Six-year-old Henry Faulkner clung gingerly to a metal railing at the BCYF Mirabella Pool in the North End, his blond hair improbably dry despite his older sister sporadically splashing water nearby to demonstrate the backstroke.
“Freezing cold,” the boy yelped.
Minutes later, he’d retreated from the pool, curling up in the refuge of a blue lawn chair while soaking in the mild sunshine late Saturday morning. Dozens of sunbathers, leisurely reading hardcover books or scrolling briskly through smartphones, did the same as they welcomed the first full day of summer after Friday morning’s summer solstice.
Saturday marked the opening of the city’s two outdoor pools, the Mirabella and the BCYF Clougherty Pool in Charlestown, run by the Boston Centers for Youth and Families. The “Family Friendly Beach” at the BCYF Curley Community Center in South Boston opened for the season, as well.
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At Mirabella, a gentle wind blew in from Boston Harbor, lightly rippling the pool’s water as children climbed in with inflatable inner tubes and swimming noodles.
Unlike his son, Greg Faulkner had warmed up enough to enjoy slipping into the chilly pool, though he didn’t last long before grabbing a towel to dry off. Faulkner said he was excited that the pool, where his family goes at least once or twice a week, is finally open.
“It’s a great community pool,” he said. “It’s a great spot where you can see the ocean and boats.”
Terry Esposito described Mirabella as an escape from city life – an “oasis” just slightly intruded upon by the whirring of nearby highway traffic and planes flying overheard from Logan International Airport. Monitoring her children and extended family from the pool’s edge, Esposito jokingly shuddered at the thought of getting wet.
“Usually, I’m a trouper,” she said, gesturing to her son immersed in play.
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“I’ll let him hang with the kids until I absolutely have to go in.”
Stationed at Mirabella Pool’s shaded pavilion, lifeguard Carly Heffernan, 19, diligently watched youngsters splash one another — and their parents — with abandon. Reflecting on the dismally cold and rainy spring, Heffernan said she hoped Saturday’s good weather would continue throughout the summer.
“It’s beautiful — a nice breeze, not too hot, not too cold,” Heffernan, one of 13 lifeguards working at the pool, said.
“I used to come here as a kid. It just reminds me of when I was younger.”
A cluster of adults discreetly avoided the main rectangular pool full of children where shrieks of delight regularly echoed. Instead, they spread their beach towels around a smaller pool toward the back of the area.
Kim Silva sat in a folding chair inches from the pool’s fence.
“Where else in the city is there a place to lay out on a pool by the water?” Silva said, a Kindle by her side.
“It definitely feels like the start of summer.”
Alison Kuznitz can be reached at alison.kuznitz@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter at @AlisonKuznitz.