Guided Discovery: On the Hard Again: Gloucester Cruise & Accommodations

The 63's need for maintenance and repairs has us in Gloucester again. The projects for this round fall into three categories:

Normal maintenance of the engines, transmissions and generators
Correction of an oil leak on the port engine that manifested itself on the trip north
Alignment of the port engine's running gear.

The alignment of the port engine will be dealt with as a separate article titled "On the Hard Again: Dealing with Repair Challenges." This project is also the reason for the series title "On the Hard Again" as this particular repair cannot be done in the water,

This first article will deal with the fun stuff, the cruise from Hingham to Gloucester and the challenges we face as live-aboards when the boat goes on the hard.

Bottom line. We need to find a place to live while the boat is on the hard. Diana to the rescue. She undertook the task of finding a place for us to live. My role is to move the boat, clearly the fun part.

For this trip I decided to cruise to Gloucester single handed. That cruise started Monday morning with cast off help from Skip Roper, a former crew member (November 2015). The weather was perfect, calm winds with a temperature in the low 80s at 8:15 AM. The tide at departure was dead low, which exposed all the shallow water along the route out to open water. Fortunately, my route is well marked with lots of deep water.

At around 9:00 AM, I passed Nixes Mate (a tricky spot), turned north into President's Road, the main channel out of Boston Harbor and activated the route to Gloucester. The GPS showed my ETA at 11:50 AM. I called Rose Marine to report my ETA and was advised that their crew goes to lunch between 12:00 and 12:30 PM. This prompted me to throttle back to time my arrival when the crew returned.

Map of Gloucester Harbor
Rose Marine is across from the State Fish Pier

4 hours later, having averaged 7.3 Nautical Miles Per Hour from the dock, I arrived in the Gloucester area and headed down the channel to Rose Marine. Here's some of the scenery I passed.

Expensive waterfront homes to port as I approach Gloucester Harbor

The lighthouse at Ten Pound Island

Gloucester downtown area

Arriving at high tide

Passing historic buildings at Rocky Neck Park

Scenery on the way to Rose Marine

Rose Marine is located just after the dinner cruiser to port

Commercial fishing boats across from Rose Marine

Approaching Rose Marine at 12:20 PM, I passed the Beauport, a dinner cruiser docked just short of the Travel Lift, which is between the stern of the dinner cruiser and the blue fishing boat.

Boats on the hard at Rose Marine

Holding station at the lifting bay waiting for Rose Marine to move the fishing trawler

Oops. I picked up polypropylene lobster trap line on the port propeller
Good thing the boat was being hauled today

Power washing begins

View of the yard while the 63 is hanging on the Travel Lift

Guided Discovery waiting for transport into the yard and onto the hard

We had dessert at this lovely Rockport restaurant

Rockport Harbor

Where to stay. Diana found us lovely accommodations at the Ocean House Hotel at Bass Rock. Below is the hotel's "pitch."

"Perched on the rocky shores of Cape Ann, just a short drive from Boston, the Ocean House Hotel at Bass Rocks is a historic landmark in scenic Gloucester. Originally constructed in 1899, and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, our hotel has welcomed guests for more than 100 years. Picture-perfect views of the Atlantic Ocean and rocky Cape Ann shoreline inspire you to unwind in comfortable rooms and suites with private patios and verandas. Enjoy complimentary seaside breakfast each morning and watch the sun set by the fire pit every evening. Take a dip in the heated outdoor pool or make use of our complimentary bikes and go exploring. Relax, unwind and play at our historic New England retreat at the edge of the ocean in Gloucester."