Dorchester Bay

Wicked bad traffic into Boston, wicked high tide at Neponset River Bridge. Photo by Boston Harbor Beacon.

State Police, of course, closed Morrissey Boulevard early this morning, which is what you can expect from a road built roughly two inches above sea level next to a bay. And that, naturally, meant shutting the exit to Morrissey off I-93 northbound.

At 7:59 a.m., Steve Bickerton tweeted:

Neponset Circle backed up Gallivan Blvd. to Eire Pub.

Michelle added:

Neponset Ave is a parking lot. 15 mins from Coffey Street to Lil Peach.

Meanwhile, upbay at Castle Island, Steve Brady reported:

The ocean is slowly devouring the Sugar Bowl, and the water is up to the sidewalk at parts of the causeway. Couldn't even see a hint of the harbor islands from the Sugar Bowl, either. Just the swollen ocean. Very eerie.

Brian D'Amico and AlertNewEngland report a man went over the seawall at the Castle island Sugar Bowl to try to rescue his dog, then couldn't get back up over the seawall. The firefighters of Ladder 19 pulled him back over - along with the dog.

A visit this morning confirmed that the weekend blizzard did little to dislodge the sailboat blown onto Carson Beach during Hurricane Sandy.

Scott Eisen watched the L Street Brownies' traditional New Year's run into the bay this morning. Some people got in and out as fast as possible, but this guy showed the whippersnappers how it's done.

The Dorchester Reporter has the cold hard facts on a charity plunge into the bay at Tenean Beach.

Photo copyright Scott Eisen.

Dev traveled along the water in Dorchester this afternoon, making stops at the Harborwalk by the JFK library (above), Malibu Beach and Morrissey Boulevard (below), which seemed unusually flooded even for its normally flood-prone self:

Heidi watched the sun come up over Dorchester Bay this morning.

Posted under this Creative Commons license and in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

The Neponset River Watershed Association tweets that smelt were spotted yesterday in Quincy's Gulliver Creek, heading up the Neponset on their annual spawning run. Like the alewife, the smelt are anadromous, which means they live in the ocean but return to fresh water to spawn.

Boston and State Police swarmed the South Boston beaches this afternoon - both on shore and in the water - looking for a man reported to be possibly struggling as he swam about 400 yards offshore.

The search was called off when nobody was found. Even in February, members of the L Street Bathhouse (you know, the people who run into the bay every New Year's Day) will don wet suits and go for swims. It is not known, however, if the spotted man was from L Street.

Mystery Pill took in today's annual Dorchester Bay dip by the L Street Brownies - just like Leslie Jones did in 1930:

Top photo copyright Mystery Pill and posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr. Bottom photo from the Boston Public Library's Leslie Jones collection and posted under this Creative Commons license.

Boat fire off Savin Hill. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports a man, 58, and his son were working on their sailboat's motor in Dorchester Bay when it exploded around 5:10 p.m. Saturday.

The man suffered burns; boaters from the Savin Hill Yacht Club rushed out to the boat, moored about 200 yards off shore, to rescue the two.

The plume of black smoke was visible from the Fenway.

The Dorchester Reporter talks to eyewitnesses and posts a photo of a fireboat at the scene. Another view of the fire, by gdoerre1.

Elizabeth photographs him on a trip to Victory Road Park in Dorchester Bay.

Of course.

Whalehead King delivers the baaad news; it finally came ashore at Savin Hill.

Scuttling crab in Dorchester Bay, right off UMass-Boston: