Come take a stroll at the Maritime Gloucester dock and see how pretty it looks (and check out the wonderful gift shop and art show!). 
Maritime Gloucester Pier
Decked Out at the Dock!
Leave a reply
Category Archives: Gloucester Harbor
Red Ten
Gloucester Harbor foggy morning.
THREE VIEWS GLOUCESTER CITY HALL AND SKYLINE
A view that never disappoints
Choppy Harbor waters
Storm clouds departing
Later the same afternoon
SCIENCE CHANNEL FILMING VIKING EPISODE AT MARITIME GLOUCESTER
The Science Channel was filming an episode about the Vikings today. The show features the ship Polaris, a handcrafted reconstruction of an original Viking coastal fishing vessel. Polaris is docked at Maritime Gloucester.
Viking Ship Drops Anchor in Massachusetts
By Sean Horgan
ESSEX, Mass. (AP) — Cape Ann’s fleet of vintage row and sail vessels has a new addition, one that hearkens back to mists of Viking heritage forged in the fjords of western Norway.
The Polaris, a 37-foot reconstruction of an original Viking coastal fishing vessel dating to 1030 A.D., has made its way across country to the Essex Shipbuilding Museum from its birthing boat yard on Fidalgo Bay in Anacortes, Washington.
The plan, according to owner Stuart Boyd, is to berth the Polaris this summer at Maritime Gloucester, where it will be available from early June on for short public rowing trips, private charters and corporate team-building outings throughout the inshore waters of Cape Ann.
“We want to be an inspiration for small groups working together and having fun at the same time,” said Boyd, whose company is named Norsvald after the ancient Norse word for “power from within.”
Gloucester’s Man at the Wheel Sunrise
Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial
SPLENDID SCHOONER FEST FIREWORKS
Saturday night’s Schooner Fest fireworks display from Stage Fort Park was beautiful. They’ll be time tomorrow to sort through the photos and in the meantime, here is preview.
Storm Sky Over Gloucester Harbor
Gloucester Harbor Stormy Sky Panorama
SHOUT OUT TO GLOUCESTER’S ANIMAL CONTROL OFFICERS TEAGAN AND JAMIE!
Gloucester’s Animal Control Officers Teagan and Jamie were on the scene at the crack of dawn at 4:30 this morning fixing the posts around the PiPl nesting area and writing tickets. Last night Jamie was on the beach as well. Thank you Jamie, Teagan, and Chief McCarthy for the stepped up patrolling.
The posts needed to be pulled out of the sand because last night we had yet another super high tide, all the way up to the bluff for most of the length of the beach.
I read a comment yesterday that stated falsely that the animal control officers make $80,000.00 a year and sit around and drink coffee all day. I have it on good authority that their combined incomes do not total $80,000.00 a year. Stating misinformation and disparaging the hard working people in our community is creating a false narrative and is hurtful to everyone involved, to the people, the dog owners, and to the shorebirds.
Teagan and Jamie writing tickets at dawn this morning.
We don’t have as much an enforcement problem as we do an issue with entitlement and ignorance. Ignorance in the sense that scofflaws may be from out of town and may be unable to read, and entitlement in that some people know the rules and know the dangers that dogs pose to the shorebirds, yet choose to do as they please.
Upon entering Good Harbor Beach this morning, the scofflaws with their dog walked by these three signs.
Walking a dog on a beach is a purely recreational activity. For teeny tiny nesting shorebird chicks, protecting that same beach habitat is a matter of life and death.
If you see a dog at anytime or anywhere on Good Harbor Beach, please call this number: 978-281-9900.
As of late, it appears as though many more people now have the need of a service dog. Having a service dog requires that it be on leash at all times, not jumping on people, and not running through the dunes. Service dogs cannot go in the dunes, or anywhere on the beach that is restricted to humans.
Would the people with service dogs consider taking their dog to any other of Cape Ann’s stunning beaches, rather than to Good Harbor Beach during shorebird nesting season I wonder?
Folks getting ticketed and escorted off the beach.
Truly, the most important action people can take is to volunteer to help watch over the chicks. We have a number of folks posing as helpers but sadly, they are not actually volunteering for shifts. Two monitors on each shift would be ideal, but this year we have fewer volunteers, and don’t even have single person coverage during large chunks of time. Keeping watch over the baby birds will make a difference in whether or not the chicks survive. Anyone can be a volunteer and anyone of us can show you what to do. Finding people to help has been especially difficult on the weekends. Please contact kwhittaker@gloucester-ma.gov if you would like to lend a hand. Thank you so very much 
Six-day-old Piping Plover Chick
This morning’s dog tracks at Good Harbor Beach – Dog tracks are easy to spot and to differentiate from other canids (fox and coyote). For example, notice the sharp toenail indentation. Coyotes have rounded toe tip prints because they wear their nails down.
Dog tracks Good Harbor Beach
Look what other tracks were spied this week, deer! These too are easy to spot in the sand. The deer’s cloven hoof makes a broken heart shape.
White-tailed Deer Tracks Good Harbor Beach
Today’s early morning Good Harbor Beach view of Thacher Island Twin Lights
BEAUTIFUL GOOD HARBOR BEACH SUNRISE SUNBURST
Just another Good Harbor Beach sunrise this morning.
Gloucester City Hall Sunset
Last night’s shifting sunset colors.
Calm Before the Storm
Good Morning! Brought to you by Rocky Neck–from an exquisitely sunny and peaceful morning.
FV MY GRACE HEADING HOME FOGGY AFTERNOON
FV My Grace, Gloucester
Red #2
Ten Pound Island Sunset
BEAUTIFUL SNOWY DAY IN GLOUCESTER TOWN
How the day began
Full Wolf Moon Over Gloucester
Beautiful January Wolf Moon rising and setting over Gloucester.
Moonsetting over the Harbor
Moonset over the Fort
The Brutality of Fishing in Winter
Not a job for the faint of heart.
Watching Joey and Captain Russell with his crew of the FV Lady Jane offload at Captain Joes on this last morning of 2017 you couldn’t help but be struck by the deadly dangerous conditions of working in frigid Arctic temperatures and blistering winds. Nearly every surface of the boat was covered in a thick layer of solid ice.
Prayers and best wishes to all our Gloucester fishermen for a safe and prosperous 2018.
GLOUCESTER CITY HALL HARBOR SKYLINE PANORAMA
Gloucester City Hall skyline panorama at sunset.
BRILLIANT DECEMBER SUPER MOON OVER GLOUCESTER CITY SKYLINE
The only super moon of 2017, December’s full moon was fittingly named by Native American tribes the “Long Night’s Moon,” the “Frost Moon,” and the “Cold Moon.” In Europe, December’s full moon is called the “Yule Moon.”
December’s full moon kicks off a trilogy of super moons. The next super moon is January 1st, 2018 and the following super moon is January 31st, 2018 which also makes it a “Blue Moon,” (the second of two full moons in a month is called a Blue Moon).
First in the Super Moon Trilogy
Saturated Sunset Over Gloucester Harbor
Gorgeous sunset over Gloucester Harbor and Rocky Neck, with the colors of the sky flowing from red hot reds and oranges to soothing shades of violet pinks and blues. 
Within moments, the sky’s hues changed from orange to violet. FV Pioneer in the foreground. 
Fire on Good Harbor Beach
This morning I arrived at 5am to check on the plovers and two young guys were building a fire right next to the Piping Plover sanctuary. I watched from a distance for a moment as they built up the fire, and then they crossed the beach to leave. I called the police to come put out the fire and asked the guys, hey what’s up with the bonfire? Their mysterious response was that they were coming back to add more wood. They left via the footbridge and a few seconds later, the police arrived to extinguish the fire.
Building a fire where children will shortly be running around in the sand is a really, really dumb idea. Not only that, but the PiPl family were super stressed, which is not usually the case during daybreak hours.
At about 5:30, two crows entered the sanctuary, eating garbage that had blown in. The parents were very distracted by the crows. At an opportune moment, when the chicks were on the opposite side of the crows and garbage, I ran into the roped off area and removed the enticing chicken remains, and chased away the crows. Crows and gulls are only on Good Harbor Beach in great numbers because of the garbage left behind. If there were no garbage, there would be no gulls and no crows.
Pre dawn, and pre-arrival of the DPW, with lots of plastic littering the beach, which washes into the ocean each and every night.
PIPING PLOVER UPDATE: CELEBRATING DAY TEN!
My, what big feet you have little chick.
Thank you to all who are watching out for the Good Harbor Beach Piping Plover Family! Reports throughout the day from the Piping Plover monitors tell of folks who are curious and interested in the welfare of the chicks. One of our little babies has gone missing, but the three remaining are doing beautifully. They are growing rapidly and getting better at following the parent’s voice commands. In the early morning and evening, for the most part, the chicks go in and out of the symbolic roped off area. During the heat of the day, the chicks stay closer to the grassy dune edge, seeking shade from the sun.
At sunrise this morning it was foggy and chilly. The chicks needed extra cuddling under Mom (ten-day-old chicks).
Interestingly, there is a male interloper. He was first reported by my husband about a month ago, when Tom called and said you have to get down here because the Piping Plovers are fighting! I hurried over, and sure enough an epic battle was taking place between our nesting pair and the strange male. I filmed the fighting, which went on for about half an hour, when Mama Joy and Papa Joe chased the interloper far out to sea. Unfortunately, the “third wheel” keeps reappearing, almost daily. I write unfortunately because as is the case with so many episodes that play out in the life of our little Plover family, when the adults are distracted by a perceived threat and leave the chicks, it makes it easier for a predator, such as a crow or seagull, to swoop in and carry off a baby. Later in the summer, as the Plovers are preparing to migrate south, the fledglings and adults will gather in larger groups, but at this point in the chicks development, the pesky interloper is clearly not welcome.
Eight-day-old chick. Could you be any better camouflaged little Plover?
Help With the HarborWalk and Thank You Maggie Rosa!
Would you like to help us spruce up the pollinator gardens at the HarborWalk? The wonderful Maggie Rosa called last week expressing interest in helping care for the garden. We had a nice walk through the HarborWalk and talked about weed versus wildflower. Maggie has already made a tremendous improvement. If you would like to volunteer, I’ll be at the HarborWalk on Sunday morning from 7am to 8:30, before the podcast, and happy to show anyone interested how to identify the wildflowers. Please feel free to comment in the comment section or email me at kimsmithdesigns@hotmail.com if you have any questions. Thank you.
You Didn’t Actually Think I’d Want to Live in That Dump Did You?
Dad Piping Plover spends considerable time showing Mom how good he is at nest-building.
Mom nonchalantly makes her way over to the nest scrape.
She thoroughly inspects the potential nest.
Dad again rearranges the sand. Mom pipes in, “Honey, i think I’d prefer that mound of dried seaweed over there, nearer the blades of seagrass. And can you please add a few seashells to the next one, rather than bits of old kelp.”
Rejected!
Here we go again!
Five Piping Plovers have been observed at Good Harbor Beach. They are battling over territory and beginning to pair up. The male builds perhaps a dozen nests scrapes in a single day–all in hopes of impressing the female. Hopefully, within the next week, they will establish a nest; the earlier in the season Plovers begin nesting, the greater the chance of survival for the chicks.
Dave Rimmer from Essex County Greenbelt reports that although many nest scrapes have been seen, no nests with any egg on any of Gloucester’s beaches have yet been discovered. He suggests that perhaps the cooler than usual spring temperatures are slowing progress.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUCcXh0FaWp/
Not one, but two, potential nesting sites have been roped off for the Piping Plovers. The second site is near the Good Harbor Beach Inn.
GOOD HARBOR GOOD MORNING! Featuring Twin Lights, Two Lovers, a Photographer, and Sunrise
Gorgeous good morning, from GHB.
Happy New Year’s Day 2017 Scenes from Our Neighborhood
The Duckworth’s wishing everyone a Happy 2017
Harbor Star
Heading out New Year’s Day evening