The town of Marblehead has played an active role in my life since the early 1960’s when my family decided to carry on the sailing tradition of my extended families life. My dad had been an active sailor and racer since the 1920’s growing up in Rhode Island. My grandfather had a large cat boat and sailed out of Edgewood Yacht Club. It was a weekend ritual for the entire family of eight children and my grandparents to be seen sailing in Narragansett Bay. Sometimes even adding a few friends.

Brown Family & Friends - Narragansett Bay

My dad was anxious to find a sailboat so he could extend his love of sailing. One day a large truck showed up in our yard with a 30 foot wooden sailboat with a major hole in the hull along with banged up topsides. It looked like a disaster. The boat had been severely damaged in a hurricane. With the skills my dad learned as a boy repairing boats came into play. What a first seemed like an exciting adventure for me at the age of 5 turned into years of “child labor”.

My days were filled with lots of sanding and more sanding. When I thought I was finished, I was informed to go back and do it again. This particular boat had lots of bright work. It required lots of sanding. It started with very coarse sandpaper and then progressing to a much finer grade. Then the coats of varnish had to be applied. The varnish was thinned out for the first coat and after each coat became thicker. In between coats, it was my responsibility to do the sanding. Yes, this chore started at the age five. Some of you might be thinking the chore was only for a few minutes of my day, but in all seriousness, it usually was an all day event. As I got older the days got longer. Eventually, my responsibilities elevated to actually applying the varnish.

Just proior to the boat being launched the bottom paint needed to be applied. This was to insure the anti-fouling paint would be the most effective. Once again, the sandpaper came out. I carefully had to fold the sandpaper and use a wooden block to sand the red paint that existed on the bottom. But this was not until my dad had replaced all the damage wood to fill in the large hole in the hull. He carefully cut the boards and screwed them in place. Countersunk the the screws and then placed wooden plugs to fill in the screws. He used a glue to hold the plugs in place. Once the glue dried a chisel was used to level the plug with the bottom surface. Lots of sanding was required in these areas. Between the seams of each plank a caulking material called oakum was used to prevent leakage.

Hard to believe now that we did not use masks during the sanding of the toxic anti-fouling paint or gloves when applying it. So many days I would be covered with dust or red anti-fouling paint. My clothes would be covered and my hands all red. I can remember blowing my noise to get the red dust out. As you might image, being a young boy I simply wanted to go play.

The day finally came when my dad announced he had arranged for a mooring in Marblehead harbor. In the early 1960’s this was not an issue as there was plenty of space in the harbor. Our mooring was off of Corinthian Yacht Club, where my dad joined. Not sure why he joined Corinthian rather than one of the others. Corinthian had a large pool, which caught my attention. Over the years, I did not use the pool much because it had too many restrictions. I preferred swimming off the boat or at the floating dock at Crocker Park.

Nearly every weekend and some week nights, my dad would have us sailing somewhere. The big event of the summer was when we would join up with my grandfather and some of my uncles at Martha’s Vineyard, Newport, Nantucket, etc. These trips made me forget about all the hours of sanding and painting.

Eventually my dad purchased several boats. Each boat brought on a different set of experiences. With the invention of fiberglass boats it certainly made life a lot easier. My dad grew up racing so he had the urge to get into the racing series of Marblehead. I can recall the volume of sailboats blanketing the water on a Saturday afternoon. There were three different starting lines that included the outside line, inside line, and high performance line. The various one designed fleets included US One Design, International One Design, Shields, 210, Ensigns, Rhodes 19, Corinthians, Town Class, Tempest, 110’s, 505, 420’s, Day Sailors, and Widegons. Later on the Soling fleet was introduced. Additional fleets were also added such as J24 and Etchells. Certain fleets became popular then would die off and actually disappear.

Sad to say Marblehead is no longer one of the keys sailboat racing centers as it was in years past. The question remains why that is the case? There is not one particular reason, but a culmination of many factors. Today even if you purchased a boat obtaining a mooring includes waiting years for one to become available. I find this very discouraging as the harbor is filled with over 1,000+ boats of which most barley move from their moorings. On any given weekend, you will find most of the boats sitting at their moorings. My gut tells me many people that have some type of boat just to hold on to their mooring. They have every right to do so, but it would be most beneficial to the town if they might consider giving it up to allow others to enjoy the opportunity.

Additional factors include, if you’re lucky enough to have access to a mooring how are you going to get out to your boat? Years past, there actually was the Marblehead Transportation Company that could bring you out to your boat for a fee. Now, your only realistic choice is to join one of the five yacht clubs, which provide launch service. These clubs do not come cheap. There are initiation fees, annual fees, and often monthly charges for restaurants. The cost of owning a boat is only the beginning of the overall costs.

Today’s world is quite different than when I grew up. Kids today have so many choices of activities. Parents seem more inclined to have them sign up for baseball, soccer, hockey, football, lacrosse, tennis, or so many other possible activities. Sailing just can not compete. A select few kids are involved in the Pleon Club that is centered around the development of sailing for kids. Even some yacht clubs have begun to add sailing as a kids option. This is great to see. However, the average kid today may have a far too busy schedule already to add sailing.

Not sure what the future holds for Marblehead in terms of sailing and sailboat racing. I have to be realistic to think it may never return to what it previously was years ago. It’s a shame. The yacht clubs appear to be more like social or tennis clubs these days. Several of them have added social memberships as an option for those who do not have boats, but simply want the social connection.

For many years I have been involved in traveling the globe to represent properties in the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Europe that have been involved in the short term rental business. This required photographs and video to be published in order for potential renters to have insight about the property. About tens years ago the exciting element included drone photography and video to the content.

Along with the support of my sons we continued to travel around the globe, but also found Marblehead to be an ideal location to capture some amazing photographs and video. Marblehead is such a beautiful community with it’s rocky shoreline, blue waters, islands off in the distance, and crazy crooked roads lined up with a number of unique shops, stores, and restaurants. Seeing the community from the air brings an entirely new perspective. My only wish is the waters would once again be filled with all kinds of sailboats.

Marblehead, MA

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