Our journeying
since leaving Boston
has been determined by meeting various people who have expressed an interest in
finding out more about the Catamaran, and a friend joining us for a few
days. Thus we have spent the last ten days alternating between Marblehead
and Gloucester: both just a few miles north of Boston, but very different
places.
The people,
however, are the same. I know I’ve been going on about it, but the optimism
and cheeriness of the locals just gives me a thrill. One morning we woke to
find a fisherman doing pirouettes around us trying to retrieve his lobster pot
that we had managed to lay our anchor over the night before. I thought
he’d be really annoyed and said we would move. His reaction?
– “Don’t worry
about it, we’ll work around it. You have a nice day!”
Similarly, when returning from a cycling expedition. I couldn’t
raise John on VHF to get picked up and was contemplating what lurgies I might
pick up if I swam across Gloucester
fishing port to our anchorage. Recognising a damsel in distress the
Harbourmaster magnanimously put my bike and me in his launch and took me back
to our boat.
The Americans
seem to prefer the freedom of personal moorings rather than keeping a boat in a
marina and Marblehead
is no exception. The protected bay is filled with some 2000 moorings,
with no room left to anchor. Boston Yacht Club generously allowed us to
use their facilities, the Club being a good introduction to the traditions and
sophistication of the town. Flying a Blue Ensign we are very aware of
flag etiquette and that not only should you dip your ensign to naval vessels,
but that it should be lowered at sunset and raised again at sunrise. I
got used to a canon shot signifying ‘colours’ in Newport and
understood it ringing round the bay at Marblehead as there are six yacht clubs,
but I wasn’t expecting everyone in the dining room to instantly stop
talking and to stand in silence as the American flag was lowered. Once
again, that strong allegiance to the flag.
Marblehead has benefitted from the strident efforts of the Historical Society
to protect the heritage of the area. The old town was founded on fishing
and is an intriguing place to meander. The streets are lined by well-preserved
or restored timber-clad buildings, (in a great assortment of colours) some
dating back as early as early 1700s. Remarkably, in the early 1600s English
fisherman would come to fish the plentiful fish stocks in the summer months,
returning home with their salt fish in the winter. We were given a personal tour
around the Jeremiah Lee Mansion, which is one of the most opulent homes of the
mid-1700s, and enjoyed seeing the picture ‘Spirit of 76’ – a
painting portraying the battle for Independence.
Gloucester, also a town based on fishing, is very different but no less
appealing. One guidebook describes it as ‘gritty and
authentic’ and we loved the vibrant, working port with it’s
diversity of people. Italian and Portuguese culture built the fabric of
the town. Gloucester
(homeport setting for “The Perfect Storm”) has a huge harbour. The
old sailing schooners (of which there are some still around) returned here from
Georges Bank and the Grand Banks off Newfoundland.
Gloucester was apparently the second biggest
fishing port in the Western Hemisphere. There
is a huge amount of wharfage, much of it now in disrepair, which although it now
only hints at its formal glory still provides the framework for an active
fishing industry and related businesses. (‘The Coolest Guys
Around’ – Cape
Pond Ice Company produce
350 tons of ice a day.)
Now the town
also thrives on whaling watching trips, art galleries, some very good
restaurants and an assortment shops selling an eclectic mix of goods: I
managed to get the gears fixed on my bicycle in a shop that sells underwear and
should you want them you could buy some very lewd cards in a shop promoting
spiritualism and Buddhism.
The Unitarian
Universalist Church (1806) is well worth a visit, not only because of the
building, but also for its historical fight as a church society: early
abolition of slavery, women’s rights and separation of church and state.
I was intrigued by a crippled man in his seventies sat on the church steps,
painting placards demanding the end of the Afghan war. He has vowed not to
have a drink of alcohol until the slaughter has ended – quite something
when you could see how much he had enjoyed a drink over the years. I
share his sentiment and wish him well.
Despite the heat, I spent one afternoon cycling out to Dogtown Common. The area was largely abandoned
after the early 1800s but abandoned houses were for a few
decades occupied by itinerants and vagabonds, some of the last occupants being
suspected of practicing witchcraft. In the Great Depression
Roger Babson commissioned unemployed stonecutters to carve inspirational
inscriptions. Suddenly, as you are navigating your way along narrow,
wooded trails you come across a boulder emblazoned with ‘Spiritual Power,
‘Truth’, ‘Loyalty’, or ‘Courage’ the
last of which I might have needed had I read the pamphlet beforehand: “Don’t go alone; Be aware of hunting seasons
and wear bright clothes; Carry a map and a compass; Danger
of Lyme disease,” A very different cycle ride was along Route 127
to Rockport – right out on the Cape Ann peninsula. I found the gift
shops, art galleries and candy shops leaving an impression of a pretty, but
sugary place, particularly when compared with Gloucester.
Having been in
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we are now briefly in the State of New Hampshire visiting the naval town of Portsmouth. Each
state seems to have a motto: Massachusetts’
is “By the Sword We Seek Peace, but Peace Only Under
Liberty”. The licence plates of the cars of New Hampshire carry the message “Live
Free or Die”. Today we will be
in the State of Maine,
but I haven’t yet understood its motto: “I Direct”.
Pictures show the
centre of Marblehead, the “Spirit of
76”, a storm brewing, Dogtown
Common and shots of Gloucester and Portsmouth.