Ode to the Cape

Words by Aaron Wood

Many are drawn to water, but a select few are born from it. Not merely soothed by its hush, but fluent in its native tongue.

Ode to the Striped Bass Fishermen Ode to the Commercial Lobstermen Ode to the Oysters Farmers Ode to the Harpoon Fishermen Ode to the Day Boat Scallopers Ode to the Striped Bass Fishermen

The Cape and its surrounding waters are home to great numbers of these purebred watermen, called out to the shoreline and beckoned beyond it at an early age. They are lobstermen and fishermen, the wind and tide as much a part of them as blood and flesh. They are oyster farmers and scallopers, plucking briny jewels from the shallows and great depths.

Tied to centuries of tradition and a storied past, these are a few of the many individuals maintaining the legacy of those who live off the sea. They are not merely from the Cape—but its backbone, its core, its spirit, a historic region built and maintained one working day at a time.

Ode to the Cape Image Grid