Sean Horgan: FishOn: Gloucester-centric movies making festival rounds

May 17—We here at FishOn love the movies, especially those films shot at locations with which we're familiar, lived near or have visited. We are nothing if not provincial. And proud of it.

Our favorite Boston movie of all time is "The Friends of Eddie Coyle" and our favorite scenes in that movie were filmed live at the old Boston Garden during a 1972 Bruins-Blackhawks game. There's plenty of game action, including great shots of one Robert Gordon Orr. And Robert Mitchum and Peter Boyle look exactly like every guy we've ever sat next to at a B's game.

There is a scene after the game where Eddie Coyle (Mitchum) and Dillon (Boyle) are walking down the ramps from the Garden toward the North Station platforms. As they come around a corner, there is a large poster on the wall promoting the Celtics' next home game — a Friday night, Nov. 3 tilt against the Baltimore Bullets.

Using that date, we worked backwards — this is what we do — to figure out that the Bruins-Blackhawks game in the film was played on Thursday, Oct. 26, 1972. The Blackhawks handed it to the Bruins that night, 6-3. But there was a great fight between Bruins winger Garnet "Ace" Bailey — who died tragically aboard United Airlines flight 175 in 2001 when the 9/11 hijackers flew it into the south tower of the World Trade Center — and Blackhawks goalie Gary Smith.

Ah, but we digress.

This could be a big summer for two fishing-centric films that used Gloucester and other Cape Ann locations in their shoots. Both "CODA," in which Gloucester Harbormaster T.J. Ciarametaro plays a Coast Guard boarding officer, and "The Catch," which includes Rockport lobsterman Bob Morris, are among the selections in the Provincetown Film Festival that is set to run June 16 to 25.

"CODA" also will be screened as part of the Nantucket Film Festival that is set to run June 23 to 28.

We caught up with Morris last week while he was out on his boat Spirit, enjoying a beautiful late-spring day on the water. The only way it could have been better was if the lobstering powers-that-be had actually allowed him to set and haul his traps. (P.S. In case you missed it, the state lifted the trap fishing ban on Friday.)

Sadly (for us anyway), he reported that much of his work in "The Catch" ended up on the cutting-room floor, including a marvelous scene where he plays the guitar and sings.

"I'm still in it," Morris said from Spirit. "But in a reduced role. That's OK. I'm out here today, where I'm a star."

For more information on the festivals, check out their respective webpages — provincetownfilm.org and nantucketfilmfestival.org.

The big footprint of recreational boating

You may have read a story we penned last week in the pages of the Gloucester Daily Times and online at gloucestertimes.com about recommended safe boating practices for recreational boaters. As part of reporting the story, we were invited aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Key Largo, which ties up at the Everett R. Jodrey State Fish Pier.

Key Largo commanding officer Lt. Tara Pray and her crew were kind enough to give us a tour of the cutter — most impressive — and speak to us about recreational boating safety in advance of National Safe Boating Week (May 22-28).

We also received an email last week from the New England Trades Association alerting us to the creation of their new website — www.NEboating.com — and being the curious sorts (literally and figuratively), we checked it out and found some really interesting data on the economic impact of recreational boating in Massachusetts and across New England.

Consider: The rec boating industry has an annual economic impact in New England of $15.8 billion, accounting for 78,490 jobs and supporting 3,102 businesses. In Massachusetts, the economic impact is $4.4 billion, supporting 20,362 jobs at 1,055 businesses.

And here are some fun facts to trot out at your next backyard barbecue — we can have those again, right? — to astound and impress your neighbors who think they're so much better than you. Come on, who's better than you?

We learned that 95% of recreational boats sold in the U.S. are made in the U.S. and that 95% of recreational boats are towable boats smaller than 26 feet. And speaking to the populist nature of recreational boating, 61% of U.S. recreational boat owners have an annual household income of $75,000 or less and that 93% of U.S. recreational boat manufacturers are small businesses.

Pretty good stuff. Pass it along.

FishOn baseball quiz question

Last week, Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera became the all-time hits leader among major league players from Venezuela when his 2,878th hit vaulted him past Omar Vizquel and landed him at No. 43 on the all-time list. Who are the all-time major league hits leaders from the following countries and commonwealths: The United States, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico? The answer is on a world tour down below.

Our favorite sandwich: Hampton over Rye

In last week's FishOn, we wrote about a Hawaii fisherman by the name of Kenton Geer who had been rescued by the Coast Guard after getting his wrist impaled with a longline hook on the deck of his boat, Vicious Cycle. We wrote that Geer originally is from New Hampshire, which is true. But we also wrote, based on information received, that he hailed from Rye, New Hampshire. And that was not true. How do we know? Because his mom Rosie Geer told us, that's how.

"Hi! My favorite and only son is from Hampton NH, Winnacunnet HS class of 2000," Mama Geer wrote in an email. "He developed his passion for ocean fishing by working on the party boats out of Hampton Harbor. He was just a kid. He would scrub those boats and work his tail off in exchange for a fishing trip. Can you maybe edit out the Rye? Best regards, Rosie Geer."

Well, sure, we can do that. We corrected the story online and now are doing so in print. And we regret the error. Not that it was Buckneresque, but an error is an error. And, as always, honesty was the best policy. In a followup email, Ms. Geer thanked us and said she may even join the rank of FishOn readers — and all the way from New Ulm, Minnesota, where she now lives.

"I like what you write!" she wrote. "I'll check in and read your column from time to time."

All are welcome. The FishOn community is an inclusive one. Except for, well, you know who you are. No reason to reopen those wounds.

FishOn baseball quiz answer

They are, in order, No. 1, Pete Rose (U.S., 4,256 hits); No. 14, Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic, 3,253 hits); No. 24, Ichiro Suzuki (Japan, 3,089 hits); No. 29, Rafael Palmeiro (Cuba, 3,020 hits); No. 32 Roberto Clemente (Puerto Rico, 3,000 hits); No. 200, Larry Walker (Canada, 2,160 hits); and No. 350, Vinny Castilla (Mexico, 1,884 hits).

As always, no fish were harmed in the making of this column.

Contact Sean Horgan at 978-675-2714, or shorgan@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SeanGDT