York, Maine to Gloucester, MA

    The weather report indicated smooth seas but there was a likelihood of severe thunderstorms starting in the afternoon and continuing into the evening. Since we had only 35 miles to go we decided to leave early and try to get to Gloucester before the storms and more importantly before low tide.  Our Nobletec mapping system showed the Anisquam River leading down into Gloucester to be narrow and shallow so we wanted to be through it before low tide.
     Leaving York on an outgoing tide gave us a little boost so we went about 4 miles offshore allowing us to dodge fewer lobster pots. It worked. We had smooth cruising allowing us to get a good view of  Smuttynose Island and others along the offshore chain.
     When we were about an hour out of the Anisquam inlet I opened up the big Detroit engines, so we could have an extra depth when in the river and to clear out any carbon deposits in these motors. It is a good thing I did.  Not only were the depths shallow (in places less than 4 feet) but the river was narrow requiring several 90 degree turns against the outgoing current.  Try staying in the channel doing this at slow speed because of the multitude of moored and docked boats just feet off of the periphery of the marked channel.
                                                                               

                                                                          

 
      We made it without going aground but had to hold in the current waiting for the railroad bridge to open.  We watched people working on their boats as we maintained our position for about 10 minutes.   We came through at a very opportune time as you will see later in the blog.

                                                                             

                                                      Gloucester Railroad Bridge


       The mooring we called for was empty as we passed to go to Rosie's fuel barge to fill up. At $2.04 per gal we took on over 300 gallons.  This saved us about a $1.00 per gal over the nearest other marina that had diesel. We than grabbed our mooring and settled in to see if the thunderstorms would develop.
      Within an hour we saw coast guard boats tearing up the river with their sirens and lights going.  That marina that we hovered at had a boat catch fire.  From our mooring we could see the black smoke billowing up from the area.  Later, apparently there was a 30 foot  high fire ball that went up when the fuel tanks exploded.  Luckily, no one was injured and we were by it before  the fire started. 
      Later I noticed Spencer hanging close to my feet and he began to shiver.  Poor boy. His hearing is much more acute than mine and I knew he must have heard distant thunder.  At first the thunderstorms passed around us but later, came close.  Bright scraggly fingers of lightning cracked to the ground and rumbled for minutes after!  Beth gave Spencer a mild sedative. It is heart wrenching to see him so scared that he vibrates and as usual the pill kicked in after the worst part of the storm had passed.  Oh well! At least it washed the salt off the boat and Spencer can have a good sleep.
                                                                              

                     Storm coming in at our mooring at Browns Yacht Yard in Gloucester

                                                                                  

 

      We finished the evening with steaks barbecued on the grill and fresh homemade potato salad.(almost as good as what my sister-in-law Patty Kennedy makes!)
                                                                             

           The storm left a beautiful sunset behind the clock tower in Gloucester Harbor.
                                                                                

       With some trepidation we head into Boston Harbor tomorrow to pick up my brother-in-law, Danny Collins.  Oh well, we made it through New York Harbor on the way up.  Hopefully we can get in and out of Boston Harbor without any accidents.