Battleship Cove

 Looking for anything boating related we can occupy ourselves with these days without Freedom we happened upon the opportunity to get out to Fall River Massachusetts where Battleship Cove has been set up. Here everyone can find a collection of warships that is open to the public at a reasonable price.

 In this shot I am standing within the bridge of Big Mamie, the USS Massachusetts. There are several restoration efforts under way and one of them is the bridge. This view is so clear because at this time there are no forward windows in the bridge. Most of the bridge related equipment has been removed as well.

 Even though Big Mamie is not one of our largest battleships, being a member of the South-Dakota class at 680 feet and 35,000 tons, it's immense. Everyone is free to walk around the boat and visit all of the decks. We spent quite a bit of time aboard and managed to get lost a couple of times. There are many passage ways that wind around the lower levels of the turrets, and they do extend down into the boat many levels.
 Nothing is held back and people may also review the engine rooms if they want to. There are safety shields in places and the catwalks are open so it's easy to get the full perspective.

 We toured all of the other warships in the cove and the USS Lionfish stood out as my personal favorite. It's a Balao-class submarine and if you want to know how cramped things can get in a submarine this is the place to learn. It won't take long to develop a special respect for submariners. Last year aboard the USS New Jersey at Camden I was informed by crew that I was "too tall for battleship duty". Having banged around aboard the Lionfish I'm thinking I'm not fit for submariner duty either.

Included in the list of exhibits are helicopters, airplanes, armament, beautiful examples of accurately restored PT boats complete with engines and drive gear, and even a Russian built missile corvette. With so much to look at make sure you have sneakers as opposed to brand new sandals that carve into your feet. Note to self, don't do that again.  

 Outside Battleship Cove, we were happy to have a long overdue dinner out with our boating buddies from the Bahamas and spend some additional quality time aboard their yacht. Another plus came our way since they gave us a tour of the locale aboard their dink, even making it around Bassetts Island in spite of the chop coming in from Buzzard's Bay. All in all it was a great weekend to be out and about in spite of the looming danger presented by Hurricane Earl. Fortunately Earl turned out to be an excuse to have a hurricane drill. Certainly it was a chore for those that had their boats hauled but I'm thinking it's cheap insurance to make the effort and be ready. 

 Earl barely lived up to a Winter weekend in the Abacos and hopefully that trend continues with the Hurricane season leaving everyone without any more damage that it has already caused.

 Added a link to the bucket folder for 2010 through 2011.