Me and My Boats
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There are two good anchorages at McGlathery Island, one on the west side between McGlathery and Round Islands, and one in a cove on the northeast side of the island. We went to the cove and found only one other boat there, the Clarion from Marion. We had previously seen the Clarion in Hadley Harbor. The weather was just about perfect; sunshine, blue skies, and blue water. John had a new two-man tent he had won in a bike race. We found a nice clearing in the woods just out of sight of the harbor on soft mossy ground under the spruce trees. John and Tim pitched the tent there and stayed ashore for the time we were at McGlathery. They also cooked some of their meals on John's small one-burner camp stove. We had a pair of walkie-talkies and we used them to communicate between the boat and the shore crew. Tim was a good rower and he ferried supplies between the boat and the camp and rowed us back and forth. We stayed at McGlathery for two days, exploring the rocky shoreline and the neighboring small island, and just relaxing and enjoying the the good weather and the beautiful surroundings.
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About the Book
This book is the story of my life with boats, spanning a time period of about 70 years. It starts with a rowboat on the LaHave River in Nova Scotia and ends with the sale of our last cruising sailboat, a Crealock 37. Most of the book is about the cruising adventures of me and my wife Joyce, and in some cases our sons John and Tim. Our cruising area was the New England coast (especially Maine) and extended east to Nova Scotia. Included are descriptions, plans, and photographs of our five cruising sailboats and the dinghies and small boats I made or bought, and in some cases designed. Also there are many photographs and simple charts indicating some of the many harbors and anchorages visited and the courses followed.
About the Author
Parker W. Hirtle was born in Nova Scotia in a house on the banks of the LaHave River. For most of his life he has been involved with boats, ranging from toy boats and a rowboat on the LaHave River to a Crealock 37 cruising sailboat. Over a period of more than 30 years he spent many weeks cruising on the coast of Maine in five different sailboats, visiting more than 100 harbors and anchorages, and in 1980 he sailed from Marion, Massachusetts across the Gulf of Maine to his birth place in Nova Scotia. When he was five years old Parker moved with his family from Nova Scotia to Watertown, Massachusetts, where he grew up and attended school. When in high school he built a small sailboat, which he sailed on the Charles River. He always was interested in design, and received a bachelors degree in architecture from MIT in 1951. This interest in design lead him to design and build four dinghies during his cruising years. Another design-related interest is wood sculpture, primarily wading birds and female forms. One of his bird sculptures is in the board room of the Harvard Management Corporation..