Marblehead Adventures: Yacht Clubs and Dogs

A considerable amount of work went into arranging the 1,000 hour service with Hansen Marine on both ends. All of that work was lost when Bob Hansen stubbornly refused to address $600 of overcharges on 15 of 25 parts listed on the estimate. Bob's unfortunate defensive and belligerent response resulted in us losing faith in Hansen and cancelling the project. Clearly a lose/lose on both ends. Oh well.

So it's Monday, late morning, and the boat is in Marblehead at their town docks. We have the dock for 4 nights and the question was should we return to Hingham. We informed the harbormaster that we had cancelled the project and were considering an early departure. The harbormaster indicated that if we left early she would refund the unused nights. Nice response. We decided to stay as Marblehead is a rather spectacular town.

The 18 nautical mile cruise north to Marblehead was smooth as silk. My friend Skip Roper (and former crew member on the 2015 November run from Hinghan to Sarasota) accompanied me. We departed Hingham Shipyard at 7:15 AM and arrived in Marblehead around 10:00 AM. The weather was perfect with sunny skies and low winds. However, the 62 degree water temperature forced us off the flybridge and into the pilothouse for most of the run.

Passing Marblehead Light to port as we approach Marblehead Harbor

Marblehead is both a historic and wealthy community

Approaching the town docks. That's Skip on the bow

Marblehead Harbor is unique in may ways. As shown in the photo below, Marblehead is primarily a sailing harbor. Your view is southwest with the east side of Marblehead in the foreground. Marblehead Light is in the lower right hand corner and around it you'll notice some very large and expensive homes. Two yacht clubs, the Corinthian and the Eastern are within a half mile of the light.

Marblehead Harbor
Note: Permission was requested ftrom the owner. Response pending.

Across the harbor at the right center of the photo is a barely visible red building. That building is Abbot Hall, a museum at the highest point in Marblehead and the site of the town hall. Stay tuned for an article on Abbot Hall. The western side of the harbor contains the historic district and the venerable Boston Yacht Club

Below is a photo of Abbot Hall with the town docks in the foreground.

 Abbot Hall with the town docks in the left foreground

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Guided Discovery at the Marblehead Town Dock

Looking aft (east) at the Town Docks

The harbormaster's office

There are no marinas in Marblehead Harbor, which I suspect is due to northeast orientation of the mouth of the harbor. That orientation exposes the harbor to northeast storms. My hypothesis is supported by the design of the town dock ramps. Notice the A-frame at the head of the ramp. The harbormaster has the ability to raise the ramps when the harbor gets rough, Below is a link to a YouTube video showing waves breaking over the sea wall in the Blizzard of 2014.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCPAzu_5E8c

Boats on a mooring can tolerate more turbulence than boats in a marina. Add the fact that Marblehead is the 23rd wealthiest town in Massachusetts (out of 351) and it not surprising that Marblehead has three really spectacular yacht clubs and except for three large (60+ foot) motor yachts, a harbor full of sailboats. Note: There are two other more modest clubs, Dolphin and Marblehead.

Older motor yacht on a mooring
Note: I have seen very few large motor yachts on a mooring

We visited two of the three yacht clubs. We started at the Corinthian. This 125+ year old club was organized on July 7, 1885 "to establish racing among smaller sailing vessels in busy Marblehead Harbor." The club has 475 member families. The bylaws require that 70% of the members be boat owners. The initiation fee is $12,000. The club has tennis courts, a large swimming pool  and fine dining.

The imposing Corinthian Yacht Club viewed from the ramp to their docks

30 foot plus launches at Corinthian

Kodi posing with the cannon at the Corinthian Yacht Club

Then we visited the Eastern Yacht Club, about a 1/4 mile down the road from Corithian. This club was founded in 1870. Below is an excerpt from their bylaws. According to a knowledgeable local, Eastern is 'old money" and Corinthian is "new money.'

"Article II, Section 5 of the By-Laws states that "priority shall be given to those candidates, otherwise qualified, who are yachtsmen or whose primary interest is in yachting or sailing, regardless of yacht or boat ownership". In addition, the By-Laws provide the Committee with the option of electing a candidate who is "a sole owner of a yacht" or "has, in the judgement of the Committee on Admissions, demonstrated outstanding participation and interest in yachting" notwithstanding the membership limit of 450 regular members."

Eastern Yacht Club with Marblehead Light in the background

By the way, they too have a cannon and so does the Boston, Dolphin and Marblehead Yacht Clubs. All five clubs fire their cannons at sunset. This is a lovely tradition but, unfortunately, Kodi HATES cannon fire (along with fireworks and gunfire).

Explanatory Note: Cannon fire, rifle fire, gun fire and fireworks all scare Kodi. Once the "guns" go off, Kodi shuts down. She will not respond to commands and refuses to leave the boat. This can be problematic especially in the evening when she needs to be walked. Unfortunately we live next to Stoddards Neck Park where the "locals" light off fireworks for weeks after July 4th. Did you know fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts? The "local cops" do not enforce the law so we struggle through a month of getting Kodi off the boat for her evening elimination.

Laurie and Summer

Speaking of the Kodi, we had a rather unusual incident while in Marblehead.  I noticed a man on our dock with a yellow lab and invited Kodi to go greet. Kodi and I walked onto the dock as the man and the dog departed on a skiff. I called to the man who then headed the boat toward the dock. The lab, whose name was summer, proceeded to jump off and greet Kodi. Then Summer jumped back in the boat and Kodi followed. The man, whose name is Laurie Willard, asked if Kodi could go with Summer and I said OK.

Kodi and Summer arriving back after an hour ride

An hour or so later Laurie, Summer and Kodi returned to our dock. We learned that Summer was a rescue and that except for a little separation anxiety was getting along well. Laurie invited Kodi for a puppy play date but we were unable to put it together.

Laurie supplied the following photos;

Kodi and Summer returning to Guided Discovery

Stay tuned for more on marblehead.

Written by Les.