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This is catching the MOAM's attention today….. 38 new listings hit the North Shore market in the last 24 hours, across 16 towns.
Top towns: Marblehead leads the pack with 9; Newburyport and Lynn had 4 each; Peabody, Middleton, and Salem had 3 each; Georgetown and Manchester had 2 each; and Amesbury, Rowley, Ipswich, Danvers, Saugus, Nahant, Beverly, and Boxford had 1 apiece.
By property type: Residential 17 · Residential Lease (rentals) 15 · Residential Income (multi-families) 3 · Commercial Lease 2 · Commercial Sale 1.
The MOAM's take: Marblehead alone brought nearly a quarter of today's new listings, a big Tuesday for the home town. If you've been waiting on a Marblehead option, this is the week to look.
Contact Nanepashemet to view these.
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services
Call or text 781-727-6516 jnestor@nanepashemet.com
MOAM Out.
Listing data courtesy of MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN); listings shown are held by various brokerages. Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, MA Broker Lic. 136995-RE-B.
Not for nuthin'…. But….. it's opening day for the Celtics, and they're not making us wait for prime time. 3 o'clock tip in Detroit this afternoon, then the B's go for six straight in Dallas tonight. Two games on a Tuesday in October. Pass the coffee.
Short version: the Celts open the season this afternoon at Detroit, the Bruins are in Dallas tonight sitting on top of the Atlantic, the Pats are resting up for Thursday night in Chicago, and the Sox are home for the winter.
Boston Celtics
Yesterday: No game
Today: Season opener, 3:00 PM ET, @ Detroit Pistons (NBC, Peacock)
Next: Fri., Oct. 23, 7:00 PM ET, vs New York Knicks (home opener, Prime Video)
Standings: 0-0, season starts today (preseason finished 4-0)
Top two seeds in the East from last spring, right out of the gate. Tatum and the new-look Celts against Cade and the Pistons. A 3 PM start on a Tuesday, so if the boss asks, you're "on a call."
Boston Bruins
Yesterday: No game
Today: 8:00 PM ET, @ Dallas Stars (ESPN)
Next: Thu., Oct. 22, 7:00 PM ET, vs Nashville Predators (home, NESN)
Standings: 7-2-0, 14 points, 1st in the Atlantic, No. 3 in the East, won 5 straight
Still first in the division after the California sweep. The Rangers slid past them in the conference with a win last night, so let's go get those two points back in Dallas.
New England Patriots
Yesterday: No game (last game: W 26-19 vs New York Jets, Sunday)
Today: No game
Next: Thu., Oct. 22, 8:15 PM ET, @ Chicago Bears (Prime Video)
Standings: 4-2, 2nd in the AFC East, 1 game behind Buffalo (5-1), No. 5 seed in the AFC right now
Short week, so the fellas are cramming for Thursday night. Win at Soldier Field and the Bills will be looking in the mirror.
Boston Red Sox
Yesterday / Today: No games, season over
Next: Sat., Feb. 20, 2027, @ Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte (Grapefruit League opener; time TBA). Exhibition vs Northeastern the day before, Feb. 19.
Final standings: 87-75, 3rd in the AL East, swept by the Yankees in the AL Wild Card round
Hot stove season. Four months till somebody says "pitchers and catchers," and I'm already counting.
That's the Tuesday board. Celts at 3, B's at 8, Pats Thursday night. Enjoy the double dip, everybody.
Not for nuthin'…. But….. Tuesday's another bluebird day. Sunshine from the coast to the mountains, a high near 58 in Marblehead with a brisk north wind, and low 60s in the valleys up north. Here's how four corners of New England looked around 7:39 this morning.
Marblehead Harbor (BYC Oceanfront) — The sun is just peeking up over the far shore, painting long gold and pink streaks of cloud across the sky and a shimmering path across the harbor, with the boats swinging easy on their moorings.
Mount Washington North View — Crystal clear again up top. Early sun is lighting up the northern Presidentials, there's still a dusting of snow and rime between the summit rocks, and you can see range after range out to the horizon. Sunny with a high near 41, but a north wind howling at 25 to 40 mph.
Great Eddy Covered Bridge, Waitsfield — A quiet dawn in the Mad River Valley. The old bridge and farmhouse sit under a pale morning sky, the river is calm and dark, and the trees are mostly bare now with a few last splashes of red and gold. Sunny with a high near 62.
Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH — From the NEON tower, the first sun is warming the ridgetops with a rosy glow, while the forest below holds on to its rust, copper and gold among the dark evergreens. Sunny and near 60 in the White Mountains valleys today.
Webcam views courtesy of the Boston Yacht Club, the Mount Washington Observatory, Mad River Valley Television, and NEON/PhenoCam.
Not for nuthin'…. But….. if you've ever laid down a gorgeous coat of varnish on a tiller or a tabletop, gone in for supper, and come back to find it peppered with dust, lint and one dead fly, this one's for you. Brushed varnish sits there wet for hours, collecting everything that floats by. Wiping varnish goes on thin, skins over fast, and gives the dust a lot less time to land. Here's the schedule I use, coat by coat, for brightwork on a boat (tiller, thwarts, coamings, oars) and for shop furniture. It's the same routine for thwarts and oars on a boat like the Chamberlain Marblehead gunning dory I'm building as for a shop cabinet, and it's tuned for a New England shop in the fall and winter, when it's cold, it's damp, and the dust never really settles.
Why it matters: A full brushed coat of marine varnish is thick. Epifanes calls for 30 to 35 microns dry per coat (about 1.2 to 1.4 mils) and says it's only dust-dry after 3 hours at 68°F, 5 hours at 50°F. That's hours of open time for nibs. A wiped coat is a fraction of that (Minwax rates its Wipe-On Poly at 0.25 mil dry per coat), and Fine Woodworking's Michael Pekovich says thin coats "dry quickly enough to avoid dust nibs." Small Boats Monthly's editor said the same after wiping varnish on a lapstrake Whitehall: it "greatly reduced the time during which dust and bugs could get caught on the surface," and the sags dropped off too. The catch? Thin coats mean more coats. Don Aupperle figures three wiped coats in a day come to about one brushed coat. So you trade one big, dusty coat for several small, clean ones. Get the schedule right and that's a good deal.
Materials
Shop furniture (indoors): gloss oil-based polyurethane or alkyd varnish, cut about 1:1 with mineral spirits. That's all a "wiping varnish" is (Bob Flexner, Popular Woodworking). Or a store-bought one like Minwax Wipe-On Poly or General Finishes Arm-R-Seal. Note the Minwax can says interior surfaces only, except floors.
Boat brightwork (outdoors): a real marine spar varnish with UV absorbers (Epifanes Clear, Pettit Captain's and the like), thinned 50/50 with its own brushing thinner for the wiped coats (Aupperle, Small Boats Monthly). Interior poly isn't built for a tiller that lives in the sun.
Use gloss for the build coats. Satin's flatting agents settle out and streak, especially in a thinned mix (Flexner, General Finishes). If you want satin, make it the last coat.
Lint-free cotton: old non-ribbed T-shirt material, plus plain or blue shop paper towels for the pad core (Aupperle)
Abrasives: 220 and 320 paper, 400 and 600 wet/dry, and white Scotch-Brite 7445 pads
Tack cloths, mineral spirits for the solvent wipe, paint strainers, and a couple of wide-mouth containers or bowls
Nitrile gloves, and a metal can with a tight lid for the rags (more on that below; it's not optional)
Tools
Shop vac with a clean brush attachment
A lamp you can set low for raking, reflected light. You can't fix what you can't see (Flexner, Woodcraft).
An infrared surface thermometer and a cheap hygrometer. The air temperature lies; the wood temperature is what counts (TotalBoat).
A couple of foam brushes, for tipping out the ends of strokes
Work supports (triangle sticks, screw boards, or padded horses) so every face can be reached without touching wet finish
A sanding block, or a block of blue foam shaped to the part. WoodenBoat's trick for long rounds like oar looms and handrails.
Steps
Check the shop, not the calendar. General Finishes builds its dry times around 70°F and 50% humidity; Woodcraft's Paul Anthony wants the shop between 65 and 80°F with moderate humidity. Then there are the hard floors. TotalBoat says don't apply when the air, the wood or the varnish is below 45°F. Pettit's minimum for Captain's is 40°F. Epifanes lists 41 to 86°F (5 to 30°C) and 50 to 85 percent relative humidity. Interlux says never paint above about 85 percent. Bring the can into the house so it's at least 60°F before you open it (TotalBoat). And shoot the wood with the IR thermometer. A tiller that spent the night in an unheated barn lags the air by hours. Heat the shop for a few hours before you start, and wipe while the temperature is holding or falling, not climbing; rising heat makes the wood expand and can blister the film (Interlux). Out here in the fall, finish early. Your last coat needs to skin over before the evening damp comes in (TotalBoat, WoodenBoat). One more thing for a winter shop: the label says keep it away from heat and open flame. If you heat with a woodstove, propane or kerosene, warm the place up first, then shut the flame down and get some fresh air moving while the solvent's out.
Prep the wood, then get the dust out. Bare wood: sand to 180 for most species (WoodenBoat) or 220 (Minwax, Epifanes). Pekovich takes furniture to P320 because a thin film shows every scratch. Softwood thwarts? Raise the grain first; see my Oct. 13 tip. Over cured epoxy, wash off the amine blush and sand before any varnish; Epifanes says its Clear isn't suited for direct use on epoxy. Then the WoodenBoat three-step, every single time: vacuum, wipe with a rag dampened (not soaked) with thinner, then tack.
Set up for dust before you open the can. Finish in a corner away from the saw, or at least a day after the heavy sanding. Clean clothes (Woodcraft). Wet the floor down if your shop allows it (WoodenBoat). Shut off anything that blows: the dust collector, box fans, a forced-air heater pointed at the bench. Strain the varnish through a paint strainer into a clean container; never work out of the can (WoodenBoat). Set the lamp low so the light bounces off the surface toward your eye.
Mix it. One part gloss varnish to one part mineral spirits, stirred well (Flexner). Want faster build? Flexner says try three parts varnish to one of thinner; it's still easy to wipe. For brightwork, spar varnish 50/50 with its brushing thinner (Aupperle). If it's grabbing and tacking up too fast, add a little more thinner.
Coat 1, the seal coat: flood it, then wipe it off. Brush or rag on a wet coat and keep feeding the thirsty spots. Pekovich wipes the whole surface dry after about 10 minutes; Anthony waits until it just starts to get tacky. Wipe with the grain. Let it dry overnight. On a bare-wood boat part, you can instead build the base the way the can says. Epifanes brushes three penetrating coats at 50, 25 and 15 percent thinner, 24 hours apart at 68°F, then switches to full-strength coats; you can wipe your build coats on over that base.
Scuff the seal coat. It's ready when the paper turns it to fine powder instead of gumming up (WoodenBoat). Scuff with 220 dry (WoodenBoat), or wet-sand with 400 lubricated with mineral spirits (Anthony). Just knock down the fuzz. Vacuum, solvent wipe, tack.
Build coats with a pad. Wad up a couple of paper towels, smooth one more over the face, and wrap it in a square of T-shirt cotton with the edges gathered into a handle (Aupperle), or fold a rag back on itself until the face is smooth (Anthony). Load it, then press out the excess until the face looks evenly wet with no drips. Work one "panel" at a time (a thwart, one side of a coaming, an oar loom) in long straight strokes with the grain, overlapping a little to keep a wet edge. Use a nearly dry foam brush to tip out the ends of strokes and any drips. Then look it over in that raking light and walk away.
Respect the recoat window. Shop furniture, homemade 1:1: overnight, or at least 6 hours in a warm room (Flexner). Minwax Wipe-On Poly says 2 to 3 hours, but that's at 77°F and 50 percent humidity, thin coats, good air. Arm-R-Seal says 12 to 24 hours or more between coats on raw wood at 70°F. Brightwork, 50/50 spar varnish: Aupperle recoats when the first area he did isn't sticky anymore, sometimes only another half hour, and gets three coats a day. Between same-day coats he skips sandpaper: a light touch with the white Scotch-Brite pad knocks off lint and bugs (if it drags, it's not dry enough), then tack. Next day he keeps going without sanding unless there are runs to fix. Cold changes all the math. TotalBoat's Gleam goes from a 1-hour recoat at 80°F to 3 hours at 65°F and 8 hours at 50°F; Epifanes' full coats go from 24 hours at 68°F to 40 hours at 50°F. In a 50-degree November shop, figure one coat a day and be glad of it.
Sand between days, lightly. Furniture: 320 or 400, with just your hand backing the paper, to take off the nibs (Flexner), or wet 400 then 600 with mineral spirits (Anthony). Minwax's own instructions say 220 or fine steel wool, which is fine for their product. Brightwork: 320 if the film is fair, 220 if it needs leveling (WoodenBoat). Then vacuum, solvent wipe, tack. Every time.
Count coats by the job. Wiped-off coats on furniture: Flexner says four, five or six, maybe more; three or four at a minimum. Outdoor brightwork needs real film thickness to hold up to the sun: Aupperle builds 8 to 12 wiped coats over two or three days, and WoodenBoat puts five to seven brushed coats as the minimum for a finish that lasts the season. Epifanes wants at least 4 full-bodied coats over its sealer coats, and more in strong sun. After that, a light wet-sand with 320 and about three wiped coats each year should carry you through a season (Aupperle).
Final coat and the last of the nibs. Sand the next-to-last coat with 400 (Pettit). Make the last coat the thinnest and cleanest: a still day, fresh pad, the full vacuum, wipe and tack routine. Let it cure for several days, then rub any stray nibs off with a folded brown paper bag (Flexner). For a satin look on furniture, rub out with 0000 steel wool and wipe on a very thin last coat, buffing it off almost right away (Anthony). Wait a week before wax (Pekovich). On the boat, use the white Scotch-Brite pad instead of steel wool; Epifanes calls for P400 or Scotch-Brite between coats, and stray steel crumbs rust right where you don't want them.
Deal with the rags the minute you're done. This is the step that burns down garages. Oil-based finishes give off heat as they cure, and a balled-up rag holds that heat until it lights itself (NFPA). NFPA counts about 900 home fires a year started by oily rags. So: never pile them, never toss them in the trash or a plastic bucket (Mass.gov, Chubb). Either hang them outside or lay them out flat on the ground, weighted down, away from the building, until they're dry, then put them in a metal can with a tight lid and fill it with water and a little detergent (NFPA, Mass.gov). Or drop them straight into a sealed, water-filled metal can, which is what the Minwax safety sheet says. That goes for the pad cores, paper towels, steel wool, and even the sanding residue (Minwax). Keep the can somewhere cool and out of the sun, and take it to your town's household hazardous waste day (Mass.gov). If you finish every week, get a listed oily waste can (Mass.gov) and empty it.
MOAM's shop note: The most common mistake I see is chasing a coat that's already started to tack. You spot a missed patch or a streak, you go back in with the pad, and now you've got drag marks. Aupperle's warning on this is "under penalty of endless frustration," and he's right. Leave the holiday alone; the next coat gets it, and with wiped varnish the next coat is only an hour or a day away. Pro trick, also from Aupperle: set out three bowls on the bench. One is your "do" bowl with the thinned varnish, one is the "undo" bowl with straight thinner, and one stays empty for pressing out the pad. If a panel goes bad while it's still wet, wipe the whole panel down with the undo pad and recoat it right then. Second mistake: building in satin. Build in gloss and go satin on the last coat only. And for the record, Flexner will tell you thinning the first coat isn't needed for adhesion, and that's fair. With wiping varnish you thin it so it wipes on and off easy, not for some magic bond.
Sources: Bob Flexner, "Wiping Varnish," "Wiping Varnish – What is it?," "Applying Wiping Varnish" and "Thinning Oil and Varnish," Popular Woodworking; Michael Pekovich, "How to Apply Wiping Varnish," Fine Woodworking #218; Paul Anthony, "Bodybuilding With Wiping Varnish," Woodcraft; Don Aupperle, "Wiping Varnish," Small Boats Monthly (WoodenBoat Publications); Matthew P. Murphy, "Varnishing Basics," WoodenBoat; Epifanes Clear Varnish technical data sheet EN-001 and Epifanes NA "Painting Wood"; Pettit Captain's Varnish 1015 product data sheet; Minwax Wipe-On Poly product data sheet, label directions and safety data sheet; General Finishes Arm-R-Seal application instructions and TDS; TotalBoat, "How to Apply Varnish in Cold Weather"; Interlux, "Always check the weather"; NFPA, "Oily Rags" safety tip sheet; Mass.gov, "Disposing of oily rags"; Chubb, "Spontaneous Combustion" homeowner tip sheet.
MOAM Out.
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This is catching the MOAM's attention today….. the 30-year mortgage rate held at 7.40% for a second week, still the highest Freddie Mac weekly average since mid-November 2023. Here's this week's short video with the real numbers for Marblehead and Lynnfield, plus one practical tip from a guy who sells houses and builds things. No hype, no made-up stats. If I can't source a number, you won't see it.
This week's numbers
Mortgage rates (Freddie Mac PMMS®, U.S. weekly averages as of Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026)
30-year fixed: 7.40%, unchanged from last week. A year ago it was 6.27%.
15-year fixed: 6.71%, down from 6.73%. A year ago it was 5.52%.
That's the highest 30-year PMMS reading since November 16, 2023 (when it was 7.44%), per Freddie Mac's historical data — and now two weeks in a row at 7.40%.
A quick reality check: on a $600,000 30-year loan, principal and interest runs about $3,702 a month at 6.27% and about $4,154 at 7.40%. That's roughly $452 more a month than a year ago, before taxes and insurance. (That's my own arithmetic at the Freddie Mac average rates. Your actual rate depends on your lender and your loan.)
Marblehead, single-family, September 2026 (Massachusetts Association of REALTORS®)
Median sale price: $1,127,500, up 15.6% from $975,000 in September 2025
Closed sales: 14 (20 a year ago). Small sample, so one month can look extreme.
Homes for sale: 28 (down 15.2% from a year ago)
Months of supply: 2.0
Cumulative days on market: 53 (36 a year ago)
Sellers received 93.0% of original list price (99.3% a year ago)
So what does it mean? Both towns are still tight at about two months of supply. Marblehead homes are taking longer to sell than a year ago, and sellers there are giving up more off their original asking price. Lynnfield's nine closings are too few to hang a trend on, but sellers there were still getting over list. With rates stuck at 7.40%, buyers have a little more room to negotiate than they did last fall — especially on homes that have been sitting.
The broker-who-builds tip: read the roof
Before you buy — or list — take a hard look at the roof. Check the shingle age and granule loss, peek at the flashing around chimneys and valleys, and look for ice-dam stains on the fascia in winter. A worn roof isn't a deal-killer, but it should be priced in.
This tip is general information, not a substitute for a home inspection, and it doesn't replace advice from your listing agent or a licensed home inspector. If you're planning repairs before a sale, I hold MA Construction Supervisor License CS-047636 and can talk through what's worth fixing.
Or call or text me at 781-727-6516. I'm available seven days a week.
John Nestor, Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, MA Broker Lic. #136995-RE-B · 328 West Shore Drive, Marblehead, MA 01945 · 781-727-6516 · nanepashemet.com. Renovations: John Nestor, MA Construction Supervisor License CS-047636. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Not for nuthin'…. But….. the Pats took care of the Jets at home, 26-19, and they're 4-2 heading into a short week. Quiet Monday otherwise, but Tuesday is a big one: Celtics open for real in the afternoon and the B's are in Dallas that night.
Short version: the Patriots beat the Jets, the Bruins are resting in first place in the Atlantic, the Celts tip off the season Tuesday at 3 in Detroit, and the Sox are home for the winter.
New England Patriots
Yesterday: W 26-19 vs New York Jets (home)
Today: No game
Next: Thu., Oct. 22, 8:15 PM ET, @ Chicago Bears (Prime Video)
Standings: 4-2, 2nd in the AFC East, 1 game behind Buffalo (5-1), No. 5 seed in the AFC right now
Drake Maye threw three touchdown passes (18 of 32, 235 yards), and DeMario Douglas caught seven balls for 86 yards and a score. Unbeaten at home at 3-0 now. Quick turnaround to Chicago on Thursday night, so rest up, fellas.
Not for nuthin'…. But….. the MOAM got the hint this morning. The National Weather Service in Boston has a Small Craft Advisory up for Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay from 8 p.m. tonight until 8 p.m. Wednesday. South of us it's worse: Gale Warnings for the same stretch cover Cape Cod Bay, Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds, Buzzards Bay and the waters off the Cape and Islands. When the weather service starts handing out pennants in the third week of October, that's the ocean telling you the season's over.
What's coming
Massachusetts Bay and Ipswich Bay: Northeast winds build to 20 to 25 knots Tuesday with gusts to 30, and seas of 5 to 7 feet Tuesday through Wednesday night. Winds swing north Wednesday and stay brisk through Friday.
Boston Harbor: No advisory, but northeast gusts to 30 knots Tuesday night into Wednesday, with 4 to 6 foot seas at the outer harbor entrance.
Offshore of the Cape and Islands: Gale Warnings, with northeast winds of 25 to 35 knots, gusts to 40 and seas of 9 to 14 feet.
The setup, per the weather service: a low off the Mid-Atlantic coast is expected to hang around through Friday. The worst of it may stay south of us, but we still get gusty northeast wind and rough seas. A northeaster blowing for three or four days straight is exactly what Marblehead Harbor is open to. Moorings get tested and floats take a beating.
The MOAM's own to-do list
I'm not preaching from a dry dock here. The Herreshoff tender is first in line. It still needs scraping and sanding, and every joint that needs epoxy has to get marked. That was supposed to happen by October 4, and I'm late. Epoxy and paint need mild temperatures, and the Marblehead fall window is closing fast. The Chamberlain gunning dory waits on the tender, so the dory build doesn't move until the tender does. And the kayaks still need to be hung for the winter. If you've been putting it off like me, this week is your nudge.
The haul-out and winterizing checklist
Before the advisory (today, if she's still in):
Haul if you can. If you can't, double up the pennants and dock lines, add chafe gear, and strip off anything that catches wind: sails, biminis, dodgers, cushions.
Call your yard or launch service before the rest of the harbor does. Everyone remembers they want out the morning it blows.
Pick up your float and mooring gear, or set a date with your mooring service. Make sure your harbor permit paperwork says what you're doing for the winter.
Engine and fuel:
Top off the tank to cut condensation, add fuel stabilizer, and run the engine long enough to get treated fuel all the way through.
Flush the cooling system with fresh water. On an outboard, use muffs or a flush port. On an inboard, run fresh water, then non-toxic marine antifreeze, through the raw-water side.
Fog the cylinders, change the oil and filter while it's warm, and change the lower unit gear oil. Milky gear oil means water got in, so find out why before spring.
Water systems:
Drain the fresh water tank, water heater, washdown and head. Then pump non-toxic (pink) antifreeze through the lines until it comes out every faucet.
Open the drain plugs and seacocks once she's on the hard, and pump the bilge dry. Water left in a hull freezes, and ice splits things.
Batteries and electrical:
Charge the batteries fully, then take them home or put them on a maintainer. A dead battery can freeze.
Shut off the battery switch, clean the terminals, and spray the connections with corrosion inhibitor.
Covers:
Shrink-wrap or a fitted cover, either way, needs vents. A sealed boat sweats all winter and comes out in April smelling like a cellar.
Pitch the cover so snow and rain run off instead of pooling. Pull out the cushions, electronics and anything that can mildew.
Wooden boats are a different animal
Fiberglass doesn't care much where it spends the winter. Wood does. A planked boat, whether it's lapstrake or carvel, swells in the water and shrinks as it dries. Dry it out too fast and the planks shrink, seams open and fastenings loosen.
Store it upside down on padded horses or a cradle when it's small enough, like a tender or a dory. Rain and snow run off instead of collecting in the bilge.
Keep it out of a heated space. A warm, dry garage or basement next to the furnace pulls moisture out of the wood far faster than an unheated shed.
Cover it, but let it breathe. Use a tarp that sheds water and keeps sun and wind off the planking, with air moving underneath. Don't wrap it tight.
Clean it out before you put it away. Get rid of leaves, sand and standing water. Rot starts where dirt and moisture sit together.
Use the winter. Bare wood that you've scraped and sanded wants a coat of primer or sealer before it sits for months. If it's too cold for epoxy and paint, keep it covered and dry until spring.
Kayaks and paddleboards
Rinse them, dry them, and store them out of the sun. UV is what kills plastic and composite hulls.
Hang them on wide straps or padded brackets, or rest them on their sides. A kayak stored on its keel on concrete all winter can dent the hull.
Bring the PFDs, paddles and spray skirts inside so mice don't make a nest out of them.
The boats on the moorings get fewer every week now. Get yours out ahead of the boatyard rush and before this northeaster, and you'll be glad you did come April.
Still have a boat in the water, or a winter project waiting in the shed? Tell me in the comments.
Forecast details are from the National Weather Service Boston/Norton office as of the morning of Oct. 19. Check the latest marine forecast before you head out.
MOAM Out.
— John Nestor Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, Marblehead
Not for nuthin'…. But….. Monday came in clear as a bell. Sunshine all around New England today, a high near 57 in Marblehead with a light northeast breeze, and low 60s in the mountain valleys. Here's how four corners of New England looked around 7:36 this morning.
Marblehead Harbor (BYC Oceanfront) — Another beauty. The sun is just up over the far shore, laying a gold streak across a glassy harbor, with a few thin clouds catching the light and the boats sitting quiet on their moorings.
Mount Washington North View — The ice coat is finally off the lens, and what a view. Fresh snow dusts the summit rocks, the northern Presidentials are lit up in early sun, and the valleys below are hazy blue all the way out. Sunny with a high near 44 up top, but a stiff west wind gusting to 35.
Great Eddy Covered Bridge, Waitsfield — A calm, quiet start in the Mad River Valley. The old bridge and farmhouse sit under a pale dawn sky, the river is running easy, and the trees are mostly bare now with a few last reds and golds hanging on. Sunny with a high near 61.
Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH — From the NEON tower, the mountains are still in morning shade, but the forest below is a rich mix of rust, orange and gold among the evergreens. Sunny and near 61 in the White Mountains valleys today.
Webcam views courtesy of the Boston Yacht Club, the Mount Washington Observatory, Mad River Valley Television, and NEON/PhenoCam.
Sunday in the shop, coffee's on….. and I've got dovetails on my mind. A dovetailed tool chest, a seat box, a locker box for the boat: it's the same corner joint every time, and every time it either fits right off the saw or it doesn't. Here's the thing nobody tells you when you start. Most gappy dovetails are lost at layout, not at the saw. So today it's the through-dovetail start to finish, built around the one tool that decides the fit before you ever cut: the marking gauge.
Why it matters: The slope of the tails is what locks the corner and draws the pin board up tight (Chris Gochnour, Fine Woodworking), and the long-grain glue surfaces do the rest (Lonnie Bird, Popular Woodworking). Bird puts it plain: dovetailing is just sawing and chiseling to a line, and if the line is wrong the joint won't fit. The gauge line is the line your chisel drops into on both boards. Set it once off the wood itself, use it everywhere, and half the battle's won. Get it wrong and you're filling gaps with glue and sawdust, and everybody can see it from across the room.
Materials
Two boards dressed flat, the same thickness all the way across, with the ends cut square (Lee Valley). For a chest, the tails go on the front and back and the pins go on the ends (Gochnour).
Practice scraps first. Lee Valley says skip the really soft stuff while you're learning, because the fibers crush; poplar, walnut or cherry are friendlier.
A sharp 0.5 mm pencil, to darken lines and mark the waste
PVA glue for a shop chest (Lee Valley's call in their instructions)
Tools
A marking gauge, wheel or pin, and sharp. A dull one tears the end grain instead of cutting it (Bird). If your two boards aren't the same thickness, use two gauges, one for each.
A marking knife (a striking knife is best, says Lee Valley)
A sliding bevel or a dovetail marker in 1:6 and 1:8
A combination square, and a pair of dividers for spacing the tails (Gochnour)
A dovetail saw. Dovetailing is a ripping cut, so it should be rip-filed; Lie-Nielsen's is 15 points per inch with a .026 in. kerf. A Japanese dozuki pull saw works fine too (Bird).
Bevel-edge chisels, including a narrow one, 3/8 or 1/2 in., for chopping, plus a mallet. Bird likes a short chisel and a round 12-ounce mallet.
A block plane, to bring the proud ends flush after glue-up
Steps
Mark the boards before anything else. Inside and outside faces, top and bottom, which board gets tails and which gets pins (Gochnour, Lee Valley). A cabinetmaker's triangle on each pair takes ten seconds and saves the one mistake you can't fix: assembling a perfect joint upside down.
Set the gauge off the wood, not a ruler. Pinch the mating board between the fence and the cutter (Lee Valley). That's your baseline depth. Gochnour sets it to the exact thickness of the pin board so nothing stands proud to get in the way of the clamps. Bob Van Dyke (Fine Woodworking) says the most common practice is a hair more, so the pins and tails stand a little proud and get planed flush. How much is a hair? Woodsmith suggests 1/64 in. for beginners, Canadian Woodworking about 1/32 in. Go 1/32 to 1/16 in. over and you're into deliberately proud pins, a look of its own (Van Dyke). Then lock the gauge and leave it alone until both boards are marked. If the boards differ in thickness, the tail board gets gauged to the pin board's thickness and the pin board to the tail board's.
Gauge the baselines on both boards. On the tail board, run the line around all four surfaces: both faces and both edges. On the pin board, both faces (Lee Valley, Bird). Keep the gauge head hard against the end, and make several light passes instead of one heavy one so you don't tear the grain (Bird). A pencil over the line helps tired eyes.
Lay out the tails. Leave at least 1/4 in. at each edge for the half-pins so the boards don't split at assembly (Lee Valley). Gochnour sizes half-pins 1/4 to 3/8 in. and inside pins 1/8 to 1/4 in. at their narrow end, spaced 1-1/4 to 2 in. on center for a big case like a chest. Walk the spacing off with dividers. For the slope, the traditional ratios are 1:6 for softwood and 1:8 for hardwood (Gochnour, Lee Valley). That's about 9.5° and 7.1°; the exact numbers are arctan(1/6) = 9.46° and arctan(1/8) = 7.13°. To set a bevel without a protractor, square a line in from the edge of a board and mark 8 in. up it, then mark 1 in. along the edge from where the line starts, and join the two marks. Stock on the edge, blade on that line, and you've got 1:8 (Gochnour sets his off the 1-in. and 6-in. marks for 1:6). A white pine chest gets 1:6; a mahogany or oak seat box gets 1:8. Don't lose sleep over it: Fine Woodworking says anything from 7° to 15° works in any wood, and Christopher Schwarz cuts his at 14°. Square the lines across the end grain and put an X in every piece of waste (Lee Valley).
Saw on the waste side and leave the line. The line belongs to the tail. Saw slow, with long strokes and very little downward pressure, and let the saw track (Lie-Nielsen). Bird angles the saw, not the board: clamp the board level, make every cut that leans one way, then every cut that leans the other. Keep the saw level as you come down to the baseline and stop right on it (Lee Valley). Then lay the board flat and saw the half-pin waste off the ends, square, without nicking the tails.
Chop to the line. A saw kerf or two down the middle of the waste gives the chips somewhere to go (Bird, and a Fine Woodworking reader tip). With the board flat, start the narrow chisel about 1/16 in. back from the baseline and drive it about halfway through. Then set the edge right in the gauge line, which it'll drop into, lean it a hair for a slight undercut, and chop again (Bird, Lee Valley). Flip the board and do the same from the other face. Undercut the middle, never the faces: a nicked corner shows forever. When you're done you should see a whisker of the gauge line left at the edge (Bird). No line, you went too far, or not far enough.
Transfer the tails to the pins with a knife. Pin board in the vise, outside face toward you, its end flush with a prop beside it, a scrap or a plane on its side (Lee Valley). Lay the tail board on top, edges flush, and put its baseline exactly on the inside face of the pin board (Gochnour). If the baseline sits on the end grain, the joint will be too tight. If it hangs past the inside face, the pins come out small and the joint's loose. Hold it hard, or clamp it, and knife around each tail with several light cuts (Lee Valley). Square those marks down the face to the baseline (Gochnour) and X the waste right away. Saw on the wrong side of a pin line and you've bought yourself a loose joint (Lee Valley).
Saw and chop the pins. Same rule: saw on the waste side so the knife line stays on the pin. On the pin board the saw stays plumb, straight down the length of the board; the angle is across the end grain. Down to the baseline, level, then chop the waste exactly as you did the tails, without letting the chisel bite into the angled pins (Lee Valley).
Test fit with pencil lead, then glue and flush it. Scribble pencil on the sides of the tails, push the joint together by hand until it starts to resist, then pull it apart. Wherever the lead rubbed off onto the pins, that's what's binding; take it down with a chisel or a file and try again (Gochnour, Fine Woodworking). A good one goes together with very little effort (Lee Valley): thumbs, or a few light taps of a dead-blow on a wide case (Bird). Glue it up, and once it's dry, plane the proud ends flush. Work from the outside edge in toward the board so you don't blow out the unsupported fibers at the back (Katz-Moses Tools).
MOAM's shop note: The most common mistake I see isn't bad sawing. It's a gauge that got bumped between the first board and the second, or a waste piece that never got its X and got sawn on the wrong side of the line. Set the gauge once, mark every baseline on every board, and only then put it down. Pro trick from Bob Van Dyke, who learned it from Steve Latta: cut a very shallow rabbet across the inside face of the tail board, right on the gauge line. That little shoulder hooks over the pin board and puts the baseline exactly where it belongs while you knife the transfer. A strip of 1/4-in. MDF clamped on the baseline does the same job. And for the record, Paul Sellers skips gauge lines altogether. He calls them bruised wood and uses a knifewall instead. Fair enough on fine furniture. On a tool chest or a boat box, that little line is honest work, and I'll leave it.
Sources: Chris Gochnour, "Laying Out Dovetails," Fine Woodworking #190, and "File Joints for a Perfect Fit," Fine Woodworking #247; Bob Van Dyke, "More Than One Way to Cut a Dovetail," Fine Woodworking #311; "Designing Dovetails for Strength and Style," Fine Woodworking; "Relief Cut Makes it Easy to Chop Out Dovetail Waste," Fine Woodworking #276; Lonnie Bird, "How to Cut Dovetails by Hand," Popular Woodworking; Glen D. Huey, "Dovetail Layout: What Ratio or Degree?" and Christopher Schwarz, "Dovetail Angles are Style, Not Substance," Popular Woodworking; Lee Valley/Veritas, Dovetail Saw Guide instructions and Dovetail Markers; Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Dovetail Saw; Paul Sellers, "Gauge lines on dovetails"; Woodsmith, "Hand Cut Dovetails"; Canadian Woodworking, "Hand Cut Dovetails"; Katz-Moses Tools, "Cutting Your First Dovetails."
MOAM Out.
Tools for this tip
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A few days in, and I'm grateful. Thank you for the messages, the shares, the photos of the book showing up at your door, and the first review on Amazon.
What's next: my author copies arrive at the end of the month, and I'm lining up some book signings around the North Shore this fall and winter. Nothing fancy, just a table, some signed copies, and a chance to talk about the real records behind the story and where I had to invent.
If your library, historical society, or group would like to host one, message me. And if you'd like an email when there's a signing near you or other news about the book, you can sign up here: https://nanepashemet.com/the-wing
Sunday morning coffee in hand, the MOAM took a stroll through the new listings….. 9 new listings hit the North Shore market in the last 24 hours, across 6 towns.
Top towns: Lynn leads with 3; Amesbury had 2; Salem, Beverly, Marblehead, and Rowley each had 1.
By property type: Residential Lease (rentals) 7 · Residential 2.
The MOAM's take: a quiet Saturday-into-Sunday stretch, and nearly 8 in 10 of today's new listings are rentals, so renters get the first look this weekend while buyers wait for the Monday batch.
Contact Nanepashemet to view these.
Nanepashemet Real Estate Services
Call or text 781-727-6516 jnestor@nanepashemet.com
MOAM Out.
Listing data courtesy of MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN); listings shown are held by various brokerages. Nanepashemet Real Estate Services, MA Broker Lic. 136995-RE-B.
Not for nuthin'…. But….. the B's just keep rolling. Five straight wins after last night in L.A., and today the Pats get the Jets at home. Not a bad way to start a Sunday in New England.
Short version: the Bruins beat the Kings 4-1 for their fifth in a row and sit alone in first in the Atlantic, the Pats host the Jets at 1 today, the Celts open for real Tuesday in Detroit, and the Sox are home for the winter.
New England Patriots
Yesterday: No game
Today: Sun., Oct. 18, 1:00 PM ET, vs New York Jets (home, CBS)
Next: Thu., Oct. 22, 8:15 PM ET, @ Chicago Bears (Prime Video)
Standings: 3-2, 2nd in the AFC East, 1 game behind Buffalo (4-1), No. 5 seed in the AFC right now
The Jets come into Foxborough at 2-3. Win this one at home and the Pats are right on Buffalo's heels heading into a short week in Chicago. Get the chowder on before kickoff.
Then: Thu., Oct. 22, 7:00 PM ET, vs Nashville (home, NESN)
Standings: 7-2-0, 14 points, 1st in the Atlantic, No. 2 in the East, won 5 straight
Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the third and David Pastrnak had a goal and an assist as the B's made it two wins in two nights in California. Five in a row now, and they're sitting alone on top of the division. I'll take it.
Boston Celtics
Yesterday / Today: No games
Regular-season opener: Tue., Oct. 20, 3:00 PM ET, @ Detroit Pistons (NBC, Peacock)
Home opener: Fri., Oct. 23, 7:00 PM ET, vs New York Knicks (Prime Video)
Status: Preseason finished 4-0
Two more days of rest, then it counts. Afternoon tip in Detroit Tuesday, so plan that long lunch.
Boston Red Sox
Yesterday / Today: No games, season over
Next: 2027 spring training
Final standings: 87-75, 3rd in the AL East, swept by the Yankees in the AL Wild Card round
Hot stove season. We'll keep an eye on the winter moves.
That's the Sunday board. Pats at 1, B's back at it Tuesday night, Celts tip it off Tuesday afternoon. Enjoy the game, everybody.
