138 Portland St. Boston; (617) 523-8383
If you’ve ever wondered how beer is made, you can see for yourself in the basement vats of the Commonwealth Brewing Company. Free tours are given daily at noon and 4 P.M. Of course, this is a restaurant, so it’s not entirely free; how can you pass up trying this fine home brew, once you’ve learned so much about it?
Commonwealth Brewery Tours US Map & Phone & Address Photo Gallery
The tidal streams running through the Sound are very severe, on both ebb and flood, at around 4 knots. It makes a good drift dive on the ebb tide, although there is not much to see other than kelp. At low tide and around 50 metres out from the end of Knoxes Reef, on the north side, is a four metre-deep channel, about 10 metres wide, which breaks the continuity of Knoxes. The channel runs north-south for around 150 metres and attracts a lot of rock-clinging life like soft corals, and there are a number of large boulders in the channel which sometimes harbour the occasional crustacean. Currents are very strong, and with so much kelp near to the surface on the flood, getting picked up by the boat can be quite a problem at low water. This is really a slack water dive. Close to the eastern end of Knoxes Reef, which is actually called Knocklin Ends, on the north side, is shallow water, with the flat rock seabed covered in thick kelp gradually sloping down to 7 metres, some way from the reef. There is not much tide to worry about on the ebb, but the flood runs fairly hard, especially near to the surface. The only marine life to be found consists of a few urchins and little weed-covered spider-crabs amongst the scattering of small rocks. Mid-way along Knoxes, off the north side, are a number ofrock ledges and large boulder reefs which always have an interesting array of life on them, but the surrounding area is flat and you can waste a lot of time swimming about until you chance upon a reef.
