The Merrimack River
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| Dividing Newburyport from Salisbury, and acting as a reference for the eastern portion of the Massachussetts-New Hampshire border, the Merrimack is home to a variety of pleasure craft, whale watching and fishing vessels. |
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Seabrook Harbor
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| Refered to on most maps as just Hampton Harbor, Seabrook Harbor is the southern Seabrook side of Hampton Harbor. Home to a variety of fishing vessels, and some pleasure craft. Two beaches, divided by the Seabrook Fisherman's Co-Op are present, but parking is very limited. |
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Hampton Harbor
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| Just behind Hampton Beach, Hampton Harbor led the founders of the town and neighboring towns up the Hampton River to their first settlement in 1638. The harbor has seen a variety of uses, as a salt works, a small port, and eventually the home to a variety of fishermen. Whale watches, fishing boats, and pleasure craft can be viewed and taken from the Hampton side of the harbor. |
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Rye Harbor
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| Rye Harbor as you see it today only became a reality in the early 20th century as the Army Corps of Engineers blasted away a rock ledge at the mouth of the harbor and dredged it out, allowing larger vessels to use it. Whale watches, fishing trips, pleasure boats and the Seacoast's only Lobster Boat tour depart from here during the summer. |
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Little Harbor
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| Nestled between Rye and Newcastle, Little Harbor was the home port of the first settlers of New Hampshire in 1623. The site was abandoned for a better anchorage along the shores of the Piscataqua River, but Little Harbor has been used as a back channel for centuries by fishermen and smugglers alike. Today it is home to a large number of impressive pleasure craft. |
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Portsmouth Harbor and the Piscataqua River
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| Portsmouth Harbor has been an anchorage since Colonial Days, and is the northernmost harbor on the East Coast that is kept ice free in the winter thanks to the force of the Piscataqua River, the first, second or third fastest river in North America depending on which guide you read. The ice-free conditions led to the construction of a Naval Shipyard that still services submarines, and the Piscataqua is a port of call for many cargo ships bringing salt, oil, gas, gypsum, and departing with goods such as undersea communication cables, timber, scrap, and other commodities. A large number of fishing vessels, tugboats and pleasure craft can be seen plying its waters. |
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Little and Great Bays
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| Larger than all the other harbors on the Seacoast combined, Great Bay is the second largest estuary on the East Coast, and the reason behind the powerful flow of the Piscataqua River. The towns of Dover, Durham and Exeter, which edge the shore were once considered ports of call for sailing vessels. Today lobstermen and pleasure boats ply these tidal waterways which are reserved for conservation purposes. |
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