On the Cove: July 2005

So, you know you are a real place when you have your own post office...

Small tender on Lanes Cove

Early morning--heading out to pull traps

Giant Red Ball Seen in Western Sky

Spectacular Weekend

This weekend has been unbelievable. After suffering some very hot muggy weather earlier this week, this weekend the temperature has been nice, humidity low, skies clear--just downright pleasant. We've had a lot of kayakers recently and given the conditions there it isn't hard to figure out why--it just couldn't have been better.

On a personal note, my father-in-law turned 80 on Saturday and we had a nice family party for him--very enjoyable afternoon and evening.

Useful Site for Checking Ship Locations

I came upon this site for checking the
locations of ships around the world.

Gloucester Area Astronomy Club and GeoURL

Sometime I need to check out the Gloucester Area Astronomy Club. The Gloucester Area Astronomy Club meets at 8:00pm on the second Friday of the month, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lanesville.

I found their website through GeoURL which allows you to find websites that are physically near you (if they've included information in the META data). This blog has the tag in it now.

HP Hood Blimp

I was out on the deck grilling some chicken and heard what sounded like a very slow moving light airplane. Looking directly overhead, I saw the Hood blimp. Since HP Hood is headquartered in Chelsea, MA, the blimp is a regular sight around here as well as Red Sox games.

Thanks to my friends at Cape Ann Online I found out that the blimp is operated by the The Lightship Group a marketing division of the American Blimp Corporation. The blimp (model A-60+) can be illuminated from within--must be pretty cool to see.

Close-up of Hood blimp

Hood blimp overhead

Blackburn Challenge

Saw the "floatilla" pass Lanes Cove this morning, part of the Blackburn Challange.

The Blackburn Challenge is a 20+ mile rowing competition around Cape Ann, named for Howard Blackburn. Howard Blackburn was a dory fisherman who got separated from his ship in a blizzard. While his dorymate surcomed to the cold, Blackburn continued rowing for five days and nights with no food or water. He landed in Nova Scotia and returned to Gloucester a hero. The rest of his life was amazing, including two solo trans-Atlantic crossing--without fingers, which had been lost to frostbite.

A Little History of Lanes Cove

Here is a link to Joe Garland's The Gloucester Guide and a little history of Lanes Cove. I bought the original guide he wrote in the 70's--a great little pocket book to get a flavor for the rich history of Gloucester. You can get it at Amazon.com here.

Links to Bonfire Photos

I just got a link to some very nice photos of the Lanesville bonfire. You can see On the Cove in this photo.

Twizzle Anchored Off of Lanes Cove

Twizzle anchored off Lanes Cove, July 6, 2005

Got a call last night from a neighbor on Rowley Shore that there was a ship anchored just offshore. I didn't see it, but later in the evening I saw a stack of lights through the trees. We walked down the the breakwater (it was a warm, breezy evening) and saw a mega-yacht anchored.

It was the Twizzle, launched in November 2004 in Amsterdam. She is 182' long, 32' wide and a private charter ship. Named after the nickname of the owner's daughter, Twizzle carries a crew of 12 and can accommodate 10 guests. She was in Boston Harbor on June 29th and anchored off of Misery Island (Manchester-by-the-Sea) on July 2nd. Here is a link to a forum that tracks mega-yachts and this thread specifically about Twizzle. Power & Motoryacht Forum

Want to charter the Twizzle? It is only $280,000/week!

Lanesville 4th of July

Amazing!

Well, it has come and gone, the biggest event of the year on Lanes Cove--the 4th of July celebration. The schedule was:

6:00 PM - Parade
7:00 PM - Wedding
8:00 PM - Liquor Store Closes
9:00 PM - Bonfire is Lit

The weather was perfect--low humidity, warm temperature, light breeze and a cloudless sky. The parade was the typical Lanesville affair, quirky, somewhat disorganized, but as always, fun. This completely ad hoc parade is a chance for everyone to participate. The only "band" is a group of mostly drummers along with a few instruments. I did here the Star Spangled Banner played with the crowd singing along. The last couple of years have seen the parade finish up by marching into the cove, but this time they marched to the bonfire/wedding site.

Things get pretty hot!

Wedding on the bonfire

Finishing the stairs to the wedding platform

Lanesville 4th of July parade

Another view of the bonfire (On the Cove in the background)

Looking into the cove from the mouth of the breakwater.

Breakwater.

Breakwater on Lanes Cove.

Spectacular! Today has been one of the best days for weather I have seen in a long time. It has been in the high 70's all day (right now --almost 5:00 PM--it is 83 with 36% humidity) with not a cloud in the sky. Very little wind (light breeze), just enough to fly the flag. Lanes Cove has been busy today. They are building the bonfire--I've heard that a couple is getting married on top of the pile (I assume before they light it) and I see they are building stairs up the side of it. This is now ordinary bonfire--it is at least 40' tall, and as big around at the base. Our local bagpiper was out this afternoon. I'm sure he will be out tomorrow night before the bonfire.

As far as I know, there haven't been any greenheads on Rowley Shore (none reported by our friends over there). We have had no insects--no mosquitoes--except for an occasional housefly here on Lanes Cove. The Red Tide is receding--most of the flats on the south side of Cape Cod are now open to shell fishing. I'm sure they will open the flats around here in the next few weeks. What this means is the shell fishermen can go back to work and we can have local shellfish (like clams) again. Other than that, there has been no physical evidence that there has been Red Tide at all.