Thursday May 28

     Hello from Gloucester!  We arrived here about mid-day on Wednesday, after a very nice couple of days in Portsmouth, NH where we enjoyed a family cookout on Memorial Day with Martha Coombs and many of the Coombs clan, and had lunch with Dan’s Coast Guard Academy buddy Tom “Gigs” Giguere and wife Cheryl on Tuesday.  The Piscataqua River to Portsmouth is the dividing line between Maine and New Hampshire; we had fun watching the activities on both shores from our anchorage.

     We cruised to Gloucester through the Annisqaum/Blynman Canal, a very narrow and shallow waterway only a few yards from beaches and rocks. 

We had to have them open two bridges for us, one of them a railroad bridge.  Very picturesque. 

     Gloucester is truly a working harbor; businesses catering to the many fisherman, the Coast Guard, and a few shipyards are on the harbor instead of fancy condos and private homes.  We visited the Cape Ann Art/History/Culture Center on Pleasant Street for a little maritime history and to see one of the boats that famous resident Howard Blackburn took across the Atlantic.  If you’ve never heard of him, you should look him up - quite the character.  “Lone Voyager” by Joseph Garland tells all about him and his adventures and is a great read.