2013 - July 4th Activities - Lots to Do!

Whoever thought holding the 4th of July on a Thursday was a good idea? This coming week, with July 4th as a base, is a big week on the Outer Cape. Check out these activities...

Orleans -

• Monday - July 1st - Fireworks at Rock Harbor (rain date July 2th). These fireworks will be easily viewable from Skaket Beach (Orleans) and First Encounter Beach (Eastham)
• Thursday - July 4th - Parade - 10 AM - from Eldredge Parkway to Main Street

Wellfleet -

•  Thursday - July 4th - Parade at 10 AM (Come early for a Classic Car Parade at 9:30)

Chatham -

• Thursday - July 4th - Parade at 9:30 AM - Main St

Eastham -

• "Old Fashioned Fourth of July Party" - 1-4 PM - Schoolhouse Museum

Provincetown -

• Thursday - July 4th - Parade at 11 AM on Commercial St
• Thursday - Fireworks at dusk (9 PM-ish)

Enjoy!

Great White Sharks Returning to Cape Cod

WCVB TV (Channel 5) showed a great video report on the prospect of larger numbers of sharks this summer, based on the fact that there seems to be a larger number of Grey seals on the Chatham beaches. Additionally, the video discusses the increased shark awareness at the Atlantic facing beaches to keep swimmers safe.

Check out the video on great white sharks returning to Cape Cod in larger numbers - WCVB 

Photo of the Day - Seals on Chatham's Lighthouse Beach

Yesterday I went to lunch at the Squire Restaurant in Chatham village [be sure to order the lobster bisque!]. Afterwords we went to Lighthouse Beach to check out the beach and to see if we could spot any seals. We saw quite a few on a small sand bar just a few hundred yards off the beach. Later this summer the numbers should be much larger.  Hmmm.  (Note - click on photo to enlarge)

Tracking Sharks - Online!

Over the last several years we've learned that the sharks that entertain us in the summer spend their winters off the Florida coast. We've also seen that they are being tagged with GPS transponders so they can be tracked. Well, now we can follow along via the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker, where you can observe the navigational pattern of sharks that have been tagged with this satellite tracking technology. If you go to this link from your smartphone, you can install a 'web-app' that'll allow you to track the sharks from anywhere.
OCEARCH facilitates unprecedented research by supporting leading researchers and institutions seeking to attain important data on the biology and health of sharks, in conjunction with basic research on shark life history and migration.

These last few weeks I've been watching a 3500 pound shark, named Mary Lee, that was originally caught and tagged last September off Chatham. This shark subsequently traveled to Jacksonville, Florida, then north to Nantucket, and now on her way to Bermuda.

The New Chatham Break - Video

This past week's storms have done significant damage to the protective sandbars leading to Monomoy Island. Here is a video, courtesy of the Cape Cod Times, showing the new break through the sandbar south of Chatham.

There is a slideshow of the new break also - click here...

Cape Cod Shark Hunters

With sharks being seen along the Outer Cape's shores, in Chatham, Orleans, and Eastham, there is a team of researchers that has been very busy. They are the Cape Cod Shark Hunters. The Shark Hunters have been spotting sharks from the air, trailing them in the water, and tagging them with tracking devices.

The Shark Hunters have a website, at www.CapeCodSharkHunters.com, where they have recent photos, a few videos, and info on the team and their techniques. Check it out!

Two Frenchmen Row to France from Chatham

Two Frenchmen, Bruno Froideval and Mathieu Bonnier, started their cross Atlantic rowing adventure a few days ago, on June 20th. They intend to individually row their respective rowboats from Chatham to Saint Jacques, France. The journey is to take an estimated 70-75 days and capitalize on the prevailing currents for much of the effort, but they will do a lot of 'actual' rowing. There rowboats are not your open 3 seaters that we grew up with - they are a technical marvels that, when fully outfitted, can weight upwards of 800 pounds. Check out the following websites for more information:

• The Cape Cod Chronicle article announcing their departure.
• Bruno Froideval's website 
• A satellite view of the progress of his voyage (really cool!)
• Mathieu Bonnier's website

Lastly, check out this video from the Cape Cod Chronicle which shows the rowboats and their departure.

Marconi Station - Titanic Plus 100 Years

This April 15th marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage. Although 1,500 passengers and crew were lost in the sinking, another 700+ were saved due to the messages sent through the Marconi Station, in Wellfleet, to the RMS Carpathia. The Carpathia happened to be enroute to Europe from New York and about 60 miles south of the Titanic at the time that ship collided with an iceberg.

To commemorate the event the Chatham Marconi Maritime Museum and the National Seashore have a week's worth of activities for all to enjoy and learn. Download an information sheet and a schedule of events ... Here.

Chatham North Beach Cottages - A Last Look

The end is very near for a series of cottages that sit on a very narrow piece of beach off Chatham, known as North Beach. The National Seashore has finally won (?) the right to dismantle these cottages, in the name of public safety. It is inevitable that these cottages would succumb to the ravages of the sea. The only question is 'how many years, or weeks, before the killer storm hits the coast?'. The legal battles have been going on for several years. The video, below, from the Cape Cod Times, provides a brief last-look at the beach and the cottages. Interestingly, the cottage's best friends may be piping plovers, which may prevent the demolition until later this summer.

Chatham 300 - A Year-Long Celebration

The Town of Chatham will be celebrating its 300th anniversary of incorporation this year, pretty much all year, with a massive schedule of events. There will be parades, theator, a bike ride (the "Tour de Chatham"), lectures, dances, etc, oh my! The 'discovery' of Chatham dates back to 1606 when Samuel de Champlain entered Stage Harbor to repair a rudder. The rest 'is history'.

Check out the event schedule on their website's event page. Also, watch the video, below. It's wonderfully produced and a great ad for Chatham.

Photo of the Day - Chatham Fish Pier

As part of our deep commitment to show Flat Stanley the highlights of the Outer Cape, a few days ago we took him to the Chatham Fish Pier, in Chatham. It was a beautiful day and Stanley got to see several fishing boats. Nice!

Photo of the Day - Chatham Harbor

I was in Chatham today with clients, showing them a few waterfront homes. For lunch we stopped at the Chatham Fishing Pier and had lobster rolls. A fabulous day! I took this photo of a few fishing boats, resting in the harbor.

I found the following photo of the Eastham Coast Guard Station online. The photographer, Jaime Martorano, caught the Station at sunset. Spectacular! Take a look...Here.

Sharks - Chatham Beaches Closed Indefinately

Chatham beaches are closed indefinitely after numerous shark sightings this past week. Sharks were sighted just a short distance from swimmers. Lately, harbor seals have congregated on several of Chatham's sand bars - and these seals are the preferred snack food for the sharks. Officials can't say when this popular five-mile stretch of beach will reopen.  Check out this great video from the Weather Channel.

Great Chatham Slideshow

What initially caught my eye was the aerial photo of Monomoy Island, that long spit of land south of Chatham, now entirely in the National Seashore. But the rest of the photos of Chatham are very dramatic and well worth a look-see as we move into summer. Check out Chris Seufert's photos on Flickr.com.

(Note: photo to the right is mine)

Chatham's 2009 Sharks Are Snowbirds

Remember last summer's shark scare? Several great whites were hovering off Chatham's beaches, probably in response to the increasing numbers of Grey seals. Part of last summer's drama were the shark hunters who successfully tagged five of the sharks with electronic monitors, so they could track where the sharks went when the waters got chilly, and the seals went elsewhere.

We now know the answer for two of the sharks. They went south, over 1000 miles, to Florida. Watch the video and read the story on Boston.com.

An Author Visits Chatham

A Cape Cod author, Christopher Setterlund, continues his series of articles that he calls "In My Footsteps" with a visit to Chatham. Christopher visits a number of Chatham's tourist attractions including the Chatham Lighthouse, Stage Harbor, and Morris Island. He also discusses the importance of the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge. Oh yes - he went to the village also.

Check out the article on the In My Footsteps blog.

An Eastham Love Story

How about a big-screen comedy/love story, set in 1912, in Eastham? A new motion picture (a talkie!), starring Blythe Danner and Richard Dreyfuss, is called The Lightkeepers and is a story about a pair of lightkeepers (Nauset Light?) who have sworn off women but find themselves attracted to a pair of vacationers who rent a cottage near the lighthouse. The writeup sounds cute. Much of the filming was done in Chatham. The film opens on March 19th and is rated PG.

Go to the movie's website ... http://www.thelightkeepersmovie.com/ for a video trailer and all the standard stuff (poster, photos, etc).

But the Nauset Lighthouse is red and white. That wasn't always the case. It received the red stripe in the 1940s. The current structure was moved from Chatham to Eastham in 1923. So, in 1912 the single lighthouse that stood on the bluff overlooking Nauset Light Beach would have been one of the wooden 3 Sisters that sit about a quarter mile west on the current lighthouse. Go to the Nauset Light Preservation Society's website to get the light's history.

Repairs Coming to the Monomoy Lighthouse

The lighthouse on Monomoy Island has been off limits to overnight stays for a few years, due to the current state of disrepair. That situation looks to be coming to an end due to $1.5M in repairs that are slated for the lighthouse, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Check out the story in the Cape Codder.

Monomoy Island, which, in truth, is an island now, a peninsula later - due to the shifting sands south of Chatham. The lighthouse sits in the middle of a bird and wildlife sanctuary is the temporary home of many migrating birds and sea mammals. It's not uncommon to see hundreds of Grey seals lounging on the beaches of Monomoy. Learn more about the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge ... Here.

Great White Sharks in Chatham

The ocean beaches in Chatham & Orleans were closed today due to the sighting of sharks off the beach. Sharks love seals, and wherever seals congregate, sharks will eventually be close by. Today there were sightings of sharks, at least 3 Great White sharks, off Chatham's Lighthouse Beach and Nauset Beach in Orleans, necessitating the beach closures. In fact, two of the sharks were tagged by a state marine biologist, which will allow them to track the movement of these sharks. Go to the article in the Cape Cod Online to read more about these sightings. Also, check out the following video, also shot by the Cape Cod Times Online...

The Sounds of Silence - Cape Cod in The Off-Season

The New York Times ran an article today in its "Escapes" section entitled "Sounds of Silence on Cape Cod". The off-season on the Outer Cape has it's unique pleasures. Read the article Here. Interesting reading!