Gloucester Played an Important Role in my Childhood

The town of Gloucester has played an important role in my early childhood. My first introduction to the town was in 1960 when my father decided to store his boat for the winter at Brown’s Boatyard. In the spring of 1961 at the age of six, my dad would wake my brother and me up early on Saturday mornings. His plan was to have us join him at the boatyard to work on his sailboat in preparation for it to be launched in late May.

I dreaded those Saturday mornings.

All I wanted to do was stay home watch cartoons and play with my friends. Instead, I would spend the day sanding the bottom of the boat. The dust from red anti-fouling paint would cover my clothes and skin. In those days, it was not known how toxic the paint was to the human body. I did not even wear a mask. When the bottom was sanded there was plenty of brightwork that needed sanding as well. Strict instructions to use a sanding block and always sand in the direction of the grain. Everything was sanded by hand. Hours and hours would go by and the sanding continued.

Sand. Varnish. Repeat.

Once the brightwork was sanded and wiped down it was time to varnish. My dad would inspect my varnish work and always find spots where I missed. The term for missing spots was “holiday”. He was always annoyed if I left too many holidays. The even more annoying part was varnish work generally consisted of 3-4 coats with sanding between each coat. My varnish work always seemed to leave runs. That did not go over well either.

Every Child Loves Skipping Rocks

The best part of the experience was when I could go down towards the water’s edge and skip rocks. Even to this day when I drive by Brown’s Boat Yard have memories of smelling like low tide covered in red dust. I must admit my brother was a much harder worker. He also very rarely complained, while I whined during the entire ordeal.

Is it Memorial Day, yet?

When Memorial Day arrived each spring the work was completed and the boat was launched. Finally, the fun of sailing would take over. From Brown’s Boat Yard we would motor through the Annisquam River to our mooring in Annisquam. My summer reward consisted of swimming off the boat, digging for fresh clams, and my all-time favorite of getting a “fudgesicle” at the little store in Annisquam.

Driving through Annisquam today it still looks the same. Life was simple when I was a young boy. Learning to sail and spending time with my Dad was a gift. Sailing is a lifetime activity that I continue to enjoy. Needless to say, I welcomed the idea to build boats out of fiberglass as the maintenance is far less. However, there is nothing like seeing a well taken care of wooden boat with fabulous lines, teak decks, and plenty of brightwork.