Hull Gut is a gut (a narrow, naturally dredged deep-water channel) about half a mile wide and thirty-five feet deep, in

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History Since ...

running between

Pemberton Point Pemberton Point (formerly known as Windmill Point) is a peninsula in Hull, Massachusetts. It is located at the tip of the Nantasket Peninsula, in Boston Harbor. History Historic manuscripts have called the location "Windmill Point" since the 182 ...

in Hull and the East Head of

Peddocks Island Peddocks Island is one of the largest islands in Boston Harbor. Since 1996 it has formed part of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, the island is home to the now-defunct Fo ...

. Along with its sister channel, West Gut, which runs between the West Head of Peddocks Island and

Hough's Neck Houghs Neck is a one-square-mile (2.6 km2) peninsula in Quincy, Massachusetts. It is surrounded by Quincy Bay, Hingham Bay and Rock Island Cove. It is lined by Perry Beach, which runs along Manet Avenue; Nut Island, which is just beyond Gre ...

in Quincy, Hull Gut forms the southern entrance to the Inner Harbor connecting it to

Hingham Bay Hingham Bay is the easternmost of the three small bays of outer Boston Harbor, part of Massachusetts Bay and forming the western shoreline of the town of Hull and the northern shoreline of Hingham in the United States state of Massachusetts. It ...

. To the north the gut intersects with the deep-water shipping lane Nantasket Roads. Strong cross-currents and often heavy traffic make the gut a dangerous waterway. The channel is used by oil tankers and other freighters bound for industries around the

Weymouth Fore River Weymouth Fore River is a small bay or estuary in eastern Massachusetts and is part of the Massachusetts Bay watershed. The headwater of Weymouth Fore River is formed by the confluence of the Monatiquot River and Smelt Brook in the Weymouth Land ...

in Braintree, Weymouth, and Quincy and, historically, was used by the

shipbuilding industry Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

In 1909 Rosie Pitenhof, a fourteen-year-old girl from Dorchester, was the first known person to successfully swim across the gut, from Peddocks Island to the shore at Pemberton in Hull, and back again at flood tide. Miss Pitenhof was in the water twenty-two minutes; nine minutes crossing and thirteen minutes returning.

References

Bodies of water of Plymouth County, Massachusetts Watersheds of Boston Harbor {{Boston-geo-stub