalks, quiet and intact. The YC is handy for ice and they were running low they told us, due to the heat and humidity.
Like nearly all our stops down south, there was no convenient grocery store but we were still eating well out of our huge old ice box onboard.
This Rockport, a little tricky, is a great stop.
The Blynman Canals Southern entrance is in outer Gloucester Harbor. After a morning of exploring Gloucester, we headed for the canal as the tide finished flowing out. LW is not recommended for sailboats but we're a centerboard boat drawing 4'. And I have been through the canal a previous time a few years ago, at the preferred high water. With no wind or chance to sail to keep cool, I had a plan.
From my last passage through, I recalled beaches, enormous beaches, at the Northern end. So we shot through the first drawbridge at about noon, LW. It wasn't lost on me that we were the only sailboat surrounded by buzzing small motorboats. According to my depth sounder, we had enough water. Just enough water in fact in stretches but I never felt any contact with the nearby bottom. I stopped looking at the sounder and paid attention to the well defined channel on the GPS.
It's a lovely trip through this canal with changing vistas and interesting architecture both on shore and floating. The second bridge opened without a VHF call and the final is fixed at 65 feet.
Sure enough, the beaches were there.
We borrowed an empty mooring and jumped in! The water was clean and refreshing, the low tide beaches, endless. Swimming, wading, beaching combing were the best way to spend the hot mid day hours of these early August days of 2018.
The flooding current (which flows into both ends) put a bit more water on the shallowest stretch in the north end, so we headed for Rockport the lesser (coined by me to avoid confusion with,...the greater), around the corner of Cape Ann.
Based on harbor size alone, Rockport the lesser, doesn't even begin to describe how small the harbor is. We had reserved a mooring in the morning via cell phone so help arrived to get us 'into' our mooring. Fore and aft mooring anchors as there is no room to swing, it was too tricky to make the connection on the first try. For a second try, you have to go nearly back out to sea to turn around, and make another pass. But with perseverence, sweat and a little help from the staff, we were tied into the cats cradle of lines and buoys.
First task was to rig the awning. The afternoon sun was relentless! We didn't dare leave the shade - which moved to the side deck as the sun lowered - to explore the town.
Those of us with long legs could dip our toes to cool off. Those that could not, looked on with envy...
We watched the locals on the shaded porch at the Yacht Club, watch us.
Everyone was happy to be out of the sun. Grilling was the only way to cook, the stove below would have been deadly.
The next morning we headed into town for a long walk and explore before the heat set in.
Rockport the lesser is lovely! Beautiful old buildings, walkable sidewalks, quiet and intact. The YC is handy for ice and they were running low they told us, due to the heat and humidity.
Like nearly all our stops down south, there was no convenient grocery store but we were still eating well out of our huge old ice box onboard.
This Rockport, a little tricky, is a great stop.
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