A few days ago we were anchored on the north side of Cape Ann just outside of the town of Rockport. Where the “X” is on the chart below.  A quick look at the chart, and you can see that in the normal prevailing winds from the southwest where we were anchored is very well protected.  In fact it is very well protected from every direction except the Northeast.

The little harbor that was directly in front of us built themselves a little seawall to protect the boats from the famous Nor’easters that rage along the coast here.  In fact, I have never seen a seawall quite like this one:

This isn’t a breakwater, or even a seawall this is a fortification.  That’s a three story building just poking above it.  Obviously the locals take the Nor’easters very seriously.

So… when the weather forecast had several days of winds to 30 knots from the northeast in the forecast, we decided that discretion was far and away the great part of valor, and we ran back south to Gloucester harbor where we anchored for the duration of the weather.

The weather is now breaking, and our plan is to run back north tomorrow morning.  If things go exactly according to plan (Ha!) we will run north for about 24 hours all the way to Mt Desert Island in Maine.  From there we will begin to work our way back south, exploring as we go.

Gloucester is a town in transition.  It is still very much a working fishing town.  For example, there really is a Gorton’s of Gloucester, and they really are based here. Commercial fishing boats of all sizes and shapes dominate the harbor. Gloucester also has a significant chunk of town dedicated to vacuuming money out of tourists wallets.

We did stop in the local fishing outfitter, and asked about fishing on our way north.  He said there were two likely fish we might encounter trolling offshore.  Bluefin tuna, “but you won’t land one of those on your tackle” or a mako shark.  Hmmm….

Photos from around Gloucester and Cape Ann: