Location survey
PASSEPARTOUT
Christopher & Nirit Slaney
Tue 21 Jun 2011 13:14
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Boston is Sport City, known around the world as the home
of the Celtics. But internationally where interest in baseball,
football and ice hockey is not so widespread, we are pretty much
in the dark when it comes to the other teams who call Boston home, the Red
Sox, Bruins and Patriots. In New England none of this can be ignored.
Over one hundred miles offshore I tuned into a local A.M. radio station and the
first piece of information I picked up from the USA was how
the Celtics were having a disappointing end season. All over New
England, beach front souvenir shops sell the same t-shirt, "I
support two teams, the Red Sox and whoever is beating the Yankees."
And last Saturday Nirit and I were on guard as hundreds of Bruins fans
decked out in black and gold crowded us off the platform at the commuter
rail station in Salem, Mass. The Celtics and the Patriots might have
had a disappointing year but the Bruins, Boston's National Hockey League
franchise had brought home the silver. After a drought of almost
four decades they overcame the Vancouver Canucks for the Stanley Cup
and were about to hold a victory parade. Over half a million
fans turned out. The station was packed and a conductor told us
to ignore the timetable; extra trains laid on to Boston had played havoc with
the schedule. The crowd was lively and well behaved, apart from a few dozen
who insisted on standing on the tracks until the last minute when
the train pulled in. They crowded on board and left just four of us on the
platform to wait for a delayed departure in the other direction. Nirit and I
were doing what in the TV business we call a location survey.
We have fallen into the routine of checking out places
before we actually sail there with the yacht. This cuts out some of the worry of
coming into unfamiliar harbours or bays especially where strong currents and a
huge tidal range are a hazard. We look at places in advance to see if
they live up to the descriptions given to us by other sailors or gleaned
from guide books. It's also a way of helping us decide where to go next if
faced with two alternative destinations in close proximity to one another, and
it's an excuse to see something of the country and not just what's close to the
shore. So far we had seen a lot of hockey fans.
This location survey was to Gloucester and Rockport. The
former being one of New England's oldest, most famous fishing harbours and the
home port of the ANDREA GAIL, the boat lost with all hands and the
subject for the book 'The Perfect Storm'. Rockport is nothing to do with
the footwear brand but is a beautiful, scenic little town on Cape
Ann. We checked Rockport first and headed directly to the local yacht
club. We asked about getting a mooring and were told we could save a few
dollars by anchoring off the beach as long as the wind was not from the
north east. We also picked up some good tips about sailing to the Isle of
Shoals, a group of four small islands off the New Hampshire coast and an
easy day sail from Rockport. The harbour is beautiful and surrounded by
well preserved historic buildings. I snapped a photo of one and was
told that it was one of the most photographed views in New England and is
called Motif #1. Nirit struck up a conversation with the fellow who told me
this and it soon transpired that he has a son-in-law from
Haifa.
The rest of the Rockland water front is several
streets of antique shops, cafes and sea food restaurants. Consulting the
bus and train timetable we decided it would be best to move on to
Gloucester for lunch. We were the only passengers for the twenty minute
ride and spent the journey chatting with bus driver Steve
Douglas. Steve operates a harbour sightseeing launch during the mornings and
drives the bus of an afternoon. We was a goldmine of local information,
pointing out where Ralph Waldo Emerson used to stay, giving me the Gloucester
harbour master's cell phone number, the best anchoring spots and which eateries
to avoid. As he rounded the last bend into Gloucester we
could see a stage being built and decorations strung across the
street. "Getting ready for the fiesta," said Steve and explained that
the following weekend was the feast of St. Peter the patron saint of fishermen,
a big event in Gloucester. Hundreds of Sicilian immigrants made their
home in Gloucester at the start of the last century, they were drawn here by the
fishing and were followed by Portuguese and Spanish families. The
custom of holding a fiesta on St Peter's day was carried across from Europe and
has become a Gloucester tradition lasting four days of partying,
eating, row boat races and a blessing of the fishing fleet by a
Cardinal from Boston.
We wandered around Gloucester, met the harbour
master and verified the best place to anchor, had lunch and caught a late
train back to Salem. The location survey has paid back in aces. We
sailed up on Monday afternoon and I write this looking out over
Gloucester's inner harbour, fishing boats come and go as gulls wheel overhead. I
hope we have a good spot from which to enjoy the fiesta. We also
noticed an ice factory working since 1850, the Achvat Achim synagogue and
directions to a museum of wooden boat building, more about this in the next
posting.
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