I lived for many years just outside of Salem Massachusetts and worked Salem Hospital for even longer. So I was quite familiar with the city but had never been there by boat.

We spent about a week at Hawthorn Cove Marina in downtown Salem and had a blast.

The primary reason for choosing the marina was, other than it’s location, they had a maintenance team on board and I wanted someone other than me to replace the macerator pump. For those who have done the job you know, it’s not difficult but is still best done by someone else because it’s a really “crappy” job. (For those not in on the joke the macerator pump is the one that pumps the poop tank overboard when you are offshore so it’s literally a “crappy” job.)

I lived and worked in the area in my 20s and at the time I found all the Witch-related activities exciting. These days though outside of the history and a bit of the acceptance for the eccentric I found much of the witchcraft-related stuff a bit overblown and touristy.

That said the food was good and there were certainly occult-related purchases to be had if you moved beyond the tourist areas.

Provisioning was a bit of a challenge. We needed to make a run to Portland Maine for Ryan’s oral surgery consult so we had to rent a car which also allowed us to pick up groceries. There are a few small stores to pick up provisions but having a car to run to a neighboring town with a supermarket makes the whole process that much easier.

The city certainly has some history, especially marine history, and is worth the visit. If you have someone on board who is obsessed with witchcraft and the occult they will enjoy the city as well although they may be disappointed since the city can be a bit over-marketed in this department.

But again we found ourselves constrained by COVID. I had hoped to visit the Peabody Essex Museum and some of the indoor historical sights but we skipped those in favor of outside dining and the other sights to be had while in the fresh air.