Descendants of
 Captain Robert Brown
                            1809 – 1894

 

 

Site by
LLP Web Designs

 

 

 Scrapbook
<< Previous page

 

’Tis advertised in Boston ... inbound with the Charles W. Morgan

Starting to run out of adjectives for this summer. Having exhausted all other options for getting out on the water and seeing the Charles W. Morgan under way, we finally chartered a boat out of Constitution Marina to takes out during her transit from Provincetown and follow her in toward Boston. Here’s the day’s log:

 

The marina from which our adventure started was located conveniently next to Constitution Center and the Charlestown Navy Yard, so we had an excellent view of the Constitution as we started out.


Fortunately THIS view of the Tobin Bridge is a whole lot more pleasant than our earlier view: driving over it during rush-hour traffic.



The Boston skyline.

Among the sights on the way out of Boston was the United States lightship Nantucket


We saw some evidence of man depending on nature to provide energy in the wind turbines to the left. (Those are not barrels of whale oil at the wastewater treatment facility.)


Logan airport.


Before long, the city was well behind us.

Boston Light under repairs and looking more like preparations for a NASA launch.


Our ride for the day was a Larson 28 provided by Chip Mariner Charters. As we were running ahead of schedule, Captain Dave suggested a brief explore of Georges Island. Non-official vessels are permitted only to load and unload passengers, so he dropped us off and waited at anchor.

Constructed during the Civil War, Fort Warren was used through WWII. The fort was opened to the public in the 1960s and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

 

Narrow window slits, once used as defense positions are angled on the inside, affording a wide view while offering a narrow target.

 

All in all, it's a lovely place to ramble.


Next stop, the waterfront at Hull, which on a peninsula, but probably quicker to reach by boat than by car. Next to the public dock, there’s a take-out shop with great fried clams and ice cream!

 

 

There’s also a friendly little beach with the best selection of skipping stones to be found anywhere.


Enough sightseeing, we had a ship to find!

Unlike the days when whalemen’s wives stared out to sea for months on end waiting for their menfolk to return, we had a nifty little phone app that allowed us to know where our ship was, which still didn't prevent us from looking in the wrong place. When different electronic gadgets use different GPS formatting, there tends to be a certain lack of precision. So we just looked at the horizon.

At first, we saw nothing.

Then a tiny smudge on the horizon, dead ahead.

Sure looks like a square-rigger to me.

Captain still fiddling with his gadgets, but we’re pretty sure of what we’re seeing... not much else that could be.

That’s definitely our convoy: the Charles W. Morgan in the center under tow behind Sirius with faithful Roann following behind.

The Morgan near Minot Light.

Dang! She’s pretty ... and looks a whole lot bigger on the water than tied to a dock.

Where we expected a floatilla surrounding the ship, there were only a few spectator boats. Clearly somebody could afford a more elegant charter, as there were only a handful of people on the Provincetown ferry, and she didn’t appear to be following any schedule except the Morgan’s.

Unless I miss my guess, that’s Captain Kip Files checking the trim of her jibs.

Roann

(Roann towed the red inflatable, but the other was in charge of crowd control enroute... Provincetown to Boston is a LONG trip in a little boat. Good job, guys!)

Sirius

If I had been paying closer attention to her sail trim, then I probably should have suspected something was up here. Filling the fore and main sails in opposite trim generally impedes forward motion, doesn’t it? (Somebody needs to explain this one to me.)

Only after we headed for home did we find out she had dropped her tow line outside of Boston and taken a couple of victory laps before coming in to the dock. Thoughts of hindsight and 20/20 vision come to mind, but we also knew were heading for another bout of rush-hour in Boston, so it was time to go.

 

At any rate, we were thoroughly delighted to see her in motion.


The last, and most unexpected bonus of the day was a view of the Gloucester fishing schooner Roseway. Looks are deceiving ... she may look smaller here, but she’s actually 24 feet longer than the Morgan!

 

 

<< Previous page

If you have material to add to this section,
please contact the site administrator:
admin@captainbrown.net