Month: July 2015

12th Row.   He is so awesome!

If you are on Rocky Neck, don’t miss the opportunity to visit Romula Art Gallery, G6 on Madfish Wharf.  Romula’s art is very unique, bold and done completely with her fingers – no brushes used.  Many of her pieces represent street and restaurant scenes in Boston’s North End, but she also has some beautiful figurative work.

E.J. Lefavour

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/snotbot/snotbot-pushing-the-frontiers-of-whale-research-wi?ref=discovery

Help ocean alliance collect whale snot!

-pvn, sent from my phone

Lyon Wuagh Auto Group proudly presents the 4th Annual Bluefin Blowout tournament is taking place July 24 – 25th at Cape Ann’s Marina & Resort. Join the Boston Bruins Foundation as they host a silent auction during the Brewfest to raise money for the Gloucester Education Foundation. LIVE music, food and several event sponsors products and services will be on display for all fishing enthusiasts to check out! http://www.bluefinblowout.com

James Eves, owner of Cape Ann Giclée, Fine Art Printing and Gallery, is GMG’s Arts Enthusiast and the Calendar Guy. To submit arts related press releases, photos of arts events or any arts related posts email: james@capeanngiclee.com.
To add an event to the GMG Cape Ann Calendar go here to see how to submit events.

Hi Joey: I was hoping you could share with your readers what I would categorize as a near miss drowning story that my wife Ginger and I were involved in this past Sunday on our beautiful Annisquam River in an effort to bring awareness to the potential dangers of recreational boating along the river.

First a bit of background if you will. Ginger and I have grown up on the Annisquam for over 50 years and know its ins and outs, it quirks, and its beauty. One might call us “river rats”. We have seen the use of the Annisquam change from years gone by when the old eastern rig trawlers used her for saving hours of transit time between the gulf of Maine and Ipswich Bay to Gloucester Harbor and the river had limited recreational use due to pollution, today the river is alive, as clean as it has ever been in our lifetimes, and recreational boaters flock to her shores. Unfortunately, not all of these boaters have local knowledge of the many facets of rivers and currents.

Ginger and I were transiting at no wake speed north bound approaching the area known as Jones’s Creek. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for boating, as could be attested by the hundreds of fellow boaters enjoying the river and her sandy banks. At the time the current was in full ebb at the apex of Jones’s and the Annisquam and the outbound current was flowing very strongly. As we neared the intersection we could not help but notice out of the corner of our eyes an orange object in the water off to port. For me, a 24 year USCG veteran, orange on the water only means one thing, some sort of lifesaving device. It was out of place. So I maneuvered across the boating traffic, which was heavy and moving both north and south, to investigate; we simply could not help ourselves. As we got closer it became apparent the orange was indeed a “PFD” (Lifejacket) and as we got even closer we could see two heads, nothing more. Two folks were barely keeping their heads above water in the rapid current. It was apparent we had a life threatening situation on hands, and as we approached to within shouting distance, it was confirmed the two men were in extreme distress. Luckily we were able to come up on them, cut our outboard engine, and pull them aboard one at a time via our stern ladder. They were exhausted and clearly only minutes away from succumbing despite the fact that they were both physically strong individuals. They sat onboard with us for a while to catch their breaths and regroup as I idled in position. Once able to convey what had happened it was a scary but not untypical story.

It seems these men were not locals, had come to the Annisquam to enjoy the beauty of the day, get some swimming in, and simply have a great day. We were able to get them to tell us where they had come from and we proceeded to head for their boat. It was anchored properly out of the channel in what one would call a “great spot”. As it was a hot day, one of the fellows dove off the back of the boat upon completion of getting the anchor set without evaluating the current and was quickly swept away. He tried in vain to swim back to the boat, against the current, which quickly sucked all energy from him. His friend, noticing his predicament, grabbed a life jacket (smart move), and dove in after him. He did reach his buddy, got the life jacket on him, and then tried in vain to swim them both back to the boat against the current. By the time he realized that that was not going to happen they were close to the river channel quite a distance from the shore. When we came upon them they were exhausted and had just grabbed a mooring pickup to keep themselves from going under.

There are so many lessons to be learned here, I have to share them with your readers.

• Once safely anchored, take some time to evaluate your surroundings, know and understand the depth of water and current. As one of my friends said later in the day, “this is not a lake”.
• If you are going to swim off the back of your boat and you notice a current even ever so slight, trail a life line over the stern with a floating device attached to its end.
• Always keep a throw able device at the ready. This could have prevented the second guy from having to risk his life going after his buddy.

• If caught in a strong current, never ever try to swim against it. Allow the current to carry you and swim diagonally to the shore. You may have a bit of a walk to get back to your boat, but you will be able to walk, not swim with the fishes.
• In the above mentioned situation, the rescuer should have put on a lifejacket of his own before going after his buddy. There is no sense in the rescuer drowning as well.
• And this one a pet peeve of mine. NEVER EVER allow people near the stern of your boat with an engine/outboard running. I witness this foolishness dozens upon dozens of times daily when boating/beach season is in full swing.
• For all you boaters out their, always be aware of what is going on around you. I swear a dozen or more boats passed directly by these guys as they struggled to stay afloat.

After, we exchanged pleasantries, shared the above tips with our happy swimmers once we had them safely back on their own boat, we departed ways heading for beautiful Wingearsheek to claim our bit of sand for a few hours of fun in the sand and sun.

All in all a great afternoon on the River
Joe and Ginger McKechnie

This was a nice find by @BearskinNeck On Instagram

A little disclaimer here….with my computer currently in triage undergoing some serious data recovery attempts, I am working off Thatcher’s iPad and am quickly discovering that I’m not nearly as savvy while trying to imbed links and whatnot. So, you may have to do some Googling this week to find out some more information about my specific picks!  Sorry!

Pick #1.   Gloucester Block Party!  Saturday, 6:00-11:00

with a theme this month of Carnivale on Main, this block party’s line up looks like tons of fun. Head HERE for more info

Pick #2    Blueberry and Raspberry Festival at Connor’s Farm

read more about it HERE

Pick #3    92.9 Earthfest

A fantastic….and FREE…outdoor concert!

Read more about the event HERE

For a more comprehensive list of family activities, visit our friends at North Shore Kid

Find them HERE

Read the entire obit here

DANVERS: Joanne R. (Crotty) Burgess, 75, of Danvers, passed away suddenly at the Massachusetts General Hospital on July 14, 2015. She was the wife of 54 years of Leonard P. Burgess. Born in Salem, she was the daughter of the late John F. and Lauretta J. (Tardiff) Crotty. Joanne graduated from St. James High School in Salem and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.

Joanne was an active member of the Immaculate Conception Girls Drill Team of Salem and was also quite active in various other CYO activities. While in college, Joanne worked part-time in research laboratories at Harvard Medical School in Boston. In addition to her work at home raising four children, Joanne dedicated many years in the development of specialized individual reading and motor skills programs for those with disabilities and special needs. She also worked as a teacher in the Boston School System and at the Landmark School in Prides Crossing, Beverly. Joanne put her family and friends above all and cherished and lavished lots of love and attention on her 5 grandchildren. She enjoyed literature and art and loved to paint. She enjoyed boating as a member of the Danversport Yacht Club and loved the beach and traveling to Florida and Cape Cod. Joanne had a strong faith life and was a devout Catholic. She traveled twice to Medjugorje in Bosnia on Pilgrimage.

More here