Our cruise on the gundalow ended up being a front page story in the Cocheco Times! There you are hoisting the main sail on the cover. It was a 10 page story, loaded with photos of the Three Musketeers.  The story was great, but one of the funny things were the incorrect names… Ben was listed as Andy Beaupre and Camden became Be Clickman.  Emma was correct every time! 

Our latest Three Musketeers adventure began on a steamy August mid-week morning.  We got to Portsmouth early, once again enjoying our favorite breakfast haunt, the Friendly Toast.  After plenty of food and the usual shenanigans, we piled into the “Youk” and headed to Prescott Park.

You were curious about this “Gundalow” I had been talking about.  It was “some kind of boat” and we were going together for a cruise on the Piscataqua River in Portsmouth Harbour.

Peering over the chain link fence along the water, you spotted it – a flat bottomed boat with an American flag flying low on the stern.  Called “The Piscataqua,” it measures  64 feet long and 18 feet wide.

While waiting to board, I explained how in the olden days in the Seacoast of NH, gundalows carried cargo up and down the river.  This included bricks bound for Beacon Hill homes being built in Boston (all these “b” words in one sentence create something called “alliteration” – it’s fun to say out all those “b” words out loud ).  These bricks were made along the shores by Grammy and Papa’s house at 44 Waterloo Circle in Dover.  Another frequent cargo carried were tall white pine trees used to make masts for the King’s English sailing ships.

This was just the beginning of many new things you would learn that morning.

Shortly after coming aboard, a man introduced himself to us.  He was the editor of a local newspaper called “The Cocheco Times”  and would be writing a feature story about today’s cruise.  How cool is that?

The fog was thick as we headed into Portsmouth Harbour; it was hard to see where we were!  We sailed around for awhile and then the action began. “Ready the main sheet” shouted the Captain, and soon a crew member asked for volunteers to help unfurl and raise the “main sheet.”   The Three Musketeers raised their hands – of course! – and soon you were pulling the rope together, watching the sail unfurl.  It was exciting, you were smiling, laughing and having a blast!

One of the crew members gathered everyone together and taught us about the gundalows and environment of the Great Bay Estuary.  I wasn’t surprised to learn this is the fastest ‘navigable river’ in America, having watched the crazy currents out my office window for over 20 years.

You took turns steering the gundalow… the captain explained how the rudder worked and then completely let go of the wheel and taught you how to steer left and right.  You didn’t crash into anything, hooray!

By now, the fog had lifted and we could see Harbour Place where Grammy and I work, the green bridges spanning the river and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Next up – the incredible world of plankton!  Not the character from Sponge Bob Square Pants, silly, but the real thing.  They taught us how to drag a special net along the surface of the water to capture the tiny creatures that looked like dirty, brown water.

We learned plankton are a critical part of our ecosystem. While they’re lowest on the “food chain,” we now know that plankton are responsible for creating 50% of the earth’s oxygen! Who knew something so small could be so important! We wouldn’t be able to breathe if it wasn’t for our plankton friends!

Teaspoons of plankton were placed on glass slides, revealing an amazing, invisible world  made possible by microscopes, a device you had never seen until today. The “dirty, brown water” transformed into hundreds of moving, shrimp-shaped “phytoplankton” creatures. You were fascinated and couldn’t get enough of the microscopes.

Nearly two hours into our cruise, it was time to return to the dock.  The Captain shouted “Ready the Brail,” and the Three Musketeers joined forces again, pulling in unison on the main sail rope, curling it back up as the engine took over.

Back on land, our water adventure complete, we drove to Moody Beach.  Ainsley and Molly were already there, they had spent the morning with Grammy.  Everyone played on the beach, boogie boarded and hung out on a perfect summer day.  All five of you slept overnight at the beach and played together the next day (after yummy breakfast donuts from Congdon’s).

What a fun two days! This was one of our best adventure ever.

Last year you really got into boogie boarding.  You loved going into the water to catch breaking waves and were fearless, often advancing to a water depth that started making me nervous.

You were all excitement and urgency, there was no stopping you.  You were ahead of Ben – despite the age difference – with your ability to catch and ride a wave.

This summer you upped your game, taking it even further, going deeper, faster and farther with more confidence.  I bought much better boogie boards for you, Ben, Emma and me, and this has given you an added edge.  Ben also improved a lot and the two of you have become boogie boarding fanatics. There’s no stopping you!

Sometimes you’re so caught in the whole thing you spend too much time in the water, shivering like crazy, lips turning blue, unwilling to take a break. I have to haul you out of there saying, “Camden you need to get out of the water, because your body is cold and it needs to warm up.”  Reluctantly you join me as I walk toward the shore.

You’ve become the boogie boarding King of the beach!   As the Beach Boys sung many years ago,

“Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world.”