The 49-year-old Maine native said
Tuesday he's been paddling the waters of metro Boston since October with all
his possessions aboard a 14-foot, 40-year-old aluminum canoe he patches with
duct tape when necessary. He said he
feels most secure when he sleeps out in the harbor, and lists his biggest
worries as the wakes of fast ferries and drunken boaters.
"It's about as safe as I
could be," said Smith, who's also camped on at least one inner harbor
island. "Anybody who would want to hurt me or take my things, they have to
have a boat. And boat people stick together."
On Monday night, Smith tied up
and slept on a floating dock about 100 yards offshore from the New England
Aquarium.
Boston Police Department's Harbor
Unit has offered him city services, but he declined, police spokeswoman Cheryl
Fiandaca said Tuesday. She said Smith did accept a new life vest with
reflectors and a whistle from police.
Smith is a wiry, mustachioed man
with long brown hair who tucks a silk pink rose into the brim of his explorer
hat. He dresses in layers to stay warm, but also doesn't seem to mind that
colder weather will be coming as winter arrives.
Smith plans to sleep out in
Boston Harbor all winter and prefers to concentrate on the beauty of his
surroundings rather than the bareness of his accommodations.
Before sunup Tuesday, Smith saw a
shooting star skitter across the New England sky and said later he made a wish
meant for all people, no matter where they bunk at night.
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