LOCAL NAUTICAL NICKNAMES By Wally Lesynski |
One thing that often confuses mariners new to the Merrimack is the common names that the locals use for locations in area waters. Some of these names go back 20, 30 or even 100 years and make no sense to people nowadays. The names don't appear on your chart because they are old traditional names that are part of the local marine dialect. "The Icebreaker" is one name you won't find on the chart but it's what locals call ATON #18 that sits atop a cement base in the channel near the American Yacht Club. The name dates back to the days of sail when a wooden, bow shaped structure was secured with pilings driven into the riverbed at that point. This served to break up wide ice floes coming down river that caused problems for ships under sail. You're definitely an old salt if you're familiar with "The Outer Flag". The buoy with its flag isn't there anymore, but it marked a favorite fishing area back in the 1930's and 40's. Draw an imaginary line from Halibut Point in Gloucester to the White Island light at the Isles of Shoals. The Outer Flag sat on this line due east of the Merrimack. Would you believe that in those days, there was good tuna and haddock fishing so close to shore along that line? The draggers also pulled up a lot of whiting fish in that area. They called the big whiting "steakers" and they'd cut off the heads and tails, tossing them overboard. This formed a natural chum line that ran in the current and attracted the bigger fish to the area. Back in the late 1940's when I tuna fished, I'd pull up to the draggers and trade cold soda for baitfish and buckets of chum at the outer flag. When you exit the river and head south to Cape Ann, about two-thirds of the way down Plum Island you pass "High Sandy ". This is an area in the wildlife refuge where the sand dunes have the highest elevation. Just south of this, the charts note Camp Sea Haven, which locals often refer to as "The Polio Camp". Back in the 40's and 50's, before the area became a federal refuge, the site was a summer carry for children stricken with polio. Its not a good reference point now since most of the buildings have burned down and not much is visible. As you're heading out of the river near the boathouse, you have ATON #10 sitting up on shore at the State Park near Buoy #8 and Badger's Rocks. Locals insist on calling this marker "The Toothpick" even though its kind of a pyramid shaped thing. An earlier ATON at the site was tall, thin and looked more like a toothpick. Maybe another generation of mariners will call it "the pyramid", but probably not. The icebreaker is still going by the same name after more than 100 years. |
