A One-Sided Cape Ann

With the Cape Ann Rowing Club's 2020 Blackburn Challenge cancelled due to the pandemic, I and several hundred other rowers and paddlers would not be circumnavigating Cape Ann today.  Nonetheless, I was able to get in some mid-week paddling and camping while keeping to the Cape's more sheltered west side.  Fortunately for me the Cape Ann Camp Site in Gloucester, MA was open for business with solid Covid measures in place. A nearby boat launch on the Jones River afforded me access to the Annisquam, Little, Essex, and Castle Hill rivers...

 

The need for speed was cast aside, and over two days I explored nooks and crannies I'd usually pass by without notice.  With a wind out of the north on Wednesday I headed southward on the Annisquam passing under the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge ...

...towards Little River.  At Rust Island this black-booted fox was seen enjoying a brief bit of morning sun...

 Further west in Stoney Cove near Presson Point a bald eagle...

...took a break after harassing one of several ospreys.

Upon reaching the head of Little River's navigable waters...

...I turned about and paddled by this seemingly long abandoned summer camp...

 

After passing under the bridge again I saw this sign of the times...

On Thursday I paddled out the other end of the Jones River passing this string of empty dories...

...before reaching the Annisquam River and heading northward.  Here I briefly followed the course of the Blackburn Challenge and admired this lobster boat heading out ahead of me...

Approaching Annisquam Light...

...I turned to the left rather than following the Blackburn's course to the right. My destination was Castle Neck and the Essex River.   To my right Ipswich Bay opened to the sea...

Soon I entered the mouth of the Essex River with Hog Island dead ahead...

 Across Essex Bay from the island I landed on a sandy beach...

... and enjoyed my first saltwater swim of the season.  Couldn't have been more relaxing.

Back underway I reached Long Island where this one foot diameter jellyfish had become beached...

Paddled around Hog Island following the Hog Island Channel...

On my return trip to the Annisquam a good bit of the Blackburn Challenge's course could be seen to the east...

 

So while this year wasn't quite the same without the Blackburn Challenge, it did at least provide me with some of its salty flavor.   Before leaving Cape Ann a visit was paid to Blackburn's old saloon...

...and his gravestone located in the Fishermen's Rest section of Beechbrook Cemetery...

On Stacy Boulevard there are bronze plaques listing the names of Gloucester fishermen lost at sea.  On the plaque for 1883 is the name of Blackburn's dorymate, Thomas Welch...

 

And of course the 'Man at the Wheel' was looking out upon Gloucester Harbor...

Hopefully, 2021 will see the return of the Blackburn Challenge in a post-Covid world.