Chart view of Boston Harbor Islands

Thirty-four islands comprise the Boston Harbor Islands; we visited five over two and one-half tranquil days. They extend 11 miles seaward from the city but they seem much closer. Many are drumlins, small hills that look like upside-down teaspoons, a geologic rarity in coastal areas. Others are simply rock formations. Part of the National Park System since 1996, the islands are known today for their natural beauty and diverse history.

At one time though, they were treated as Boston’s unwanted stepchildren- the home of quarantine stations, insane asylums, internment camps, garbage dump sites, prisons for Confederate soldiers and WWI prisoner-of-war barracks.

Most of the larger ones provide easy boat access: your own boat (anchor or mooring) or take a ferry from one of several locations. Each drumlin (I keep wanting to say “gremlin”) has far more history than I can relate here so in an attempt at conciseness I will say little and show you plenty of pictures. We got very lucky with the weather; low winds and no daytime rain allowed us to choose our stops, move around and go ashore with ease. You can imagine my happy face:-)

No matter how much you read or how closely you study the chart or Google Earth nothing beats real life. We knew to expect 9ft tides and maybe a good idea to use a trip line (or maybe not!) and maybe moorings would be in or maybe not and maybe they’d be free or maybe not, but that was pretty much it.

First stop Peddocks Island- think Shutter Island- the opening scene from that 2010 movie was filmed at the large docks of Peddocks.

Portuguese Cove-our first anchorage. The pink house drew us in- so like the Bahamas

The long dock on the Northeast end of Peddocks.

One of the Fort Andrews buildings (the guard-house I think) is now a large welcome center. The church was just renovated

Fort Andrew- enlisted men quarters- you can see the signs of a covered porch

Most of the “beaches” are smooth glacial rock. Peddocks had plenty of barnacles on its rocks

This is NOT a huge sardine can opener. Can you guess?

Tiny, pastoral Bumpkin Island was our last stop and we covered most of its 35 acres in a short morning. Bumpkin is actually in Hingham Bay and sits just off the town of Hull. Along with the other drumlins, Bumpkin was formed by a glacier over 15,000 years ago. When the glacier finally left town, the Native Americans migrated seasonally to the harbor islands. Wild fruits grew freely and the bay held abundant fish, oysters and clams; plenty for everyone.

Dock, steps to beach and old pump house now living quarters for summer staff

In 1917 the U.S. Navy used Bumpkin as a training facility. This is part of the mess hall where 1,800 were fed at a single seating

The stone house dates to early 1800s. Originally used as a house and possibly a stable, it became the heating plant for the Children’s Hospital and later the Naval Station

In 1900 Albert Burge, a local philanthropist, leased Bumpkin for 500 years from Harvard University and built a (summer) island hospital for children with severe physical disabilities. The floors were connected by ramps; no stairs impeded movement about. During WWI the hospital was used by the Navy then abandoned at the end of the war. It briefly reopened in 1940 but unfortunately burned down in 1945. A huge spread-out pile of brick rubble remains. We’re guessing after it burnt down the structure was torn down for safety reasons.

A section of the chimney is the largest remaining piece of the yellow brick hospital

This sailboat was aground during the few hours around low tide

The wind situation was such that sailing became possible for the three-hour trip to Scituate, MA. The pot float situation was bearable and we managed to dodge them expertly including the one Russ took down the middle. I was below and wondered what the “clunk” sound was; just the stick part of the float hitting the hull. Oh.

The mooring situation was unusual (for us), tight, and somewhat painful (for Lori). Lots of moorings not all spaced equally and again you’ve got that 9-10ft tide to deal with. Because the launch service operates some of the moorings (they are privately owned though) the launch comes out to you in the channel and leads you to your mooring; much easier than you trying to find it yourself. We get to the first one and are partially attached but Russ decides this is too close quarters and when the wind dies (as forecasted) Ortolan will be smoochin’ with one of her neighbors for sure. Call the launch and head back to the channel; time is 6pm-ish and she’s busy so we wait. Luckily she had another one open (balls filled up right after) and it looked good three out of four ways but that was good enough. I nearly killed myself getting the big hook onto the pennant eye splice. I didn’t have enough slack in our new special setup line which made it a Herculean feat getting the hook off the Fortress’s anchor bar where we hang it when we are going to pick up a mooring. Oh, did I mention we’d used our wonderful headsets but part way through the first ball pickup mine went dead; naturally. So I can’t tell Russ what to do when I’m having super difficulty getting the hook onto the pennant. I nearly end up going over the seagull stays (the ones right at the thick crossbeam) but manage to only mess up my elbow and leg. Of course one boat is very near to us and I imagine is getting a good chuckle from our seeming ineptness. Spent the entire next 24 hours charging both headsets; mine appears to have a short.

The in-town situation is attractive and being so close to Boston, everyone is well dressed but maybe that was a bit influenced by the First Friday Festivities.

Most shops offered finger foods and music on Friday

 This was also Heritage Days so lots going on. Saturday ended a streak of nice weather with cold and rain all day. We did get in later for dinner, a delicious Manhattan and yummy cake for dessert.

The shopping and such situation was easy, everything is within a few blocks of where the launch brings you to. The Laundromat was amazingly clean with nearly all machines in working order. But oops- the washers and dryers don’t accept quarters; you need to put money on a card.

Sunday before we headed to Boston in the afternoon, we dinghied over to the lighthouse. In the below photo you can’t see the lighthouse which is on the right, but it is attached to the house and the connector room; very unusual.

The British kept many cities and towns busy with all their attacking and Scituate has its story. You can read the plaque below. Those girls assessed the situation and even though they must have been scared they got the job done.