Five yacht clubs in five weeks and it ends with a bang!  For those who might have missed the start of this project, it all began on May 20th when I found myself facing a lackluster sunset and decided to shoot the first of the yacht clubs firing the cannon at sunset.  It was supposed to finish on Tuesday night at the Dolphin Yacht Club.  I had called ahead a week prior and spoken to a wonderfully friendly South African gentleman who ran the launch.  He invited me down to shoot the cannon and the stars seemed to align well on Tuesday night.  The lightning storms of the previous night were not due for a reappearance and I set up with plenty of time to chat with Armando about how life’s journey had brought him to the town of Marblehead.  With seconds to go, I started firing off the shutter and the cannon went off with a huge bang and puff of smoke and….nothing.  I missed it.  I got some smoke but no fire and the angles were awful.  I made half hearted promises to return the next night but wasn’t sure if I would.

Wednesday brought the rain and more rain.  It was downright torrential at times (including during the entire time I was out grilling dinner).  Needless to say I had very little energy to shoot and resigned myself to working on other projects around the house.  At 8:00pm, I looked out my office window and noted a pretty nice cloud formation.  I went upstairs and saw what looked like a very promising sunset forming.  I knew the cannon would go off at 8:24pm and made up my mind to go.  The only obstacle was a certain 7 1/2 year old boy and a chapter of Percy Jackson.  I believe that speed reading records were broken that night as we finished the chapter in about 5 minutes and I ran out the door for the Dolphin Yacht Club.  As I drove, I saw a small rainbow in the sky but figured it would be gone or in the wrong location by the time I would get to my destination.

I pulled up at the Dolphin Yacht Club at 8:15pm and ran toward the launch.  I arrived to find a beautiful pink sunset and that rainbow sitting there in just about the perfect spot.  Armando suggested I move up to the yacht club balcony which I did and quickly met the manager Lily in short order who was unbelievably generous in allowing me to shoot from their great deck

[check out their great club here – LINK].  I set up initially in landscape orientation but then quickly changed my mind to go with the portrait/vertical format.  I aligned all the elements in the frame – Marblehead lighthouse, boats in the harbor, rainbow overhead in the beautiful pink clouds and Armando ready to fire the cannon at sunset.

After the warning bell sounded, I quickly checked my settings and fired off the shutter hoping that I caught something good this time.  By the time the smoke cleared, I had checked the lcd on the back of the camera and saw this perfect scene before me.  I stayed for a bit longer enjoying the last light of the sunset and watching some great fog roll in along the Neck.  I then returned to my car with a mile-wide grin on my face excited to share this image with you.

This marks the 692nd image shared on this site and I love that I am still constantly surprised and thrilled by the sights I find in this great town of 4.4 square miles.

Here is a small gallery of all five yacht clubs in Marblehead firing the cannon at sunset – click on any to see them full screen