Nostalgic Trip on the Charles River

In July of 2022 I took my Ranger Tug 27 up the Charles River from its mouth in Boston Harbor, under the Longfellow Bridge, then to just past of the Harvard Bridge and back out to the harbor. The entire voyage was only about three miles and required passing through one lock, under several fixed bridges, and through three lift bridges (two vehicular and one commuter rail). It’s no wonder that Dianne, my crew, wondered why make this detour on our 2,200 mile trip from Stuart, Florida to Portland, Maine.

Longfellow Bridge

Henry David Thoreau (a local hero) said that he would “require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life.” So I will start with the why of my voyage and then illustrate the how. The Longfellow Bridge became a waypoint in my life in the summer of 1967. I was a student at Northeastern University in Boston studying Philosophy somewhat haphazardly. I was living with my roommate Greg on Marlborough Street not far from the Boston landfalls of the Longfellow Bridge to the East and the Harvard Bridge to the West. The Longfellow Bridge is also known as the Pepper Pot Bridge due to its four iconic towers. Once we discovered that the door of one ‘pepper pot’ was actually unlocked probably due to vandalism. We entered the door and found a descending stair leading to a catwalk that crossed to the ‘pepper pot’ on the opposite side. Having pulled off that caper we set our sites on a more ambitious goal.We decided to cross the Charles River on the underside of the bridge! 

A quick survey revealed that the bridge consisted of stone faced pillars joined by open steel girders formed into arches. The girders were standard “I” beams whose lower flange would afford footing and whose upper flange would provide handholds. The pillars each had a surrounding ledge just above the water line. This combination would allow us to sidestep along the side of each arch and around each pillar. Putting those two maneuvers together we easily crossed the quiet, though highly polluted Charles River. 

Now 55 years later, I was determined to cross under the bridge on Nano, my Ranger Tug 27. So much for the why, let’s look at the how. We were docked at the Constitution Marina in Charlstown, Mass. Since Nano is only 12 feet high with a 3 foot draft, we passed easily under two bridges over the Charles River where it dumps into Boston Harbor. Our first obstacle was the Gridley Locks. In the picture you can see a boat similar in size to Nano entering one of the two smaller locks. Once out of the lockup we easily passed under two more bridges including the new iconic suspension bridge shown in the background of the photo. We waited for the commuter rail bridge that services North Station underneath Boston (“Your Name Goes Here” for a large fee) Garden to open for our passage.

Small boat entering Gridley lock

Charles River Dam was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The structure also includes the “Colonel Richard Gridley Locks”, named for General George Washington’s first army engineer. Built and operational in 1978, the three locks can be crossed by pedestrians as well as bicyclists. It is part of the popular Boston Harborwalk. The dam contains three individual locks, with one wider than the other two to accommodate the occasional passing of a larger vessel. The structure also includes a fish passage. Six diesel-powered, 2700 horsepower turbo-charged engines drive six pumps with a combined capacity of about 3.7 million US gallons per minute or 8140 cubic feet per second. Wikipedia Charles River Bridge 

Once through the railroad bridge we approached the Graigie Canal. This short canal is the remnant of one of the locks build as part of the earlier Charles River Dam. The other two are covered over by the Boston Science Museum. There are two bridges over this canal but only one needed to open for us as you see in the photo. Actually this is photo shot on the way back since I wanted to include this long distance view of the Bunker Hill Monument. 

Bunker HIll Monument

Once we passed under the lower bridge we could see our goal- the Longfellow Bridge. We passed under the Pepper Pot Bridge and went on to pass under the Harvard Bridge. As it turns out the same three of us also tried to cross the Charles River under the Harvard Bridge. The powers that be were having that bridge painted that summer. As part of the project that had hung cables under each of the spans. There was a pair on each side of the bridge so platforms could be rested on them allowing painters to work over their heads on the girders. We reasoned that we could walk on the lower cable of the pair grasping the upper one with our hands. I had seen this done when I was in high school by linemen walking under power lines to inspect them where they crossed the Androscoggin River in South Paris, Maine. What could go wrong?Just to show we weren’t in complete denial, we created safety gear. We outfitted each of us with a harness made of rope from the local hardware store. We also brought a piece of red rope with a brass hook on each end. It had been liberated from the Prudential Center where it had served to keep people passing the moot at the bottom of the wind-producing building from being blown in. Appropriate reuse I maintain. So we set out.

Harvard Bridge

We left from the Cambridge side of the Charles River near MIT inching along walking a tight cable with our hands over our heads. As we passed the first few arches the cables slowly diverged. At about the fourth or fifth arch, Dick informed us that he could go no further being the shortest of the three. Not only could he not proceed, but he could not safely return either. What to do? Aha! Use the rescue gear! Greg and I returned to the starting point and walked out on the sidewalk until we were over our waiting buddy. We lowered the rope over the handrail, swung it back a forth into Dick’s anxious hands, and pulled him up over the side of the bridge safe and sound.

Once Nano had crossed under the Harvard Bridge my mission was complete save for the return trip which was completed without incident.