After
topping off the fuel tanks in Boston with the cheapest diesel since 2009 ($2.46/gal)
we proceeded north to Marblehead, MA; one of Jim’s favorite towns. We picked up a mooring at Boston Yacht Club
in the center of this very tight little harbor filled with sail boats.
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| Entry to Marblehead Harbor |
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| Boston Yacht Club |
This
is an historic village known for its sailing tradition. Jim learned to sail here in the mid 60s by
crewing on racing sailboats. Knowing it was going to rain on the 11th we found a thing of the past, a place to rent movies.
August 11
was indeed a wash out. It was the first truly
rainy day we had since the trip began.
With wind gusts to 25 knots and near steady rain we vegged out on the
boat all day. Fortunately it was a passing
front, so the next day was perfect for walking the town. The old town section has been very well preserved
with almost all houses and buildings sporting plaques showing they were built in
the 1700s with a few older than that. We
had a great lunch at the Barnacle then spent some time in one of Jim’s old
haunts and favorite bars.
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| Town Hall 1727 |
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| Maddie's Sail Loft Home of many fond memories |
On
the 13th we made the short trip up to Gloucester, MA for an
overnight on our way to Newburyport. The
harbor in Gloucester was first charted by Samuel de Champlain in 1606.
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| Entry to Gloucester |
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| Note the house on the hill |
The next day we moved on to Newburyport, MA
which was founded in 1636. Sitting on
the Merrimac River it sees tidal currents of 4 knots which can make for sporty
docking. We planned our arrival near
slack current to avoid the excitement. Newburyport
proved to be a very nice town. It is
filled with great shops, numerous good
restaurants and bars all very walkable. The
day of our departure was a nice farmers market next to the marina.
On the
16th we finally made it to Maine with Kennebunkport, summer home to
the Bush family, being our first stop.
Maine bills itself as “Vacation Land”.
Kennebunkport with its pristine homes, small shops and river filled with
old schooners is almost Disneyesque in its appearance.
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| River View, Kennebunkport |
The marina here is outrageously expensive, but we had to see how the Bushes live.
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| The Bush Compound Kennebunkport, ME |
