Slow Life Chronicles

These days Castle Island is not an island anymore, just a part of Boston. In fact, it is no longer practical to get there by a boat. One reaches the island by car, by bus, and of course by bicycle. And so I went.

Outer Brewster belongs to the group of outer islands in Boston Harbor that sometimes are called just the Brewsters. One of them, Great Brewster Island, we explored the year before. Just like it, Outer Brewster is called by the name of its former owner William Brewster (ca. 1566–1644), the elder and spiritual leader of the Pilgrims, who came to the New World in 1620 on the Mayflower.

One day in September we were meandering around in Boston Harbor under sail. In the boat with me were my esteemed Father, who had just come over from Moscow to visit us, and was looking for new experiences, and Sergey, who had graciously agreed to help us with sail handling.

As I write more and more about the islands and lighthouses of Boston and beyond, it is inevitable that I'd mention one very colorful character: Edward Rowe Snow (1902–1982), Boston maritime historian, author, lecturer, activist and enthusiast.

After talking a lot about sailing, and also introducing the concept of slow life, I think it is a good time to talk about them together.