Day 3 Gloucester, MA to Cuttyhunk Island Tuesday May 22, 2018

Day 3 Gloucester, MA to Cuttyhunk Island Tuesday May 22, 2018
Cloudy, Cool, Calm Seas 55 Degrees to start

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Well another fine day on the water. We left Gloucester as the sun was coming up behind the clouds. A nice stop - but the moorings of the town were a little rolly. But we slept great as things calmed down at night. Since the wind had departed the resulting seas were saying "Go for it!!" "It" means let's do the Cape Cod Canal today and not make a stop prior to the canal.

The photos below are the outer harbor of Gloucester.

As you can see it was a great decision. Seas were as good as you will even get. Reminded me of our Nova Scotia trip and crossing the Bay of Fundy.

The iconic railroad bridge at the south end of the canal. The partial sun had given way to full clouds - but still light winds.

Which was good as I didn't need to fight seas and align to pass the Irving Tanker doing 14 knots. I love the new AIS system where I can easily see other vessels for a long way off. And I wasn't surprised to hear the alarm like I did the first day leaving Great Bay. This photo also shows one thing that southern boating has over my beloved Maine - the lack of lobster pots. I can't imagine having them littering the canal and approaches.

Where to go. I have always wanted to stop at Cuttyhunk Island. Well it was worth the wait.

We just nicely left the landing and the fellow below stopped to offer a ride up the hill. You are likely fooled as we were by the painting outfit, but this is Dr. Seymour DiMare. With the stipulation that the lady must sit in the middle, off we went up the road to the top of the island.

He told us the story below that was in this MV Times Article on Cuttyhunk.

"Also the town historian, Dr. DiMare spoke with passion about Cuttyhunk’s unsung role in American history. “Bartholomew Gosnold was the first entrepreneur in this country,” he said. “He risked his own money, not the Crown’s, on harvesting sassafrass from Cuttyhunk, and he prospered. The spirit of entrepreneurship, which is the bedrock of this country, was born on Cuttyhunk in 1602.”

I am going to let you look up why harvesting sassafras was so lucrative.

He described how he was befriended as a young college student by poet Robert Frost. He talked of repairing stone fences with him and that Frost "taught him to think." Faye loves the Frost poem about fences make good neighbors.

Another story was being from East Boston he spent many hours in the Boston Public Library. He befriended another fellow library goer, who apparently was not openly welcomed by most as he grew an Italian herb - which I can't remember what it was - that caused a lingering spell - I imagine like garlic. He laughed when he told of how the old man one day had him help donate $1 million dollars in cash that he removed from his long coat and presented to the library in 1948. For you accountants I will leave the calculating of the worth today. There is a wing since built in his memory. His name was John Deferrari invested his earnings from the Quality Fruit Store in stocks, bonds, and real estate holdings. Here is info on Deferrari

He also told us of being a military surgeon in the Korean war and coming up with the idea of using helicopters to evacuate the wounded - hum, sounds like that would make an interesting tale. But the most compelling part of the story is what takes place many years later. Being from Concord MA, he rode a horse many years in the Concord re-enactment parade. Completing the ride one year, he passed a man sitting with his family. He struggled to get up to salute Dr Dimare but did so after refusing assistance. He wanted to show Dr, Dimare that he was alive and well and had prospered after being one of the first soldiers to be saved be helicopter evacuation. It had taken him nearly 35 years to locate the person that had come to stabilize him and take him back to the surgery for amputation of his leg. There were tears in everyone's eyes at the completion of his story. His house is below where he lives year round with his wife - He is 90.

Encounters like this are one of the amazing things that we hoped to experience on this trip. Thanks for the lift!!! And here is from the top.

My camera went into black and white mode for several of the photos below - but I think it fitting to cast a feeling of the history of Cuttyhunk. Below is the last one room school house in MA. See the above article for more details.

The church across the street was stunning in it's simplicity and well cared for.

Below is mosaic in the church placed in 1978. "That's not that long ago" I thought - until I realized that was the year between the birth of ours sons who now have given us such wonderful grandkids - guess it was a while ago.