Swampscott bests Marblehead in pump-off

SWAMPSCOTT-In their first meeting in at least 13 years, Swampscott’s Atlantic 1 handtub beat its chief local competitor, the Gerry 5 of Marblehead.When the spray had blown off in the 30-mile-an-hour winds behind Swampscott High Sunday morning, Atlantic 1 officers once again posed with the coveted Ephraim Taylor Trophy. The trophy has traded hands between the two towns over the years, but this year it’s headed safely back to Swampscott Town Hall.Click here to see a photo gallery from this weekend’s Atlantic-Gerry muster..The muster attracted a crowd of about 150.The Atlantic and Gerry are two hand-pumped fire engines dating to 1845. The winner of a pump-off is the club that pumps the longer stream in three tries. The Atlantic stream was 167 feet, 7 inches. The longest the Gerry could do was 151 feet, 4 inches.Atlantic 1 foreman Mike Butler noted that there were 30 locals working to operate the Atlantic 1, but the Gerry brought even more pumpers from Marblehead. The Atlantic hasn’t been out this season and the Gerry 5 competes regularly.The Gerry challenged the Atlantic to a pump-off after a successful season in which the Gerry won a fireman’s muster in Newbury.Butler said the Atlantic 1’s only maintenance issues were “cosmetic,” but the paint on the apparatus dates back to 1853 and he’s reluctant to update it. “I work with vintage cars,” he said, “and something’s only original once.”Gerry spokesman Bill Moynihan noted there is a kinship between all handtub organizations today – Butler is also vice president of Marblehead’s Okommakamesit (OKOS) handtub association and he is membership chair at the Gerry 5.That said, he felt Sunday’s northeast winds did not help his handtub’s efforts. “The wind died down when they (the Atlantic) pumped their stream,” he said. “If we had waited?”