The Gundalow is one of Portsmouth’s gems – a local community came together to raise funds to construct this replica of a working commercial barge that used to sail up and down the Piscataqua River to transport merchandise throughout the region. I was fortunate to get out for a beautiful sunset sail this summer on the Piscataqua – and enjoyed sitting beneath this gorgeous sail.
The Captain Edward H. Adams Gundalow of Portsmouth is docked in Prescott Park beneath a rich blue sky. The reflections in the calmness of the Piscataqua add to the scene…and I would have loved to see a boat like this sailing up and down the Piscataqua back in the 1600s and 1700s. I’ve been featuring sailing shots of the new Piscataqua Gundalow, and will be posting another shot of it in the Portsmouth Harbor later this week.
Most of the time it’s about being in the right place at the right time. Usually this means that I’m running around a coastline somewhere trying to get a great angle on a sunset/sunrise. On this particular afternoon, it was a drive back from the beach with my wife…and luckily I was in the passenger seat, so I could grab my camera in just enough time to grab this image of the newly constructed Gundalow sailing past the Portsmouth Naval Prison. Two icons from times gone by. Given the scene, I thought a black and white processing would suit it well.
The Gundalow Company is in the process of constructing a new gundalow on the grounds of Strawbery Banke. The original gundalow has educated thousands of people about the vessel and its role and history in moving goods on the Piscataqua River to surrounding towns. The existing gundalow, however, cannot serve as a floating classroom because it’s not up to modern safety standards because it is such a close replica to the ships of the previous era. To address this – the Gundalow Company is constructing the boat seen above, so that it can bring people out on the water and sail as it was originally intended.
THE DAILY PORTSMOUTH 