Gloucester Harbormaster

Other than the rain (blame Mother Nature!) this is a great harbor to visit and the Harbor Master staff is terrific. Very helpful and friendly.

Gloucester is among our favorite destination cities either for a short trip or as a stopover recovery from a long one. Mooring rental prices are excellent which includes a launch service running until 2200L-very useful.

Always a great spot.

The launch driver was terrific and very helpful. It is fun to watch all the commercial traffic. We’ll be back!

It’s a beautiful place. They were very accommodating. Just wished they had showers.

Our mooring was well situated, and the launch service was prompt and friendly. The staff at the Harbormaster's office was also courteous and helpful when we made reservations. One slight bug: the city website, the harbormaster, and the launch pilot each gave different statements about the launch hours of operation.

Very easy to find nice quiet overnight

Always a pleasure to stay here while enjoying the town of Gloucester!

nicer bunch of folks you couldn't meet. Always a pleasure to visit!!

The Harbormaster took good care of us, relocating us from a mooring that would have been under the fireworks to one near Ten Pound Island, warning us it was a little tight with our neighbors. Since it was the Gloucester Schooner Festival weekend, we were pumped to have such a great location to view the fireworks and the parades.. The launch service is absolutely fantastic.

It was great that we were assigned a mooring number in advance because we got in late. This is an interesting, working harbor.

Great weekend, Harbormaster staff and launch were friendly and helpful. Always enjoy schooner festival in Gloucester.

Was great. Peaceful and picturesque. Great local restaurants close by. Shuttle service available til 9pm.

Got a quick response to my mooring request on Dockwa along with another email letting us know exactly where our mooring was going to be and the mooring number. It was very easy! Also the launch drivers were very friendly and the harbormaster staff were also super friendly and helpful.

We were in outer harbor, inside of Ten Pound Island. They should charge less for this outer harbor mooring than inner. The fisherman do NOT slow at the “No Wake” buoy... only use this as last resort! Can’t recommend TP2 ... almost in channel.

The process of finding the mooring was made easier by looking at the pictures supplied in the marina description. It is a very busy commercial harbour so it wasn't surprising to be rocked by fishing vessels. There is a nice public wharf to take your tender to and it is conveniently located near restaurants, drug store with some food. There is a shuttle service as well. If you need fuel, go to the opposite side of the harbour. Say hello to Brian, the very friendly dock attendant.

Like it so much we’er staying another day !

One of our favorite harbors . Arrived just after noon,, our Mooring was ready to go , we tied up , no issues. We checked in with the harbormaster and then called the launch for a ride into town.....everyone was friendly and asked if they help with suggestions of where to go etc. great place to stop for a couple of days .

Great mooring field. Great help from harbormaster

Good moorings that now intrude on anchoring space. Filled up in cheapest diesel at capt dave fuel barge

Absolutely LOVED staying here! Harbormaster is one of the BEST and the launch service could not have been better! The folks here are very friendly and we will be back!

Excellent communication Great Launch Service

We had 3 great days in Gloucester! The mooring was secure and easily accessible. The free launch service was awesome! The launch always came quickly. The operators were professional and full of advice. We made great use of output time playing tourist. The Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester is a combination art and history museum. The current Winslow Homer exhibit is fascinating as are the exhibits on fishing, fishing schooners and granite mining. We also took a Cape Ann Transit Authority bus ( $0.60 for seniors) to Rockport where we took a free walking tour of the village. The guide was full of interesting stories. We also shopped and had a fine lunch on Bearskin Neck. On the way back to Gloucester the bus dropped us at a Stop & Shop where we did some provisioning. To top off the trip we found several ice cream shops within walking distance of the launch landing. “Holy Cow” was our favorite. We will return again!

Excellent Harbor, extremely responsive harbormaster. Only things I would like to see are an online mooring map (it was difficult to locate our mooring), also it would be awesome if there were shower facilities available.

Nice harbor, moorings far enough apart you won't hit or be hit by another boat, and the inner harbor pretty quiet except for the seagulls at all hours. The Harbormaster has a beautiful launch that will take you anywhere on the harbor but they have no facilities- showers, sinks, toilets. They say they will have by next year...we shall see if it gets done.

Launch delivered directly to a restaurant dock and picked us up when we were ready to go back to the boat

EASY PEASY We booked a mooring on Dockwa. They emailed us the assignment. We called the launch to show us the mooring but the harbormaster on duty escorted us first. He also gave us great information on navigating the Annisquam. Thanks to all

Very well maintained moorings. Beautiful setting snug behind ten pound island. Responsive and attentive Harbormaster office. But I think the launch driver was a rookie. A little shaky on approach. Overall great experience.

Great location off park, solid mooring. Easy working with Harbormaster to change from original assignment.

The Gloucester Harbormaster was attentive and helpful. He came by to check on us and suggested that if went ashore to bring our radio - which we did. We have a reservation for later in the summer and he told us just where that mooring was located.

Awesome night off Stage Fort Park.

Low frills but friendly helpful launch driver and harbor master.

The moorings are very reasonably priced and the numbered flags on the pennants are good for both finding your reserved mooring and getting launch service. However, the launch service is spread too thin and our launch driver Sat. morning betrayed, shall we say, burn out. One half hour after our request he passed within 50 yards of us with 3 people on the 24 passenger launch. I hailed him thinking that he had forgotten us and he growled back that he had too many people and that he would return after dropping them at the harbormasters dock. Almost one hour after our call we landed on the dock

Great location in the conditions that we had.

Very friendly facility. Service was great! HM made sure we were satisfied.

Making the transient mooring reservation went smoothly. Pre-arrival emailed info was quite helpful with mooring assignment included. The harbor launch service included in the mooring fee was efficient and capably run. The town block party on Saturday evening was a very nice event with excellent entertainment from varied musical genres. Street performers. The Rocky Neck artists area is a must see and the launch takes you there as well.

Excellent mooring field - great launch service but moorings are extremely difficult to identify. The numbers are etched on top of the mooring that you cannot read until you are practically on top of it. They now have small flags with mooring number that helps a little but still very difficult.

Had a geeat 4th and extended weekend it was great weather and great views. Thank you.

Launch staff was fantastic. Moorings near Ten Pound Island were a bit bumpy.

Excellent. Exactly what we asked for. So convenient.

Well-maintained mooring, professional & courteous staff. What more could you ask for?

Great stay, Gloucester harbormaster was amazing. Very responsive and went out of way to be helpful.. great pump out and they took trash as well.. all nice guys

Busy weekend on the harbor - our late Rez put us in the outer harbor, off Niles Beach.* Moorings are well maintained, tho numbers not well marked. Launch service provided - it is awesome - *outer harbor leaves you unprotected to Southwest winds. All in all a great stay 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Dave, the harbormaster is one of the best in the business.....

Smooth reservations and good communication with Harbormaster. Great water taxi service that provides access to Rocky Neck and downtown Gloucester.

Great communication, easy access and a free launch service to town by a very friendly and competent launch captain.

First, Gloucester is wonderful harbor and is very well protected. Before the trip I called the Harbormaster and confirmed the launch service was running on Columbus Day and that moorings would be available. He was very informative especially since it was our first time sailing into Gloucester. When we arrived, we had an Inner Harbor mooring as requested and by radio he directed us right to #8. Perfect. Only wish we had an extra day up there. Definitely will be a repeat visit. Thanks!

Great place. Good launch service.

The Gloucester Harbormaster was very accommodating. We made our reservation late and wanted a specific mooring. Very friendly and helpful.

Very difficult to reach harbormaster by radio and/or phone. Two attempts to extend our reservation via the Dockwa edit function (as instructed by the harbormaster) were never received and we were forced to leave our mooring. Thankfully the wind has turned otherwise this would not only have been very inconvenient but downright unpleasant.

Nice Mooring at Niles Beach

Very good. Harbormaster staff was excellent

Good mooring in inner harbor. Excellent service.

Gloucester is always a great town to visit. Having launch service is a great addition and has us visiting more often that in the past years. This year they have added pick up buoys on the mooring pennants making the process much easier. Gloucester just keeps getting better.

Third time morning in Gloucester. Better every year. Moorings well marked with pickup masts, launch service included and prompt and will take you anywhere in the harbor Restaurants and services short walk from landing.

Nice mooring, the harbor master answered right away and directed us to the mooring. The launch service was excellent. Good restraunts.

Very friendly and helpful staff. Dinner at Gloucester House was excellent. Do sit inside.

WOW what a place . Harbormaster and Deputy Harbormaster are amazing . This is a Must Stop if you are transiting the East Coast . Whoever Gave a one star review is a moron

Great Harbor the Harbormasters office is very helpful and the launch is a great service that is included with your stay the drivers are very helpful with area knowledge. I will be back

We spent the first afternoon and night on mooring #1 in the Ten Pound Island group. The wash from the traffic was terrible. My camera rolled off a setee. My wife was seasick. We went to shore for a while. The wash didn't settle down until late. We arranged with the harbor master to move to the inner harbor for our second night, mooring #4. It was much better. The harbor launch was OK but busy. Be sure to tell the operator which group of moorings you are in. There is more than one #1, etc.

We were real happy with the professionalism and treatment received by the Harbormaster and launch drivers. While there we were able to extend our stay by 2 days. There’s lots to see and do in Gloucester/Cape Ann, and we plan on returning, hopefully with another couple of boats to accompany us.

Tom the harbor master and team are always terrific. On a packed holiday weekend with high winds we were accomodated. We pass this way many times a season from Cape Cod to Maine and the team is always great. Al Santoro

Cape Ann Marina was great. We got lucky and they were able to accommodate us at the last minute for the weekend. We had Patton assist us with our slip, two weekends in a row and he was very professional and great to work with. Thank you..

Always a great location to stay at.

We stayed in Smith Cove on a very secure mooring. The Harbormaster and staff we very friendly, gave us a welcome package and answered any question we had. They even offer boatside pumpout service. Downtown was very nice to stroll through and the harbor is beautiful! We can’t wait to come back!

Nice mooring. Good launch service. N wakes on the inner harbor.

The harbormaster put the SC2 mooring in the path of the local fisherman as they came within 2 to 3 feet of our boat on a consistent basis to make it uncomfortable 24x7. The Harbormaster needs to either move the mooring or get the locals to stop buzzing the SC2 mooring.

Gloucester is a great, friendly place to stay. Good access to wonderful restraints,museums and shopping within walking distance. Excellent launch device and hours at a reasonable price

We stayed on a mooring. It was very pleasnt. Thank You!

Stayed in inter harbor. Traffic was not bad. Launch service was great. Morrings are solid and well serviced. Very nice place will stop again.

We really had a good time. The harbormaster and crew were helpful and the town is awesome. Had the best dinner at the Seaport Grill and enjoyed walking the town.

Harbormaster was wonderful, very helpful. It was choppy due to weather, we were in puter harbor and did fine.

nice but lot of boat traffic rock rock rock

The Gloucester crew are super nice guys - there to help in any way. Great tender service too!

Gloucester Harbor was great with good amenities and fun waterfront restaurants. The harbormaster upgrades our mooring due to a cancellation which was awesome and appreciated!

No Showers but free launch

We would have given it a five but we got stuck Saturday night at 9:30 pm and could not get back to our boat as the launch driver took off early. This was a huge problem - otherwise the service was very good and the moorings were very well maintained. Getting stuck though at 9:30 pm without a way to get back to your boat is a HUGE PROBLEM!

Super launch service. Cute town and good restaurants. We will be back.

The shuttle service was quick and reliable the shuttle captains could not be any more pleasant and helpful. Looking forward to a return visit.

We rented a mooring two nights so far this season on our trip to Maine using Dockwa. I like how the reservation confirmation includes providing a mooring number. It would be a little better if there was a better way of showing where the moorings are located and how to identify them. On our second visit (July 22), I figured mooring TP-3 was located in the Ten Pound mooring area. When arriving in the area, I had to ask another boater which moorings belonged to the city. It turned out that they were orange and all were taken. I called the Harbormaster and received a prompt response. The person on duty was very helpful and courteous. Unfortunately, he had to move another boater who was confused on where his mooring was located. The other boat moved to another mooring field and we were all set, until the next morning. There was a lobster pot located near our assigned mooring. The next morning, with the change in tide, current and wind, our boat drifted over the pot and I could not see it. We caught the line to the pot’s float on our rudder and ended up having to cut the line. The boat was freed but I did not see the float until later. When operating my boat, I take particular care in avoiding lobster pots. They are someone’s livelihood and I respect that. Unfortunately, in this case, the person who place the pot in the middle of a mooring field, did not appear very concerned about respecting other boats. It took some doing to totally free the line from my rudder and I ended up having to dive on my boat. Perhaps it is within the Harbormaster’s authority to ensure that lobster pots are not placed within a mooring field. It is difficult for a boat to avoid them in this situation.

It was very nice staying in the inner harbor in Gloucester. It is well protected from the weather and now that they have a launch to get back and forth from the dock, a dingy is not required. It would be ideal if they had shower facilities.

Stayed on mooring SC 2 for two nights. Very helpful and friendly harbor master and launch boat captain. Will go back again.

Excellent.

The harbor masters are so friendly and the launch is a great addition. People are always being treated first class

First rate moorings & terrific launch service to multiple points in Town. The launch operators are true professionals - courteous, friendly, knowledgable and true advocates of Gloucester. We are too. Great harbor, wonderful vessel watching, variety of restaurants & shops. Gloucester and Harbormaster are 1st rate. "Way To Go" will be back!

Great mooring in the inner harbor. Very industrial though and a little noisy. Would go back.

We have been here before. Now launch service is included. That makes it easy to get ashore with laundry. Laundromat is not far from launch landing. The weather on this stay was the best ever. We must return and explore the wonders of Gloucester.

Very basic amenities but easy ocean access and inner harbor mooring allow quick downtown access also. Launch service is included however they service the entire harbor which is large so plan ahead.

It was a very quiet stay.Not much going on after the fireworks.I guess I was expecting more festivities for July 4th week.

A wonderful visit in a beautiful city. Unfortunately, we were there at a very busy time so our mooring was pretty far out in the Southeast Harbor. Great mooring and wonderful launch service! We will be back soon.

Very informative launch captains. Prompt service. Enjoyed the town of Gloucester very much. Found the people to be very receptive. The mooring was in great shape and it was comfortable in the harbor. Definitely, you will see us again. Thanks

Great place to stay and the harbormaster is so nice