Boatbuilding With Burnham: Last Sail of 2011 on the Ardelle

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Last Sail of 2011 on the Ardelle

Our winter resident harbor seal in the Essex River.

Capt. Ted Marshall of Essex.

Frostbite sailing at its best!

Harold, Susan and Cathy on the bow.

We have had a lot of "last sails" since the Ardelle left Gloucester in late October but we finally did have our officialy last sail yesterday afternoon. After some dock repairs, the Ardelle had been in the basin on a mooring for part of late November and early December as we waited for a high enough tide to bring her into the creek. It was fun for the folks driving over the bridge or walking past to look and see the Ardelle in the basin but we could not keep her there all winter with the ice and currents. So, the tide and time was right midday yesterday to bring her the few yards into the creek for the last time this year. We just had to have one last sail down river before bringing her in. In Essex, people are pretty good when there is a dock call as folks from Essex understand that the tide does not wait...so we made the call to go out for a sail at 11 a.m. and within 10 minutes we had a hearty crew who wanted to go along. We returned by 1 p.m. as the tide was at its peak high so we could get the Ardelle easily into the creek. It was a cold but refreshing sail out near Hog Island with beautiful bird and marine life, too, including a harbor seal that likes to winter in the river. The Ardelle is tied up in the creek now and will have her first winter there... lets hope it goes well and the ice is not too thick! Thanks also to Elinor and Mike "Doc" Dyer for the great photos of the Ardelle in the creek posted this week on the amazing blog Good Morning Gloucester.