Cannons and a little more New Bedford-Fairhaven Harbor

OK, Dan wants cannons, and there were a few more New Bedford-Fairhaven Harbor points of interest, so I'll post a few more pictures from Day 1.

I think Dave & Dan called this "Steel Island". Apparently a long time ago, a local scrap company bought them & parked them there. They're still sort of taking care of them - at least enought to pump out the water & keep them from sinking -

maybe they're trying to grow their own Robert Smithson?

2005 recreation of Robert Smithson's "Floating Island" - this was a rather odd & fun thing to see being towed around Manhattan!

They have a genuine antique swing-bridge run by genuine antique swing-bridge-operators...no, I'm kidding, the operators are not antique, but we did hear some funny stories about the importance of swing bridge operator/boater diplomacy, and even funnier stories about failures in swing bridge operator/boater diplomacy (guess who's got the upper hand in those? muahahahaaaa!)
They have two nice little lighthouses -
and some Sunday afternoon Laser racing -
And I was very impressed by the New Bedford fishing fleet. Don't think I've ever seen a working fishing fleet anywhere near that size (I'm sure there are larger ones but not anywhere I've visited). Forgot to ask Dan whether they all go out at the same time but it must be an impressive sight if they do.






And when the sun comes out at the end of the day, you can see why they call it Fairhaven. Look how nice.

Oh, yes, and about those cannons - they have some of those too, at Fort Phoenix, one of 2 Revolutionary War-era forts that stand at the mouth of the harbor.

Dan, did you want this cannon (the one we posed with) -

or this one, the John Paul Jones cannon, the only original Revolutionary War-era cannon left in the fort? The larger ones were installed around the Civil War, but this one was one that was captured from the British in the Bahamas during the revolution; the British captured the fort in 1778 & the rest were smashed but this one survived more or less intact.
You can read more about the fort's history here.

There. Dan, did I miss anything important?


:D

And I think that with that I'm going to call it a night - internet connection keeps cutting out on me, and anyways I want to try to go vote before work so I can work late if I need to. Vacation is wonderful, but the week before or the week after? Bleah!