My View of Life on the Dock
Stubby sez___
When you’ve been patrolling the wharf all night, standing daytime gate duty and greeting ARDELLE’S passengers you gotta catch forty winks when you can. Even in the blazing sunshine. Especially when you’re 72 in human years. Such is the life of a Maritime Gloucester Volunteer. Not complaining, mind you.
As told to Al Bezanson
Had a wonderful early a.m. lesson on how a pile driver works. I appreciate the patience with which my questions were answered as well as the opportunity to see a perfect demonstration.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A shack is a type of small, often primitive shelter or dwelling. The word may derive from the Nahuatl (Aztec) word xahcalli [ʃaʔ’kalːi] or “adobe house” by way of Mexican Spanish xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as “shack”.[1] It was a common usage among people of Mexican ancestry throughout the U.S. southwest and was picked up by speakers of American English.
An alternative etymology is that shack derives from teach, pronounced chaċ, meaning “house” in Irish Gaelic, which was absorbed into American English from the 1880s onwards. Similarly shanty may have derived from the Gaelic seantigh, prounced shan-tí, meaning “old house”, at a time when Irish migrants lived in New York’s tenements.[2]
It is possible that up to a billion people worldwide live in shacks.[3] Fire is a significant hazard in tight-knit shack settlements.[4] Shack settlements are also sometimes known as slums or shanty towns.
Love seeing the house boat move by the Greasy Pole.
Couves are collard greens, that help make the best Portuguese soup.
May 1, 2013
By Richard Gaines
The Northeast groundfishing industry faced the music Tuesday — and it was a dirge.
NOAA Regional Administrator John Bullard informed members of Congress Tuesday that he was filing in the Federal Register catch limits and the overall fishing regime for the new fishing year starting today and carrying through 2015. And the briefing confirmed devastating cuts in the stocks on which the fleet of about 450 boats have depended.
Boats primarily from Gloucester, New Hampshire and Maine that fished for Gulf of Maine cod found their allocations cut by 78 percent, and many fishermen — including Joe Orlando, one of Gloucester’s best known and most vocal captains — said their businesses were rendered non-viable.
“Want to buy a boat?” said Orlando, who fishes from the 70-foot vessel Padre Pio. “I put it up for sale. I have no choice.”
For the entire story click here
We are a far cry from here when 1oo foot plus commercial fishing boats were tied up 4-5 abreast all around the harbor –
I’ll never forget graduation day from Bentley College when I was at a crossroad in my life. We still hadn’t left campus right after the graduation ceremony and I was wrestling with the decision between staying in school and becoming an economics professor or going to work at the dock. My dad said to me “Joe, there’s always gonna be fish and they’re always gonna need a place to unload them.” That was 1989.
Never could we have imagined how far and how fast it would all fall apart.
Our once might port is not even a tiny flicker of what it once was.
Our buddy Stevie Corbett designed something so simple, so efficient so time saving for ANYONE that does ANY amount of fishing. Unless of course you’d rather spend your time chopping up bait for hours instead of getting your lines in the water.
Can’t catch fish when your lines are dry.
Check it out at http://chumcutter.com/
Filmed at Beacon Marine-
Just $169.00 * 100% FREE SHIPPING * for a limited time
What a beauty of a day to watch the Ardelle launch on Saturday.
A gorgeous day for the launch of the Ardelle.
The Old Ocean Reporter Before She Sunk.
Fred Bodin Submits-
Hi Joey, Here’s something a little different. Quite a few Gloucester folks remember Doyle’s, including Donna.
An Old Haunt Revisited: Doyle’s Cafe in JP
Janet and I visited Doyle’s Cafe on our way home from Easter Sunday dinner in Roslyndale. Before I moved to Cape Ann, I lived in Jamaica Plain for 12 years. During that time, I frequented Doyle’s on Washington Street, which was in the shadow of the Orange Line. It was a pretty wild place at times.
Doyle’s was founded in 1882 as the Braddock Cafe. It was bought in 1972 by brothers Eddie and Billy Burke, and then sold to Billy’s son Gerry in 2005. We found Gerry while exploring one of the new function rooms, and he’s one the friendliest guys you’ll meet. Later, he was helping out behind the bar and sweeping the floor. Very cool place.
Politicians schmoozed here, including the Kennedys and Mayor Menino. In fact, Ted Kennedy dedicated one of the function rooms, and there’s also a “Menino Room.”
Here’s a vintage menu from Doyle’s. A comment from Kate via Facebook: “I ate at Doyle’s last fall. THE BEST Rueben and THE BEST sweet potato fries on Earth.” http://doylescafeboston.wordpress.com/
There was a boat at the Railways yesterday sporting all these strange looking doodads and gadgets. Does anyone have any idea what kind of boat it might be and what all those doodads and gadgets are for? I assume they are navigational things, but I don’t recall seeing anything looking quite like this before.
E.J. Lefavour
Maritime Gloucester is proud to announce that it is starting a new Sea Scout “Ship” effective immediately. It has been many years since Cape Ann operated an active Sea Scout group for youth. 
The Sea Scouts recently celebrated its 100th year anniversary when Governor Deval Patrick declared October 8th, 2012 as the official Sea Scouts Day in Massachusetts. First inspired on the waters of the Massachusetts coast, the program is a national coed outdoor program for young adults ages 14 to 20 that promotes knowledge of our nation’s maritime heritage and provides young people with positive opportunities through hands-on maritime education, training and experiences. The Gloucester “Ship” would serve the North Shore and be a part of the Yankee Clipper Council, BSA, Inc.
“Sea Scouts is a perfect fit for Maritime Gloucester” says Geno Mondello, who directs the dory shop at Maritime Gloucester and served in the Gloucester Sea Scouts as a teen. Maritime Gloucester’s mission is to inspire students and visitors to value marine science, maritime heritage and environmental stewardship through hands-on education and experiences. Located on the waterfront adjacent to the Coast Guard Station at Harbor Loop, it offers boatbuilding and repair, rowing programs, maritime heritage artifacts and exhibits, sails and education aboard the Schooner Ardelle and marine science education and research in biological and physical science classrooms.
According to Amanda Madeira, former Captain of the tall ship Ernestina, who will serve as the Skipper of the group, “I am eager to work with young men and women from the area who are interested in connecting to the sea and developing maritime and marine science skills.” Ms. Madeira is a licensed schooner captain and marine science educator at Maritime Gloucester who has worked extensively with youth on active sailing and seafaring programs.
“We are very excited about the addition of a Sea Scout program on the north shore,” said Laura Moriarty, District Director of the Yankee Clipper Council. “We look forward to working with their team to support a strong program in the historic port of Gloucester.”
Maritime Gloucester is a non-profit organization located at 23 Harbor Loop in Gloucester. Maritime Gloucester prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, age, marital status, national origin, mental or physical disability, political belief or affiliation, veteran status, sexual orientation, and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under state or federal law.
For more information about serving as an adult volunteer or being a youth member, please contact Amanda Madeira at amadeira@maritimegloucester.org or at 978-281-0470. You can also find more information about us at www.maritimegloucester.org or visit us on Facebook.
In case anyone else was wondering what this huge barge was doing in Smiths Cove today, it is there to replace two steel eye beams under the Rocky Neck Accommodations, so that it will be there for people to stay in and enjoy for many years to come.
E.J. Lefavour
As we were walking at the Rocky Neck Marine Railway took some photos and decided to do a little research on the railway.
In 1855, Dodd & Tarr Fisheries was started on the tip of Rocky Neck in Gloucester Harbor. As the fisheries business grew to encompass a wharf, a grocery store, warehouses and 15 schooners, the need arose for a way to repair and maintain the fishing vessels. In 1859, the company constructed the first of two marine railways on the northern-most tip of their property on Rocky Neck. From then until about 1970, the Railways used a steam engine to haul up the vessels. One note of interest is that the gears used in the steam engine were produced at the same factory that built the engine for the Civil War battleship, the Monitor. In 1874, the Tarr bothers of Gloucester took over the firm of Dodd & Tarr and by 1879 the company was listed as “Rocky Neck Marine Railways Association”. The name “Dodd & Tarr & Co.” was reserved for the fishing business only. By 1892, the railway was maintaining 20 first class vessels. In 1907 Capt. Frederick Albert Cook reportedly brought his schooner to the Railways to be sheathed for ice and outfitted for an Arctic expedition. In the 1920s and 30s, schooners participating in the International Fishermen’s Races were hauled out at the Railways for painting and last minute repairs. In the late 1980s the Mayflower II came for repair. Recently the privately owned 128 foot Nantucket Lightship was hauled up in dry dock as she received fresh paint and maintenance. Since 1859 the Rocky Neck Marine Railways, now known as the Gloucester Marine Railways Corp., has maintained and repaired thousands of fishing, commercial and pleasure boats from the wooden schooners of the last century to the present day steel and fiberglass vessels. A modern Travelift has recently augmented the original railways as GMRC keeps moving ahead, from one century to the next, distinguished as the oldest continuously operating marine railways in the country and a well-respected member of the marine industry in the Northeast.
Al writes-
Many a mariner from Gloucester has sailed or steamed close by this lighthouse. It was built in 1802 and is operational today — Fl (2) R 12s (W sector) (3). A few days distant by sail.
Who can name it?
Good Morning Gloucester 