Swimming Near Gloucester

I headed north to the famous Gloucester shoreline earlier today. Beyond seeing a few lighthouses and playing around on the beach I managed to find two fine swimming holes.

The first one is at N42 38.77 W71 02.236. This is a quarry that was supposed to be a missile silo, but was never developed. It's got some nice (albeit short) cliffs to jump off. I'd say the jumping cliffs are 4 feet to 8 feet. Since it's a quarry the water is crazy deep and there are no worries about hitting the bottom when diving. The water was the perfect temperature. The downside to this site is that there is a lot of litter lying around. Not any broken glass, but just about everything else. It bummed me out that such a nice site could be wrecked like this. Maybe I'll go back there someday with a bunch of garbage bags and clean the place up. There is so much stuff though I think I'd almost need a team of helpers.

The second location is at N42 39.228 W70 54.702. This is a bridge along a country road. When I got there there was a police officer with his lights flashing and a few swimmers standing on the road. I stopped and asked them what was up. It turned out the officer was in the process of ticketing an abandoned car. After that he came over and gave us all that you’re guilty until I say so act that all too many law enforcement personal seem to have. After alienating us to anything he might say he went into the spiel about the risks of jumping off a bridge. I explained to him that if he didn't want us jumping off of bridges maybe he could have asked nicely before alienating us to any cause he might have. He seemed surprised that I took offence to all of his leading questions he'd just asked us. After that I just closed my mouth and he went away. This location sometimes has a rope swing, but it was missing today. The water here is only 6-9 feet deep. It's a much nicer setting though since there was no garbage sitting around.

Have fun!