30-Year Rate Holds at 7.40% + Marblehead & Lynnfield Numbers | North Shore Real Estate Weekly

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%.

Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey · PMMS history CSV

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)

Source: MAR Local Market Update, Marblehead, September 2026 (MLS PIN data, provided by MAR)

Lynnfield, single-family, September 2026 (MAR): this week's rotating town spotlight

• Median sale price: $1,307,000, up 18.3% from $1,105,000
• Closed sales: 9 (13 a year ago). Tiny sample.
• Homes for sale: 21
• Months of supply: 2.3
• Cumulative days on market: 32 (24 a year ago)
• Sellers received 102.7% of original list price (101.3% a year ago)

Source: MAR Local Market Update, Lynnfield, September 2026

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.

Buying, selling, or fixing up?

• Search North Shore homes
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Or call or text me at 781-727-6516. I'm available seven days a week.

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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.

MOAM Out.

Boston Sports Morning Report — Monday, Oct. 19

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.

Boston Bruins

• Yesterday: No game
• Today: No game
• Next: Tue., Oct. 20, 8:00 PM ET, @ Dallas Stars (ESPN)
• 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

Two days off after the California sweep, then a test in Dallas. Five straight and still sitting on top of the division. Keep it rolling.

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

Tomorrow afternoon it counts. A 3 o'clock tip on a Tuesday, so somebody's going to be "working from home."

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 Monday board. Celts and B's both go Tuesday, Pats Thursday night in Chicago. Have a good week, everybody.

MOAM Out.

Small Craft Advisory Tonight: Time to Haul Out and Button Up the Boat

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

New England This Morning — October 19, 2026

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.

MOAM Out.

How to Cut Through-Dovetails That Actually Fit: The Marking-Gauge Workflow

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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).
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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).
8. 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).
9. 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

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

• Taytools wheel marking gauge, solid brass head: one setting, pinched off the mating board, for every baseline on both boards
• Narex double-bevel marking knife: knifing the tails onto the pin board with light, repeated cuts
• Gyokucho 770-3500 razor dozuki saw (fine-tooth pull saw for dovetails): a thin-kerf pull saw that tracks on the waste side of the line
• Narex Premium bevel-edge chisel set (4 pc): chopping the waste to the gauge line and paring the fit
• Starrett 12-inch combination square (11H-12-4R): squaring lines across the end grain and down to the baseline

Use whatever you already have in the shop; these are just the ones that fit this job.

Thank you, and what's next for The Wing

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

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HL77F6KS
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HL8VP2JM

New Real Estate Listings on the North Shore Today – Sunday, October 18

New Listings Today – North Shore 29 Towns

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.

Boston Sports Morning Report — Sunday, Oct. 18

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.

Boston Bruins

• Yesterday: W 4-1 @ Los Angeles Kings
• Today: No game
• Next: Tue., Oct. 20, 8:00 PM ET, @ Dallas Stars (ESPN)
• 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.

MOAM Out.

New England This Morning — October 18, 2026

 

Not for nuthin'…. But….. Sunday came up gorgeous. The patchy frost is burning off, the wind has finally laid down, and Marblehead's headed for a sunny high near 53. Monday looks even nicer. Here's how four corners of New England looked around 7:35 this morning.

Marblehead Harbor (BYC Oceanfront) — Now that's more like it. A big low sun is pouring gold across the water, the sky is clear blue, and the harbor is glassy calm with the boats still sitting on their moorings. A light southwest breeze at best today.

Mount Washington North View — Still wearing its ice coat. The summit cam is caked in rime again this morning, so no view, but the Rockpile is in for sunshine, a high near 35 and a wind chill as low as zero early. Lighter winds up top for once, gusting around 30.

Great Eddy Covered Bridge, Waitsfield — A soft pink sunrise over the Mad River Valley. The bridge, the old farmhouse and the river are calm and quiet, a big red maple is still blazing on the bank, and the rest of the trees are mostly bare. Sunny with a high near 55.

Bartlett Experimental Forest, NH — The snow-shower haze is gone. From the NEON tower, early sun is warming the mountaintops, and the canopy below is a patchwork of rust, gold and orange mixed in with the evergreens. Sunny and near 53 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.

MOAM Out.

How to Sharpen a Plane Iron on Waterstones: Camber vs Straight

This is catching the MOAM's attention today….. a plane that skates, chatters or leaves little ridges across the board almost always has an edge problem, not a plane problem. I've got cedar and white oak to plane for the dory this fall, so today it's the whole routine for a bench-plane iron on waterstones, plus the question that starts an argument in every shop on the North Shore: do you put a curve on the edge, or keep it dead straight? Short answer: it depends on the plane.

Why it matters: A sharp edge is just two polished surfaces meeting, the bevel and the back. Lee Valley and Lie-Nielsen both start there. Skip the back and you get a row of tiny saw teeth that dull in a few strokes. The shape of the edge matters just as much. A smoothing plane with a square iron digs its corners into any board wider than the blade and leaves ridges Chris Gochnour (Fine Woodworking) calls tracks. A rabbet or shoulder plane with a curved iron can't cut a clean, square corner. Smoothing a wide oak plank for the dory, I want the first one curved. Cleaning up a rabbet in the stem, I want the second one straight.

Materials

• Waterstones: a 1,000 grit to raise a burr and an 8,000 to polish, with a 4,000 in between if you like. Christopher Schwarz runs 1,000/4,000/8,000; Lie-Nielsen teaches 1,000 and 8,000–10,000. A 1,000/6,000 combination stone is a fine way to start.
• Wet/dry sandpaper, 100–220 grit, on something flat (granite, a machine bed, ½-in. float glass), or a coarse diamond lapping plate, to flatten the stones
• A thin steel ruler, about 0.020 in. (0.5 mm) thick or less, for the ruler trick
• A pencil, for the flattening check
• Rust protection: light oil (Lie-Nielsen uses jojoba), Boeshield T-9 or paste wax (Lee Valley)
• A scrap board wider than the iron, for test cuts

Tools

• A side-clamp honing guide. A narrow single-roller (Eclipse-style) guide rocks easily, which helps when you're cambering (Gochnour).
• A protractor, or a stop board, to set 25° and 30° the same way every time
• A combination or engineer's square, and a feeler gauge (the same one you gap spark plugs with) to read the camber
• A straightedge for checking the stones
• A strong light, and a loupe if your eyes are like mine

Steps

1. Flatten the stones first. Draw a pencil cross-hatch on the face, then rub the stone on wet/dry paper (100–220 grit) stuck to a flat surface, or on a diamond lapping plate, until the lines are gone. Lie-Nielsen says that's about 15–20 strokes; turn the stone 180° now and then. Check it with a straightedge. Waterstones wear fast, and a dished stone will curve your edge whether you asked for it or not, so flatten again at the end of every session. David Charlesworth keeps his coarse stones in a tray of water (stored dry, they want about a five-minute soak) and just sprays the 4,000 and finer. Glass-backed Shaptons get a spritz, never a soak (Lie-Nielsen's Deneb Puchalski, FWW).
2. Get the back flat where it counts. On a plane iron, the back only has to be flat and smooth near the edge. Lee Valley laps it on an 800 or 1,000 stone, then polishes on a 4,000 or 8,000. Puchalski's goal is a flat back with no heavy milling marks running out to the edge, about 5 to 10 minutes on sandpaper. Don't spend an afternoon polishing the whole thing.
3. Use the ruler trick on the back. This is David Charlesworth's. Lay the thin ruler along one long edge of the 8,000 stone. Lay the iron bevel up across the stone, back resting on the ruler, edge on the stone. That tips the back up less than 1°; Charlesworth figures his 0.5 mm ruler gives about two-thirds of a degree. Stroke on and off the end of the stone, and don't bring the edge more than ½ in. onto it (Lie-Nielsen). Stop when you see an even mirror band about 1/32 in. wide, corner to corner (Puchalski). This is for plane irons only. Never do it to a chisel; a chisel needs a flat back (Lie-Nielsen).
4. Hone a 30° secondary bevel on the 1,000, and feel for the burr. Most bench-plane irons come ground at about 25° (Lee Valley, Lie-Nielsen). Set the guide for 30°. Puchalski: "For the most common primary bevel of 25°, a secondary bevel of 30° works well." Paul Sellers hones his at 30° too. Lie-Nielsen's own basic method goes to 35°, a 10° secondary, and Lee Valley lists 30°–35° for hardwood with pin knots. Four or five passes should raise a burr, a wire edge you can see and feel on the back. The burr test: slide a fingertip across the back and off the edge (never along the edge). You want a faint catch the whole width of the iron. If one corner has no burr, the bevel hasn't reached the edge there yet. Keep going.
5. Smoothing plane? Camber it with finger pressure. Still on the 1,000, press down hard at one corner for a set of strokes, then the other corner, then partway in from each corner, then a few in the center. Schwarz does 10 strokes at each corner, 7 at each in-between spot, and a few in the middle. Lie-Nielsen does 6, 4 and 2. More strokes at the edges than the middle takes more steel off the corners and leaves a gentle arc. Hold the iron against a square: you should see a little light at each corner. How much? Not much. Gochnour says 0.001 to 0.002 in. on a smoother; Lie-Nielsen's routine gives .002 to .005 in.; Schwarz measured .006 in. at the corners of his favorite No. 4 with a feeler gauge.
6. Jack or fore plane? A lot more camber. These are the planes that take the heavy cuts. Schwarz puts an 8-in. radius on his fore plane, and says 8 to 10 in. is typical on a jack. By my math, on a 2-in. iron that's roughly 1/20 to 1/16 in. of sweep back at the corners. That's grinder or coarse-stone work (Schwarz grinds his), then you hone it the same way. It's how you hog a cupped cedar plank down without the corners digging in.
7. Shoulder, rabbet and block planes: straight and square. Lee Valley is blunt about it: joinery planes like rabbet planes are never cambered or given rounded corners, and the edge has to stay square to the sides of the blade. Lie-Nielsen says shoulder planes need a straight edge too. Schwarz lumps block planes in with chisels: sharpened straight across. Even pressure across the guide, and check it with the square. Jointer planes are your call: Lie-Nielsen keeps theirs straight, and some guys add a hair of camber to help square up an edge.
8. Polish on the 4,000 and 8,000, then kill the burr. Same pressure pattern if you're cambering. Puchalski takes four or five passes on the 8,000 and stops when he sees a clean, bright line of even width right at the tip. If it's wider at one corner, your pressure was uneven; a few extra strokes on the narrow side fixes it. Then go back to the ruler trick on the 8,000, about 10 passes on and off, to take the burr off the back (Lie-Nielsen). Put it in the plane, set a light cut and look for see-through shavings.
9. Dry it, oil it, and know when to regrind. Water and steel don't mix, and Marblehead salt air doesn't help. Wipe the iron dry the minute you're done and oil it. Over time the 30° bevel gets wider; when you're taking 20 to 30 passes on the 8,000 to get an edge, Puchalski says it's time to regrind the 25° primary. Lie-Nielsen leaves about 1/64 in. of the old secondary so the square edge stays defined.

MOAM's shop note: The most common mistake I see is too much camber on the smoother. You get a skinny little shaving out of the middle of the mouth and spend all day making passes. Gochnour's rule: if the shaving's narrow, put more strokes in the center; if you still see tracks, put more on the corners. A good smoother shaving is nearly full width and fades to nothing at the edges. Sneak up on it. It's a lot easier to add camber than take it out. That's my own practice, not a number from a book. And pro trick for a New England shop: Charlesworth keeps his coarse stones soaking in a tray, but if your shop freezes at night, don't store them in water. He says they'll shatter. Come November in Marblehead, mine come in out of the cold.

Sources: Lie-Nielsen Toolworks, Sharpening Instructions (rev. 08/2023) and Shoulder Plane instructions; Deneb Puchalski, "Get Sharp—Fast," Fine Woodworking #213; David Charlesworth, "A User's Guide to Waterstones," Fine Woodworking #169, and his "Ruler Trick" video; Thomas Lie-Nielsen, "Sharpening a Plane Iron that has a Pitted Back," Fine Woodworking; Chris Gochnour, "Camber: The Secret to Perfect Planing," Fine Woodworking; Christopher Schwarz, "Camber With a Honing Guide," "Coarse, Medium & Fine," "Yes, You Need a Jointer and a Jack" and "Super-specific Smoothing Plane Specs," Popular Woodworking; Lee Valley/Veritas, Sharpening System instructions, "Getting Started With Your Jack Rabbet Plane" and "Getting Started With Your Veritas Bevel-Up Bench Plane"; Paul Sellers, "One System Fits All" and "Setting your plane after sharpening."

MOAM Out.

Tools for this tip

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

• King KDS 1000/6000 combination waterstone: a 1,000 side to raise the burr and shape the camber, a 6,000 side to polish
• DMT Dia-Flat diamond lapping plate (4 x 10 in.) for flattening waterstones: keeps the waterstones dead flat so they don't put a curve in your edge you didn't ask for
• Starrett 12-inch combination square (11H-12-4R): holding the iron to the blade to check the camber, or that a rabbet iron is straight and square
• iGaging 6-inch digital caliper: checking your ruler-trick ruler is about 0.020 in. thick
• The Complete Guide to Sharpening by Leonard Lee (book): the standard reference on sharpening

Use whatever you already have in the shop; these are just the ones that fit this job.

New Real Estate Listings on the North Shore Today – Saturday, October 17

New Listings Today – North Shore 29 Towns

This is catching the MOAM's attention today….. 18 new listings hit the North Shore market in the last 24 hours, across 11 towns.

Top towns: Lynn leads with 4; Salem had 3; Gloucester and Peabody each had 2; Amesbury, West Newbury, Boxford, Newburyport, Topsfield, Lynnfield, and Groveland each had 1.

By property type: Residential 10 · Residential Lease (rentals) 6 · Commercial Lease 2.

The MOAM's take: a lighter weekend batch, and a third of today's new listings are rentals, so if you're hunting for a lease on the North Shore, now's a good time 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.

Boston Sports Morning Report — Saturday, Oct. 17

Not for nuthin'…. But….. that was a good Friday night to be a Boston fan. The Celts and the B's both went out on the road and both came home with wins, and the Bruins are back on top of the Atlantic.

Short version: Celts finished the preseason 4-0 with an overtime win in Philly, the B's beat Anaheim for their fourth straight and pulled even with Ottawa for first, the B's play L.A. tonight at 9, the Pats get the Jets tomorrow at 1, and the Sox are home for the winter.

Boston Bruins

• Yesterday: W 4-2 @ Anaheim
• Tonight: Sat., Oct. 17, 9:00 PM ET, @ Los Angeles Kings (NESN, ESPN+)
• Next: Tue., Oct. 20, 8:00 PM ET, @ Dallas (ESPN)
• Standings: 6-2-0, 12 points, tied with Ottawa for 1st in the Atlantic (ESPN lists Boston first), 2nd in the East, won 4 straight

Elias Lindholm set up the tying goal and then scored the go-ahead goal in the third, and the B's closed it out 4-2. Four in a row now. The Kings are 0-3-2, so tonight's a chance to keep the California trip rolling. Another late one, so put the coffee on.

Boston Celtics

• Yesterday (preseason): W 125-120 in OT @ Philadelphia 76ers
• Today: No game
• 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 done at 4-0

Hugo Gonzalez led the way with 21 and Gabe McGlothan pulled down 13 boards as the Celts outlasted Philly in overtime. A perfect preseason doesn't count for anything, but I'll take it. Tuesday afternoon tip in Detroit, so plan that long lunch.

New England Patriots

• Yesterday / Today: No game
• Next: Sun., Oct. 18, 1:00 PM ET, vs New York Jets (home, CBS)
• Then: Thu., Oct. 22, 8:15 PM ET, @ Chicago (Prime Video)
• Standings: 3-2, 2nd in the AFC East, 1 game behind Buffalo (4-1), No. 5 seed in the AFC right now, won 2 straight

Jets in Foxborough tomorrow. Take care of business at home, then a short week for Thursday night in Chicago.

Boston Red Sox

• Yesterday / Today: No games, season over
• Next: 2027 spring training (ESPN has Feb. 20 at Tampa Bay penciled in, still to be confirmed)
• 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 Saturday board. B's at 9 tonight, Pats tomorrow at 1, Celts tip it off for real Tuesday. Enjoy the weekend, everybody.

MOAM Out.