So 'bout 12:30 on Friday Sam pings me if I'd like to go sailing some weekend...and about 1:30 Eric texts me he's going that weekend.
I book out of work, run home to grab some stuff, and back up to Eric's for the drive to Salem.
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Sunsetting over the new Salem gas-powered electric station under construction. The old coal powered station has been torn down on the right.
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Misery Island a/k/a Cocktail Cove, where we spent Friday night.
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Cap'n Sam
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And Deckhand Eric
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Coming into Salem Harbor
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Got to enjoy a boat parade of lights:
Light Parade Movie
And Fireworks!
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Lucked out / splurged on a dock spot for the evening...the dock master just happened to be there at 8:30 and called the guy who had the spot rented for the weekend and he said he wasn't going to use it that evening. Gave us access to a regular bathroom and shower, front row seats for the light parade, and right across from the State Fishing Pier.
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That's a million and a half dollar Shannon yacht built down in Bristol, RI -- my pic doesn't do it justice.
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As we're motoring out, Sam says, "There's an awful lot of schooners here, like there should not be this many in one place unless something is going on..."
I quickly Google, it's schoonerfest weekend in Gloucester and the parade starts in a half hour going by the beach before they head out to a race.
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Schooners have two masts, either of equal height or the forward one being lower.
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We're in a Ketch (a half-cat rigged ketch to be specific), which also has two masts but the rear one is always lower.
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Almost time to raise the sails...
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So we crashed their Schooner Parade with our Ketch :D
Crashing the Parade Video
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So much meta about a selfie with your camera reflecting in your sun glasses, going by the beach where the Slippery Pole is.
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The Schooner Columbia...Holy Moses! Owned by the owner of a major commercial shipyard down in Florida that normally builds tugs and oil platforms, but they built this one in secret from the outside world knowing until it launched.
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Coming back into Salem. Sam's boat is moored at Winter Island, which was a USCG Seaplane base until the Coast Guard relocated air operations to Otis circa 1970. It's now a town park / dock / campground.
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And that's the boat (Island Girl) going back to moor after dropping me and our gear off at the docks.
We might have stayed out another day and/or sailed another port north except there was the remains of a hurricane coming up the coast so it was a good idea to get to a sheltered harbor and moored down by mid-afternoon.
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And while Eric is away, the kids will play o_O