Yachts For Sale In Cape Cod | United (2024)

Images of quaint seaside cottages, sand dunes and beaches, the fresh smell of salt air, and clam chowder come to mind! Iconic, historic Cape Cod conjures visions of the Mayflower, Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Native Americans having the first Thanksgiving dinner together, and of course, the Kennedy family of Hyannis Port.

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The Cape and its southern islands were historically whaling ports from 1820-1920, but the industry, based in Provincetown reached its zenith in 1840s and started to decline in 1870, following the Civil War and discovery of oil in Pennsylvania. Salt cod is where fortunes were made; in 1875 more vessels operated out of Provincetown than any other Massachusetts community, including Boston. Portuguese sailors were recruited to work aboard US ships. The majestic homes of wealthy sea captains still dot the harbors. Then in 1898 a violent gale blew away 50% of the town’s wharfs and the shift to tourism began. By the early 20th century, whaling was over. Today, the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown is focused on whale research, whale rescues, and great respect for the huge mammals. Such is the whaling heritage of Cape Cod that shaped its culture and character.

Cape Cod resembles an arm and fist bent upward, extending from mainland Massachusetts east and northward into the Atlantic Ocean. Until the 7-mile wide Cape Cod Canal opened in 1914 (after nearly 50 years of development), connecting Cape Cod Bay to the north with Buzzards Bay to the south. The Canal changed the shipping route that went around the arm of the Cape, known as the “graveyard of the Atlantic” for all the wrecks caused by treacherous shoals and currents, to the safer inshore passageway. Two highway bridges across the canal were constructed in the 1930s, along with a freight railway that included limited passenger service, and in the latter 1930s, the Army Corp of Engineers widened the canal to 480 ft and deepened it to 32 ft. Cape Cod is also known for its lighthouses that have been an important feature since 1797. Highland Light is the oldest and tallest, and continues as a working lighthouse. Most of the Capes lighthouses are operated by the USCG, except Nauset Light which is owned and operated by Cape Cod National Seashore (National Park Service). Some historic lighthouses had to be moved further inland because of shoreline erosion by the sea.

Part of Barnstable County, the Cape consists of 15 towns that are composed of numerous small villages. The 15 towns are Bourne, Sandwich (the first; incorporated in 1637), Falmouth, Mashpee (center of the Wampanoag people), Barnstable, Yarmouth, Harwich, Dennis, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. Barnstable is the most populated as it includes the village of Hyannis. Cape Cod Bay is to north and inside of the “raised arm.” To south is Nantucket Sound, Nantucket Island and Martha’s Vineyard; both are large islands with ferry service from multiple locations on the Cape. The smaller Elisabeth Islands are mostly privately owned, such as Naushon which is owned by the Forbes family. The southernmost Elisabeth Island, Cuttyhunk, is open to the public. Some of the wealthiest people have estates or compounds on these Islands, yet they still retain the whaling culture of yore.
Provincetown is located at the northern tip of the Outer Cape, while Chatham is at the “elbow” of the “arm.”

The five towns of the Outer Cape are Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, and Orleans. The Cape Cod National Seashore encompasses most of the Outer Cape, including the east-facing coast from Orleans to Provincetown. Other popular beaches are Nauset Light Beach and Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, Race Point Beach in Provincetown, Ballston Beach in Truro, and Skaket Beach in Orleans. Besides its fame as the primary destination for LBGT vacationers, Provincetown is also famous for its historic fishing fleets; Stellwagen Bank, just a few miles north of Race Point, is a popular fishing ground and whale watching destination. The Upper Cape, closest to mainland, is comprised of Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee. The ferry in Falmouth is the most popular way to Martha’s Vineyard. Mid Cape includes Barnstable, Yarmouth, and Dennis. This area features beautiful beaches on Nantucket Sound, such as Kalmus Beach in the village of Hyannis, an undeveloped preserve bequeathed to the town of Barnstable by Dr Herbert Kalmus, inventor of Technicolor. The Lower Cape is comprised of Harwich, Brewster, and Chatham (on the “elbow”).

17th century English explorer, Bartholomew Gosnold named the tip Cape Cod (for plentiful codfish in the area). The name stuck and eventually included the entire Cape; and it is the 9th oldest English place name in the US. Other renowned English explorers landed and/or mapped the Cape, which was among the first places settled by English in North America. The Pilgrims arrived in Cape Harbor and landed near Provincetown in 1620, not Plymouth. Their first encounter with Native Americans was in Eastham. Provincetown was just a group of huts until the 18th century. Cape Cod became a summer haven for city dwellers at the end of the 19th century, for those who could afford a small Victorian-style cottage with white picket fence second home. From 1890s to 1930s cottage communities sprang up all over the Cape. In the early 20th century, the business elite began building the large shingled “cottages” along Buzzards Bay that became known as Cape Cod style. Woods Hole was founded in 1888 as a summer lab for oceanographic scientists on summer vacation.

Throughout the 20th century, the facilities at Woods Hole have expanded to become a center for scientific thought and research. At the turn of the 20th century, a group of New York artists followed impressionist artist-instructor, Charles Hawthorne to Provincetown, which was at that time a picturesque Portuguese fishing community and ideal subject for “en plein air” painting for his Cape Cod School of Art students. Hawthorne, along with other well-known artists and business people founded the Provincetown Art Association & Museum in 1914 for the dual purpose of collecting and exhibiting the works of local artists. The community rapidly expanded after WWI to become the largest art colony in the world, at that time. Writers and intellectuals, including some from Europe, followed the artists, making Provincetown a Mecca for the bohemian lifestyle. Today it is the artistic capital of the Cape and major gay resort. PAAM has been renovated and greatly expanded over the decades, and a recent 2006 major expansion that increased its present space to 19,500 square feet has received a number of design awards. The original part of building dating to 1919 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the most frequented Art Museum in the Cape.

Though Hyannis Port has been the Kennedy family vacation destination for decades, it was transformed when John Fitzgerald Kennedy became President and the Kennedy compound served as his summer White House. JFK could be glimpsed in the early 1960s sailing the yacht, “Honeyfitz” in Nantucket Sound, bringing “Camelot” glamour to the Cape. President Kennedy preserved most of the Cape’s east-facing Atlantic Coast from development and for the public by making it part of the Cape Cod National Seashore. The Kennedy family continues to maintain homes in the Hyannis Port compound. Today, Hyannis is the most developed part of the Cape as fascination with the Kennedy legacy continues to be the Cape’s top tourist attraction.

Cape Cod is world renowned as a sport fishing destination for the spring to fall season. Among popular species fished are striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna, little tunny, bonita, tautog, flounder, and fluke. The Cape Cod Bay from Sandwich to Provincetown has numerous harbors, saltwater creeks and shoals that provide habitat for baitfish that attract the larger gamefish (striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna). The later summer months bring warm water species like mahi-mahi and marlin to the Cape’s southern waters. One of the most popular fishing spots is the Cape Cod Canal, especially for stripers (striped bass).
The Cape continues to inspire new generations of artists and writers and be the ideal seashore vacation destination of many.

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