There is a marina on the west bank of Lobster Cove and several private float landings around the cove. Gasoline, diesel fuel, and water are available at the floats of the marina which have 12 feet reported alongside. Ice, provisions, and marine supplies are available. Overnight berthing is permitted, and guest moorings are maintained.
A footbridge with a horizontal clearance of 30 feet and a vertical clearance of 6 feet crosses the cove about 0.3 mile above the entrance. A town float landing is on the south side of the bridge.
A private marine railway that can haul out craft up to 40 feet in length in an emergency is on the west side of the cove near the entrance.
The Annisquam Yacht Club is on the point on the west side of the entrance. The usual courtesies are extended by the club to visiting members of accredited yacht clubs. Showers, restrooms, and limited guest accommodations are available to visiting yachtsmen. Water is available at the float, ice is obtainable, and guest moorings are maintained by the club. A daybeacon and a buoy mark dangerous ledges south of the yacht club.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
The Annisquam River and Blynman Canal form a thorofare leading from the eastern part of Ipswich Bay, northwest of Cape Ann, to Gloucester Harbor, on the south side of the cape.
Annisquam Harbor Light (42°39.7’N., 70°40.9’W.), 45 feet above the water, is shown from a white cylindrical tower with elevated walk to a dwelling on Wigwam Point at the east side at the northern entrance to Annisquam River. A red sector in the light from 180° to 217° covers the shoals on the eastern side of the approach to the bar channel from the north. A lighted bell buoy marks the approach, and a sound signal is at the light.
A marked channel with dredged sections across the bar at the northern entrance to Annisquam River and in the river and Blynman Canal leads from Ipswich Bay to Western Harbor at the north end of Gloucester Harbor; the project depth is 8 feet.
This thorofare is narrow, but is adequately marked by lights, daybeacons, and buoys and is extensively used by small craft. Strangers should have no trouble getting through with a smooth sea and by the use of the chart. The bar at the northern entrance is difficult to cross in a heavy sea. The best time is on a rising tide.
Dangers
In passing from north to south in the Annisquam River and Blynman Canal, take care to avoid the unmarked rocky area covered 4 feet on the east side of the channel about 775 yards north of the Annisquam Harbor Light and 100 yards southeast of Buoy 3; a rock covered 2 feet on the east side of the river channel about 60 yards southwestward of Annisquam Harbor Light; several rocks, submerged and awash, on the east side of the channel, marked by Daybeacon 7; a rock covered 4 feet, marked by a buoy, on the east channel edge about 125 yards northward of Annisquam Channel Light 25; and an unmarked rock that uncovers 1 foot on the southwest side of the southern entrance to Blynman Canal. In 1980, obstructions were reported in the vicinity of Annisquam River Channel Light 46.
About 2.5 miles south of Annisquam Harbor Light, State Route 128 crosses the waterway on a fixed span which has a clearance of 65 feet for a center width of 100 feet. About 0.7 mile southward of it, the railroad bridge has a 38-foot bascule span with a clearance of 16 feet. The bridgetender monitors VHF-FM channel 18A. At the southern end of the waterway, State Route 127 highway bridge has a 38-foot bascule span with a clearance of 8 feet. The bridgetender monitors VHF-FM channel 18A; call sign, WQA-834.
The entrance of Lobster Cove, near the north end of the waterway east of Annisquam, has been dredged as far as the bridge. In 1997, the entrance had depths of less than 1 foot in the south part, gradually deepening to over 5 feet at the north edge; thence general depths of 5 to 8 feet were available in the middle of the anchorage.
