Peddocks Island
This summer they started running a water taxi from Georges Island to Peddocks Island in the Boston Harbor Islands park. We finally got a chance to go out there today.
It was very foggy and cloudy when we woke this morning, so we weren’t sure it was the best day to be visiting the harbor islands. Peter in particular didn’t think any day was a good day to be so far away from his computer.
Peddocks Island is one of the larger ones in the harbor islands and has a variety of things to see. You arrive at the pier that was built for Fort Andrews, opposite the old seawall and parade ground. Now the seawall is lined with colorful Adirondack chairs that are a nice place to sit and enjoy the view of Hull. The red brick buildings are the old barracks.
Unfortunately most of the old buildings are derelict, so you can’t go in them, but it seems that they are working on fixing them up. They recently had a moment in the spot light as the scene of a big Hollywood horror movie.
From the east end of the island you can take a shady tree lined path to what’s called the middle head.
On middle head you come across a community of cottages that started in the 1880’s as a fishing camp and later became summer cottages although apparently a few hardy folks live there year round with no electricity or running water. Some are completely derelict at this point, but others like this one are beautifully cared for.
It must be quite an experience for the kids that are lucky enough to spend their summers there. One of the families mentioned by the water taxi guide was the McDevitts. In addition to living on the island, Judy McDevitt and her children (daughters as well as sons) are well known around Boston as tugboat captains.
In addition to the cottages there are several nice beaches. A little rocky, but full of great skipping stones.
Coming back from the west end we almost missed our chance to walk along the shoreline. After lunch, as we neared Prince head, we discovered that the tide was coming in, and shallow channels feeding the salt marsh were quickly becoming too deep and wide to jump over. 
Fortunately Peter found one spot we could still jump across and we continued on our way
As we made our way back to Georges Island and back into Boston, we found that the wind had picked up and lots of sailboats were tacking around the harbor.
It was a great day to visit the islands, and I’m really glad we got there today because this was the last day that the water taxi runs to Peddocks. This week, they’re going to put the boat on the back of a flatbed truck and send it down to its winter home in Ft Lauderdale.
