CCMM Featured in National Geographic
“Back on the cape’s mainland, I round things off with a visit to the Cape Cod Maritime Museum in Hyannis, an organisation focused on preserving the peninsula’s maritime culture. In its woodworking workshop, surrounded by a wall of shiny metal tools and surfaces covered in a thin blanket of sawdust, executive director Elizabeth York explains how they’re keeping the craft of traditional boat-building alive for a new generation.
“We have groups of local teenagers who come here to work as a team, learning to build a boat from stem to stern,” she tells me as we watch a mentor sand down a handsome Bevin’s Skiff boat made from white oak and cedar wood. “Boats were once the main mode of transport around here and the water is still so pivotal to our lives. Sailing, fishing, ferries, rowing, swimming — it’s what we do.”
When I ask why they still invest in making Cape Cod boats by hand, when buying a kit would make life easier, Elizabeth takes a moment to glance beyond the window at the harbour, where masts rattle like cowbells. “It’s a connection to where we came from and what sets us apart,” she says. “That’s got to be worth preserving.” I look out at the jostling boats, certain they’ll be made by Cape Codders for generations to come, and wonder what shanties will be sung on their decks by future seafarers.”