Last week’s Mug Up ended with Rubber Duck being taken hostage by a pair of adorable but vicious ducknappers. Come to Mug Up this Saturday at 9:30 to see how this drama plays itself out. Will Paul Morrison buckle under and give in to the hostage takers extreme demands to gain RD’s freedom, will RD remain imprisoned (or maybe totally forgotten about and relegated to the back of a closet), or will Paul Morrison pull off bringing a massive rubber duck to Gloucester harbor to float outside Joey’s window and stare relentlessly at him until his Flexilis anatidaephobia forces him to give up RD? Come to Madfish Wharf Saturday morning and find out.
Rubber Duck’s larger half sister had just finished reading “Lonesome Dove” when she found out her baby sister had been kidnapped. She really thinks that she is now that Blue Duck. The meanest half breed this side of the Pecos who would fillet you if you looked at her funny.
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88 Rubber Duck sisters form the Rubber Duck Army. We have a Navy. We have NERF guns. We know this island like the back of our rubber wing. You cannot hide. Because the secret to our success? We have way too much time on our hands. FREE RUBBER DUCK! FREE RUBBER DUCK!
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It would be insane to miss any of the Schooner doings all weekend and RD has a plastic card she will carry so as not to miss one event but remember Cape Ann has other stuff going on. Rockport Farmer’s Market stop by Saturday at 9AM and get a jump on the weekend. Pick up Anadama, Abbott Honey, Sasquatch Smokehouse Salmon or mussels. Then go to Schooner festival but take thick slice of Anadama, butter, honey, add smoked mussels and stuff that in your face while watching the Schooners. Do it early so you have room for the lobster mania at Harbor loop later int he afternoon. Almost forgot the tomato jam stuff which sounds as weird as my above sandwich but it’s crazy good.
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OMG all is right with the world. Rubber Duck showing off the Nutella we scored at Market Basket today at the bakery with Anna Benedetto. Also loaded up on Mrs. Renfro’s Jalepeño Green Salsa
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Let’s reel the tape back to 2004. The European Space Agency (ESA) shot a rocket off to land the spaceship Rosetta on a comet. Rosetta has been cruising since then, swinging past Mars and a few other planets to line up so when this comet swings by the sun on November 11, 2014 she will actually attempt to land on it! Here is where it gets weird. As it gets closer Rosetta has sent back photos of the comet. They are calling it a “contact binary” which means two comets collided very slowly a few billion years ago and stuck.
But on closer inspection the first ESA scientist to look at the photos said, “Oh My God It’s a Rubber Duck!”
See for yourself.
A Rubber Duck the size of Cape Ann is slowly spinning through the universe ready to make a close encounter with our sun on November 11, 2014
I swear I am not making this up. Our own Rubber Duck is starting to act peculiar after I told her the news. I will be posting regular updates of the Close Encounter of a Rubber Duck as we get closer to the the actual contact on November 11. I will be interviewing EJ to find out if her higher beings have lost a bath toy.
[edit] Fun Fact. Rubber Duck rotates every 12.4 hours. So imagine a rock the size of Cape Ann (in diameter, dig the thing up and get a big ball), the head is Rockport, the body is Gloucester, the lips enclose Sandy Bay rotating in synch with the tides. Twice a day, jut like the tides the lips point towards earth and you can slip under the bridge without calling to raise it.
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You can still race. Registration closes at midnight tomorrow (Tuesday July 15). Do you want to challenge yourself to something not quite ordinary? Jump in a craft powered only by the paddle or oar in your hands and head north from Gloucester High School down the Annisquam then start turning right until you went all the way around and pulled into Gloucester Harbor and aim for the Birdseye plant and the Greasy Pole Finish?
You get a T-Shirt proclaiming your completion as well as pulled pork, beer and a band at Pavilion Beach.
Rubber Duck will be on the halfway-point boat anchored in Straitsmouth Gap to record your number as you go by. Yell the number out since she has very small eyes and no ears.
Sign up now. No walk-ons. Or come out to a viewing area anywhere on the Cape. The times are similar to a marathon. Fast boats make it in two to three hours whereas working dories take five to six hours. Cheer them on.
Here is a handy map. You can check out the list of boats already registers. 245 boats of all kinds, over 370 paddlers or rowers. Click link on this page to see current list of registrants.
The start which is just north of the MBTA Railroad Bridge on the AnnisquamThe finish is the Greasy Pole after a circumnavigation of the entire island. WOOT!
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Click the emblem to register. It is so easy. Do not be put off by the scary registration form. This is the year you do it. Paddle all the way around Cape Ann with 300 other boats. Rubber Duck has done it five years in a row and although there are amusing videos of Paul exiting his kayak the 23 miles was fun. The cold beer and the pulled pork sandwich at the end was awesome.
Since Rubber Duck now has the Blue Duck with a 225HP Suzuki on the transom she may go around the Cape this year a little quicker than the last five. Yes, she may be wimping out this year. Does anyone want to take the real Rubber Duck on their kayak?
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Robin Griggs Wood has photographed a lot of Seagulls and shows them on her Google Plus account. Here is one where she helps start the non-meme #seagullbuttsaturday.
She then worked that photo into a magazine cover. That seagull’s name is Clotilde but I think Homie can model just as well as Clotilde can.
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Where is the Rubber Duck?!? If no one gets it I will start leaving hints at 6PM. Leave your guess in the comments and win a brand new GMG sticker and a hand blown Rubber Duck. In order to win, get specific. Judging is arbitrary and capricious. The winning answer will contain the most details. If you think someone nailed it, steal their answer, add a detail and pile on. Start with the state, … Is that a leaf fragment of quercus rubra with two needles from a pinus rigida? Clues!!
[edit1] OK, maybe shaved it down too much. David Tapley on Facebook says Falmouth. Nope.
Clue 1: Barnyard Animal
Clue 2: Oldtimers with good noses might get it first.
Clue 3: Anyone remember the pigs?
Clue 4: Who had pigs in Gloucester?
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Rubber Duck is trying to convince Joey to buy a lime tree. Fragrant blossoms that turn into limes that are the tastiest limes for Bombay Gin and Schweppes Tonic. Or skip the tonic, just gin on ice and a nice fact wedge of lime ripened on the tree.
After spending the winter in the dusty old shop the lime tree is so happy to be outside in the fresh air and sun. A blast of fertilizer a few weeks ago and it is already cranking out the flowers for this summer’s gin & tonics, and pad thai.
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Have you ever noticed what a weird name daffodil is? I had to look it up to make sure I spelled it right. It was affodil but the etymological merging from the Dutch article “de”, as in “De affodil”, and voila, a goofy name for the harbinger of summer.
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Rubber Duck loves her gadgets and she wanted to know what was underneath her rubber butt. Rocks or maybe something fishy worth eating? So she just installed a Lowrance Elite 7 HDI in the Blue Duck.
Driving SSW down the Annisquam River past Wheeler Point. Water Depth 23 feet, Water Temp 45.3F, speed 5.1 knots.
Price point in the mid range for a depth gauge, fish finder, Chart and GPS display. In 2014 it is amazing what these things can do for short money. Double the price and you can get side scan which will show inside the wheel house of the sunken wreck in 200 feet of water. Maybe in a few years we trade up.
So what does this unit do? In the display from left to right. First the overlay numbers gives 23 feet of water under the boat, the river is 45.3 F temp at the transducer mounted on the transom, and Blue Duck is putting along at 5.1 knots. The left most screen shows the track moving south past Wheeler Point. I haven’t loaded the Navionics “Gold” charts which will will give even higher chart resolution. The base map is pretty good though. All 53 green and red channel markers on the river are there if I forget how to stay in a channel. The middle screen is the “Fish Finder” sonar which in deeper water might show some fish “arches” when it sees an air bladder of a fish. The rightmost panel shows “Down Scan” sonar which displays a pretty remarkable view of the bottom. In the current view there is a bump in the bottom as we travelled from 20 to 25 feet deep. One can waypoint mark that bump by just moving the cursor back to the bump. Then by driving back and forth the bump is still there! It will be interesting to see how it displays a feature in 200 feet of water.
All in all a nice unit. It is dead simple to switch screens to all chart, or split two of the views. Disconnects easily for safe keeping. I spent the winter looking at the myriad possibilities and settled on this one for ease of use and features. This model has been out over a year so the bugs are all squashed and the software is version 3.0 (I hate version 1.00 in any software.) The real compass on the console still works and the paper charts are within reach but I might be able to retire the sextant and throw away the Loran C charts. (Do they even broadcast Loran anymore?)
-Paul Morrison and RD (RD will hire out to string transducer wire. She thought it was fun.)
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As you’re pumping out the basement of your restaurant today, washing the lobster bibs, and shining up the nutcrackers make sure you refresh your website and Facebook page. Better yet, send an invite for opening day to all the people who really “liked” you.
According to this chart, as of today, it isn’t going to get below freezing ever again. Friday, in the 50s. Polar vortex, you can suck it.We are over the fishing pole on the analemma and heading up. Has anyone seen any mackerel? Is it time to oil the reel?
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Good Morning Gloucester 