MS Eurodam From All Over !

The day was overcast as the 935' 2104 passenger cruise ship "MS Eurodam" made a stop in Gloucester. With the inner harbor channel depth at low tide around 20'-22' the ship usually anchors about a 1/2 mile inside the Breakwater in the outer harbor. This time she came very close to the inner harbor just off Ten Pound Island but she didn't anchor! She stayed stationary using her thrusters and azipod units. An azipod is an external drive motor with propellers attached and they can turn 360 degrees, no rudder needed! Similar to the lower unit of an outboard. Imagine, with a push of a button this massive ship can stay stationary using GPS coordinates. In technical terms it's called "dynamic positioning"....in a way a virtual anchor! I circled the harbor to catch the sight of this behemouth from almost every angle.


From Rocky Neck visitors from Toronto and Germany check out the ship.

Up close.

Behind Ten Pound Island.

"MS Eurodam" and Greasy Pole

Port profile from Stage Fort Park...I could hear Calypso music!

From the Birdseye lot.

From "The Fort" playground.

Stage Fort Park benches.

Off the Boulevard.

Behind "Old Glory"

Fishermen's Memorial

Fishermen's Wife's Memorial

An Unlikely Gloucester Connection !

The other day I took my sister-in-law to Lawrence for jury duty. Not wanting to hang around the city for hours on end I decided to take a ride to nearby Andover. I had no place in mind but if I saw something interesting I had my camera to help pass the time. Traveling along route 28 I pass the beautiful grounds of Phillips Academy and see a spire that looked very familiar. After closer examination it was a steeple without a building! Now there's the Washington Monument and the Tower of Pisa but this tower looked very much like the steeple of Gloucester's 205 year old Unitarian Universalist Church or as we call it "The U-U Church"! This tower is named "The Memorial Tower" and was dedicated in 1923 to the students and graduates of Phillips Academy who died during World War I. Now here's where the Gloucester connection comes to play.
The tower contains a carillon, Gloucester's Our Lady of Good Voyage Church also contains a carillon, the oldest in the country.
Originally, the 157 foot Memorial Bell Tower was to hold a set of bells to chime the hours, not a carillon. But, during construction, school officials went to Gloucester to hear the bells of Our Lady of Good Voyage Church. They were so taken with the Gloucester carillon they decided to add one to Andover's tower!



Memorial Bell Tower

Top of the tower.

Plaque

The grounds of Phillips Academy.

Our Lady of Good Voyage Church

Our Lady bell towers.

Our Lady

The "U-U Church

From the harbor.

Harbor sunset

Sunset from Wonson Cove.

Break Out !

Days of fog finally gave way ever so slowly. Just when the sun came out the clouds moved in. Here's a series of images covering the weekend.

Dingy's and canoes.

Foggy anchorage.

Foggy dunes of Good Harbor Beach.

"The House" at Good Harbor Beach is swallowed by the fog.

Fishing boats at rest.

A gull flies by.

Harbor Cove

Boston Tea Party ship "Beaver".

"Adventure"

"Phyllis A." stern

Sparks still fly'n!

Smith Cove

Herring fleet

Rocky Neck

Still In the Fog !

Another day of fog so I made the East Gloucester swing. Over to Good Harbor Beach, Rocky Neck and over to Eastern Point.


Good Harbor Beach footbridge.

"Adventure" bow as fog sweeps over the harbor.

The bow of the "Phyllis A."

Copper clad bottom of the Boston Tea Party ship "Beaver".

Working on the transom.

Skilled hands.

Sparks are fly'n!

"Ardelle" during a foggy cruise.

A layering of fog!

Ten Pound Island light.

Boats at rest.

Yacht

Lone lobster boat.

Sailboats at their moorings.

Fog covered marsh on Eastern Point.

Foggy Eastern Point Light.

Another view

Lady with single rose walks along the breakwater.