Charting the Past

People are familiar with the long, sleek lines of the whaling dories of old, and the wide-bodied, single-sailed catboats that were designed for commercial fishing before they became a sailor’s favorite.

Paul Gasek has a Novi skiff at Sesuit Harbor in Dennis and heads out to fish among the bigger, yacht-like boats that boast an accoutrement of fish-finding electronics.

Once upon a time there was a man named Henry Stellwagen.

Earning your living from the sea is an enduring Cape Cod tradition, and the Orleans Historical Society recently opened a special exhibition to celebrate that legacy:

*One inshore fishing ground produces approximately 300 pounds per acre per year of bay scallops alone, twice as much as the 150 pounds per acre per year estimated for beef cattle on a ranch.

“Mackerel rejoice. Sardines fling their shining scales in the air. There is joy in the pools where minnows swim. Fish-net, their oldest and deadliest enemy, has become a fashion. Women – to the astonishment of the fish – are actually wrapping themselves up in the stuff. Deliberately.”

The floating lighthouses that once occupied the channels around Cape Cod are long gone, lost to storms, failed moorings, collisions, disrepair and the inevitable forward march of technology.

Wharves are all about one thing: Access.

As of December, Coast Guard Station Chatham has become a “heavy weather station” instead of the “surf station” it has been since inauguration in 1872.