We spent Tuesday evening getting the boat ready for its 140 nm sail to Acadia National Park in Maine. We awoke to beautiful weather and perfect conditions. As we discussed our plans with the gang at Brown’s, they wished us luck, and expressed their disappointment that we’d miss out on the wonderful Gloucester Labor Day festivities. We had been hearing great things about Labor Day weekend, but really didn’t know what it entailed other than a delightful parade of lights. Once we found out that 18 schooners and countless traditional small craft were sailing here for a weekend of racing and cannon firing, we just had to stay in town. So, on Wednesday, August 29th, we made our way back to our anchorage in the inner harbor and dropped the hook where we were struck by lightning on July 28th (N42 36.6 W70 39.4).
We took a gorgeous 15 mile bike ride to Rockport on Thursday and spent Friday watching the schooners waltz in for the festival. The anchorage was starting to get crowded on Saturday morning as weekenders sailed and motored in for the festivities, and rather than touring the ships, we stayed out on Maia enjoying the growing mayhem in the harbor.
We had the perfect seat on Maia for Saturday night’s parade and fireworks; but we ended up dinghying into Brown’s to watch with everyone on the dock. An impromptu party cropped up, and before too long, the grills were going and the deck and piers were crowded with adults, children, and pets. We had a great night waving and hooting at the decorated pleasure and commercial boats followed by ooh-ing and aah-ing at the fireworks. The cannons were quiet by 10 pm but parties could be heard all around the harbor until the wee hours. We woke to cannon fire on Sunday, race day for the schooners, and quickly hopped in the dinghy and followed the parade out to the starting line. It seemed like everyone in the community was out on the water on this spectacular morning.
We are so happy we stayed for the schooner festival, it really is Gloucester at its finest, and it brought our 6 weeks here to the perfect end. Once again the conditions are ideal for a sail north, so Monday we’ll be starting out to Acadia for a Tuesday arrival.
We spent Tuesday evening getting the boat ready for its 140 nm sail to Acadia National Park in Maine. We awoke to beautiful weather and perfect conditions. As we discussed our plans with the gang at Brown’s, they wished us luck, and expressed their disappointment that we’d miss out on the wonderful Gloucester Labor Day festivities. We had been hearing great things about Labor Day weekend, but really didn’t know what it entailed other than a delightful parade of lights. Once we found out that 18 schooners and countless traditional small craft were sailing here for a weekend of racing and cannon firing, we just had to stay in town. So, on Wednesday, August 29th, we made our way back to our anchorage in the inner harbor and dropped the hook where we were struck by lightning on July 28th (N42 36.6 W70 39.4).
We took a gorgeous 15 mile bike ride to Rockport on Thursday and spent Friday watching the schooners waltz in for the festival. The anchorage was starting to get crowded on Saturday morning as weekenders sailed and motored in for the festivities, and rather than touring the ships, we stayed out on Maia enjoying the growing mayhem in the harbor.
We had the perfect seat on Maia for Saturday night’s parade and fireworks; but we ended up dinghying into Brown’s to watch with everyone on the dock. An impromptu party cropped up, and before too long, the grills were going and the deck and piers were crowded with adults, children, and pets. We had a great night waving and hooting at the decorated pleasure and commercial boats followed by ooh-ing and aah-ing at the fireworks. The cannons were quiet by 10 pm but parties could be heard all around the harbor until the wee hours. We woke to cannon fire on Sunday, race day for the schooners, and quickly hopped in the dinghy and followed the parade out to the starting line. It seemed like everyone in the community was out on the water on this spectacular morning.
We are so happy we stayed for the schooner festival, it really is Gloucester at its finest, and it brought our 6 weeks here to the perfect end. Once again the conditions are ideal for a sail north, so Monday we’ll be starting out to Acadia for a Tuesday arrival. 
time to come home
ReplyDeleteHey Mindy and Reinhart. Good to see you are still having fun. best regards from a parched Greensboro. Oriana and Peter
ReplyDeletePS. Arne was here last week. Could you please call him. He lost your cell; number.