Schooners races, concert may be competing with Earl

The expected but uninvited guest to the 26th Gloucester Schooner Festival, Hurricane Earl, hasn't notified organizers of the extent of his visit.

"We didn't know Earl was planning on attending," said Schooner Festival Committee chairwoman Daisy Nell, noting that the hurricane is, as of Wednesday night, projected to at least brush the area sometime late Friday night and/or Saturday morning.

"But everything is going to happen," she said. "There is plenty to do on land as well as the sea so it's a double event with news things happening this year. I think Earl is going to get out of Dodge before he ruins our party."

The weather forecast have caused one vessel to withdraw — a Mayor's Race champion, the American Eagle out of Maine.

The one series of Schooner Festival events that could be in jeopardy, for which there is no rain date, are the Saturday races for the small and midsize vessels.

The Mayor's Race for the Esperanto Cup on Sunday likely would not be affected by the weather. But in case of a postponement, the Esperanto Cup race would be held on Monday as the "rain date."

A traditional highlight is the Parade of Sail, which will now take place at a later time, starting at 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning. As the schooners proceed from the Inner Harbor to the start of Sunday's race off shore, they will pass by the Fisherman's Memorial on Stacy Boulevard.

The color commentator for the parade will be Nell, a local sailor, musician, as well as her husband and musical partner, Capt. Stan, who has been sailing since he was a child.

The parade is usually punctuated by cannon shots from the Stage Fort area, with some of the schooners firing a canon in response.

"This is not just a salute to the Schooner Festival, it is a salute to Gloucester," said Nell, a founding member of the schooner fest committee.

This year, the parade will again include a fire boat, which wowed the crowd with its water arcs.

Paying tribute to the nation's oldest seaport, whose history is also steeped in the arts, the new poet laureate, Rufus Collinson, will say a few words and recite her poem titled "Water over Stones."

Gloucester's Schooner Adventure is the host vessel, though it is not yet open for tours in the wake of its restoration work. Gloucester's working schooner, the Thomas E. Lannon, will, however, be taking part in the races.

Other local vessels taking part in the weekend events include the Lewis H. Story, flagship for the Essex Shipbuilding Museum; The Bald Eagle, Sugar Babe and Maine out of Gloucester, and the Green Dragon from Manchester.

One schooner is coming from Hamilton, Bermuda, the Spirit of Bermuda. And Nell said she's excited about the variety of vessels coming to town, including the Alabama, Liberty Clipper, Estrela, the Fame from Salem, and the Friendship, also out of Salem.

"It's a wonderful sight to see to see the extent of the fleet of wooden vessels," said Nell.

The festival honors the vital role of the fishing schooners to the history of this seaport. The schooner festival committee members note that this weekend is special because at this time, the harbor will be home to a unique mix of old and new as modern fishing trawlers share their home port with traditional vessels from the era of the Age of Sail.

Robert Hastings, executive director of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, said that, in spite of the weather forecast, there will be much to see and do in Gloucester.

"Even though the American Eagle, a winner many times over, will not be here — we understand he didn't want to drive into the storm — there are still many others," he said.

Hastings noted that the viewing of the Parade of Sail will also be better than ever because recreational boats will be asked not to block the view between the people on the Boulevard and the parade vessels.

"It's going to be a fun time and we hope this thing blows over," said Hastings. "We anticipate the weather may affect us a little bit but Sunday will be spectacular."

The annual Boat Parade of Lights and fireworks display are also set for Saturday night.

'Celebrate Gloucester'

Hastings also said he's glad to see the land events aspect of the festival strengthened this year, and is welcoming the Sunday "Celebrate Gloucester" concert event at the city's newly-acquired I-4, C-2 site on the waterfront.

The event features a variety of musicians including national touring act Roomful of Blues, Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Charles Neville and New Orleans jazz men Stanton Davis and Henri Smith, and many others. The seven-hour event starts Sunday, following the schooner races at 3 p.m.

Block Party canceled

Hurricane Earl has already claimed one victim — the scheduled fifth and final Downtown Block party of the season that had been set for Friday night.

Erika Hansen and Linn Parisi of the Downtown Block Party Committee confirmed Wednesday night that the Friday party has been called off.

"With 90 percent chance of rain, and it sounds like 100 percent chance of wind," they said, 'we are canceling..."

"We are particularly disappointed, because the Docksiders were scheduled to play, but we felt this was the responsible thing to do in order to give restaurants a chance to cancel food orders, change staffing patterns, etc."

Heritage Day

Even the Schooner Festival features what amount to smaller fests within its bounds.

The Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center at Harbor Loop, for example, will hold its seventh annual Heritage Day celebration Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with exhibits and the aquarium open free of charge.

The recently restored 1929 John Alden designed schooner Summerwind will be berthed at the Center from Sept. 1-6. The Summerwind will be open for free public deck tours on Heritage Day, while Gloucester's John Morris, author of "Alone at Sea," will sign books and talk with visitors from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

At 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., he will also present a slide show related to his book, which focuses on the fishing industry in the age of the Gloucester dorymen (1623-1939).

For more information on Heritage Day, call 978-281-0470 or visit www.gloucestermaritimecenter.org.

Gail McCarthy can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3445, or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com.

Local News

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Site Map

Contact Us