Launch Day and other Sailing Pics
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Launch day was on and off drizzle. Cousin Doug and I took it down river to its mooring, out behind Endicott College, very near where I live. I walk about 100 yards to my dingy, and row out quite a ways to the mooring.
It is open water, so I am a bit concerned about how it will fare in bad weather.
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All waxed and ready to go.
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Front view.
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The Bridges ofthe Danvers River. The first is an a local road bridge, called the KErnwood Bridge. The Bridgetender opens quite readily. The next is a railroad bridge, whihc has train crossings about every 20 minutes, whihc can cause significant delays, sometimes up to two hours if the "frogs" are tight from heat expansion, the swing part of the bridge is quite old, dating to the 1800's. This photo, shows the approach to the next two bridges, an Amtrak railroad bridge
and route 1A, which is new.
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Under the bridge. The new Route 1A bridge, called the Vetrans Bridge, has about 50 feet of clearance at high tide.
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After the bridge, dingy in tow. Oars all over the place! Lobster boats tear by, leaving big wakes.
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One of the drilling rigs. This is why My mooring in the harbor cannot be used. Dredgers and drilling rigs are everywhere. Putting in a gas pipeline from Canada, eh.
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Cousin Doug at the helm. Darn good sailor. Been everywhere.
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Liquidasset on the mooring. New chocks allowed the lines to go through easily.
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First day without rain in two months, so Doug and I went sailing. Went out between Bakers Island and Little Misery Island. Sailed out towards Gloucester, back and forth for a few hours. Ran the channel under sail at about five knots between Big Misery Island and West Beach at low tide. Depth meter got down to 6 ft! But, we made it. This is me at the helm, grimacing, probably because Doug is doing something to annoy me. We annoy each other when we sail, which makes for a great time.
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Doug at the helm, ignoring me. This is why he is relaxed and I am not
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Throwing up the sheets. We had trouble straightening out the lines, but we finally got it all together. The sails need repairs, but the cloth is in good shape.
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We like to fish when the wind is lighter. Here is Doug with a Stripped bass. Threw it back. Limit is 28".
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