Wind and the Setting Sun!

With a windy Saturday I grabbed a few shots around Cape Ann while I was able to catch the Sunday's sunset.

Folly Cove!

Angry gap!

Boat in boat!

Lanes Cove!

Lanes Cove shack!

Rough Lanes Cove!

Small lobster boat!

Lone gull!

Yummy lobster bait!

Mending nets!

Lobster boat "Jupiter II" during flight ops!

Setting sun on the dock!

The sun has set!

A gull sunset!

Flying off into the sunset!

Reflective tanker trailers on the Fish Pier!

Abandoned !

With winds whipping at 40mph+ I headed out for a ride around the cape looking for surf. What I ended up with was a few things abandoned! The first thing that caught my eye was the quarry walls in Rockport. The quarries dot Cape Ann, some as this one now used as the Town of Rockport water supply. The sun was starting to peek through the clouds and the colors were awesome. Later I headed over to Pigeon Cove to check out any wave action on the breakwater but with open access to the old Cape Ann Tool Company, I couldn't resist snooping around. Large forge hammers made engine blocks for many WWII Army tanks. Due to the sound of the hammers in operation, the locals dubbed it "The Boom Boom Factory"! The buildings have been sitting idle for 15-20 years while many proposals of it's use has been in dispute. While I was there the sounds of loose corragated steel panels slamming in the wind gave the place a ghost like feel!

Quarry Wall!

Jagged cliff!

Living on the edge!

Pigeon Cove!

Lobster boats sit idle!

Abandoned Merc outboard!

Hard Hat Area!

Cape Ann Tool Company!

Falling apart!

Open expanse!

Nothing but memories!

More from inside!

Old truck cab!

Abandoned bike!

Collapsed doorway!

Boiler room!

Work bench!

Door and radiator!

Base of the smoke stack!

Smoke stack!

Derilict!

Another view!

Split bow!

Bowrider!

Left abandoned!

Crumbling sea wall!

Old rudder!

50 Years of Tradition !

Manchester/Essex Hornets 22
Georgetown Royals 14

During my 20 year coaching career all at Manchester/Essex Regonal High School, the last game of the season was always special. Small town football rivals for 50 years, games have been played in rain,snow and on solid ice. But this year although with solid overcast skies, the temps were in the 50's. Team records are thrown out when these two teams play and most years it's a real battle. This year was no different with 8-2 Manchester/Essex Hornets facing off against 1-8 Georgetown Royals. The game this year was played at Georgetown and their field is no different now than when I first started coaching. The first worry is for the safety of the players heading down the slippery wooden stairs and onto a cow pasture of a football field! A thick chunky un-rolled surface that feels like running on a Tempur-Pedic mattress when the temps are warm! When it's frozen it's more like a pot-holed strewn highway!
I'm starting to feel old.... I coached all but two of the present Hornet coaching staff!

Down the stairs!

Captains meet!

Last game for this official after 45 years! (I wish I caught his name)

Fumble...GREEN BALL!

The holder!

Caught!

Great pass blocking!

In the clear!

Interception!

Lowering the shoulder!

Beating the pass rush!

Shotgun!

Over the shoulder!

Breaking loose!

Stiff arm!

Wide open!

In the grasp!

Incomplete!

Unbalanced right motion left!

No one near!

Royal grab!

In the trenches!

He's got him!

Tough defense!

Hornets swarm!

Time out!

Head Coach Mike Athanas sends in the play!

Huddle up!

Punt!

Final handshake!

Final score!

The season is over!

From August to November !

I was stymied! With drizzle and fog wrapping the cape, my photo ambitions just wasn't there. After taking a few photos of the Jones Creek area I headed home and viewed photos that I hadn't posted before. Some of these may look familiar but they are actually different. Before I knew it I had gone back to August.


Washed up!

Dory in the fog!

Foggy marsh!

More fog!

Harbor Cove at dusk!

North end of Good Harbor Beach!

Battered Breakwater!

Eastern Point light!

Riding a wave!

Surfing behind Salt Island!

Missed the big one!

Lobster Cove Bridge!

Lobster Cove!

Docked!

Leaving the boat ramp!

Tight squeeze!

"Endurance" opened up!

Passing Eastern Point!

"Yankee Freedom" passes Eastern Point!

August sunset!

Air Traffic Control ?

When herring season hits Gloucester the gulls go bonkers. Herring is the food of choice for gulls, they can catch them in the wild or let the fishermen do the catching while they do the scavaging! What amazes me during these feeding frenzies.....no mid air collisions!

Fishing vessel "Plan-B" surrounded in gulls!

Looking aft!

Crowded airspace!

Clouds of feathers!

Don't look up!

Only a few stragglers on this dock!

Lost peg leg?

More Clouds and a Waterspout?

Going over the photos I took recently, one caught my eye. While traveling along the Back Shore I snapped a photo that from a distance looked like a waterspout. I'm sure it's just a cloud formation that looks like a waterspout but zooming it in on the computer it sure looks like one!

Loading a net aboard the "Princess Laura"!

Light mist on the water!

Greetings!

Big cloud over thachers Island!

Broken clouds!

Crossing the bridge!

Good Harbor Beach foot bridge!

Thacher and Salt islands!

Waterspout?

The day is over!

Clouds !

With cloud cover heading in the day before and rain the following morning, the skies boiled with menacing looking clouds during the day on friday.


"Grace Marie"!

Heading to the dock!

Sole Eider!

Cloud covered harbor!

"Jupiter II"!

Toby and his bait totes!

Cleaning up...sort of!

Heavy clouds over the city!

Cloudy Smiths Cove!

The Fort!

Clouds descend!

Front lowers!

Front nears Thacher Island!

Good Harbor Beach under heavy clouds!

Storm front rolls by!

Strange cloud forming!

Very strange clouds!

Tough looking Eider!

Hot Wing Champions.....Final !

When all was said and done, two winners emerged from Farm Bar & Grille and Good Morning Gloucester Hot Wing Challenge! "Dangerous Dick" Low and "Big Lar" Tamillio were crowned co-champions !

The finger shake!

MC Joey C. with whip cream?

Three little piggies?

Whip cream prep!

"Big Lar" eating BEFORE contest!

Getting messy!

Everyone still in!

Waiting for next round!

Fading fast!

Fire extinguisher at the ready!

Cooling off!

Attacking wing!

Sloppy!

All pumped up!

Pumped it's over!

Winners celebrate!

A winners embrace!

A BIG hug!

Late Afternoon Light !

The last few days the sky has been crystal clear. Other than fish processing vapors from the area plants, the light was ideal to grab a few familiar sites but with some unfamiliar views. I did add one rainy day shot from last week of the city Chritsmas tree awaiting installation.


Our Lady of Good Voyage!

Our Lady with a gull!

Our Lady of Good Voyage Church!

Side of church!

Backside of the steeples!

Reflection!

Cross atop St. Anns Church!

Gull atop the Fishermen's statue!

Another view!

Contrail!

Looking out to sea!

Sunburst!

Looking up!

Among the pilings!

Lydia & Maya gets an overhaul!

Great Blue Herron!

Late afternoon sail!

Christmas Tree from Nova Scotia awaits installation on Kent Circle!

Feel The Heat ! Hot Wing Challenge Part II !

WARNING! DO NOT try this at home! As the heat was increased to almost pepper spray intensity a few contestants got sauce in their eyes! It's not a pretty sight....from their view anyway.

Down the hatch!

"Big Lar" and his game face!

Eating away!

A face only mother could love!

Feeling the heat!

Turning red!

Big gulp in a vain attempt to put the fire out!

"Dangerous Dick" Low digging in!

The heat of the battle!

Backhand bite!

Wing gets devoured!

Something tells me he's feeling the heat!

Ed chomping away!

Too hot for Ed!

A sip won't do much!

Big bite!

Oh no...hot sauce in the eye!

He can't see!

Straw in eye...sauce on straw means only one thing. Clear a path....

Emergency trip to the kitchen !

Relief!