The Brewster Flats

One of my favorite places on Cape Cod is a local treasure that unveils itself when the tide goes out. The Brewster Flats are an expanse of sand bars and tide pools that extend as far as 2 miles from shore – A wonderful spot for an eco-adventure.

On the lowest tides of the summer months, Cape Cod Sea Campers awake at dawn to explore this expanse. Collecting nets and buckets in hand, campers head out to discover the critters that reside in and about the flats. Green Crabs, Calico Crabs, Blue Crabs, Hermit Crabs, Spider Crabs and Horseshoe Crabs are among the first in the nets. Subsequent drags through the eel grass reveal Pipefish (related to Seahorses), Flounder, Sticklebacks, Shrimp, Eels and a number of marine arthropods.

As the tide reaches low, campers turn their attention to life under the sand. A lesson in clam digging is always fun and quite rewarding. Finds of Quahogs, Sea Clams, Razor Clams, Steamer Clams and Oysters are fun discoveries. Upon occasion, a sharp eye is rewarded with a Blue Eyed Scallop which are very scarce these days. One year we even came upon a newly molted Lobster among the inner rock piles.

On warm afternoons, the flats provide a unique play area for flats games, sand castle building and lounging in the sun. The Brewster Flats are also world-renown by fly fisherman who can sight fish for cruising Striped Bass and Blue Fish in very shallow waters as the tide turns and schools of fish flood over the flats. This is truly a remarkable location and continues to inspire many campers to pursue further interests in marine exploration.

The World Chooses American Camps

The tradition of organized summer camps is a genuinely American phenomenon. As American's have shared this cultural tradition with their friends around the world, there is great intrigue and a resulting perception of opportunity. When sharing information about our industry in other countries we often hear, "That really doesn't happen here and we wish it would."

International families that are looking for safe environments to foster independent travel experiences for their children often find American Summer Camps to be a wonderful solution. The depth and breadth of summer camps in the US offer everything from traditional camp activities, to specialized sports camps to travel program and even computer and academic offerings – all in summer camp settings filled with fun, recreation and friendships.

The great value of the American Summer Camp lies in their goal of offering children the chance to grow and develop life skills focused around the independence of a summer away from Mom and Dad. For International families it may be the chance to practice another language or become familiar with the adaptability required of world travelers.

Back in 1922, Robert Delehanty founded Camp Monomoy while teaching at Worcester Academy, a private boarding school in Massachusetts. Del’s school population had a number of boys from South America at the time who found it too difficult to travel back home for the summer. Del and a partner purchased property on Cape Cod and began a summer camp for these boys. The success of those humble beginnings continues today with children gathering from around the world to create a unique community each summer.

The Cape Cod Sea Camps – Monomoy and Wono continue to enjoy the loyalty of a core of international families who send their children and grandchildren to Cape Cod for a summer of purposeful fun. About 10% of the CCSC camper population reside outside the US and represent about 15 different countries on any given year. The value of the dollar and the tendency of late requests by international prospects will determine if this is higher or lower on any given year.

An interesting trend we have noticed is that decisions of when to send campers away to camp may be rooted in cultural trends within countries. We find that families from Japan, China, Latin America and the Caribbean like to develop this independence at younger ages while families from Europe will begin looking to the American Summer Camp experience at ages 12 and up. In the US, families that have grown up with a camp culture will send their children away as soon as they feel they are ready.

As the world becomes a smaller place and social problems seem more universal in nature, having children live and grow in environments of diverse cultures with caring supervision, becomes ever more important in developing citizens of the world. The friends and contacts that campers and staff make during their summers at the Cape Cod Sea Camps are not easily forgotten and often drawn upon in adulthood. Thankfully, the summer camp experience is not a genuine microcosm of the world, it is much more civilized.

Cape Cod Sailing Camps

Sailing Camps of Cape Cod

The history of sailing camps on Cape Cod is long and storied. In the early 1900s a camping movement was sweeping the country and the Cape was a natural setting to capitalize on this new endeavor. Of course, at the time, land on the ocean was cheap and sailing was an historic endeavor for Cape Cod. Institutions like Camp Chequesset, Camp Namequoit, Camp Viking, Camp Quanset, Pleasant Bay Camp, Camp Avalon, Camp Tonset, Camp Monomoy and Camp Wono were vanguards in the field, and thrived between the 1920s and the1970s. Many were of small scale but offered the unique experience of spending summers camping and sailing on Pleasant Bay, Cape Cod Bay and Wellfleet Harbor. Early Advertisements appealed to the adventure of sailing which turned the area into a Mecca for such opportunities. The romance of sailing as a recreational pursuit had taken hold. Clearly the enjoyment that many campers experienced during their summers on Cape Cod translated into family vacations and summer homes in subsequent years.

In the early days, camping mimicked the pleasant summers that early Cape Codders experienced when the water was warm and life was simpler. Camp Viking campers enjoyed their cookouts and overnights on the outer beach after a row across in their famed whale boats. All camps looked forward to the Pleasant Bay Invitational Regattas (PBIRs) which were weekly sailing races to establish bragging rights in Mercs, BayBirds, 15s and Catboats. Most camps were single gender so dances and other opportunities to meet the opposite sex were eagerly anticipated, while counselors found their own ways to meet.. Monomoy campers will remember Capt Del, Skipper Dodd and Grant Koch espousing the merits of a disciplined camping experience. Other names that surely hold a spot in the hearts of campers are Melcher (still sailing!), Thayer, Hagenbuckle, Farnham, Hammett, Laffey and Lincoln to name a few.

Since these storied times, all but the Cape Cod Sea Camps, Monomoy/Wono have closed. By the late 1970s, the pressure of government regulation, real estate development and family members who were uninterested in continuing their legacy led to a slow decline and the ultimate development of the properties. By the late 1980s most camps had closed, leaving the next generation of Cape Cod campers with few choices. Still, past campers hold their summer memories dear and arrange reunions from time to time in the Cape Cod area. Memorabilia often shows up on EBay and a few blogs continue to get the occasional post by long lost campers hoping to reminisce. http://able2know.org/topic/1643-14

Today, alumni from many of these camps carry on their sailing traditions through yacht clubs on Cape Cod or have merged their loyalties with the Cape Cod Sea Camps. For many years, Al Haddad from Camp Namequoit served as Assistant Director at the Monomoy Day Camp while his children finished their camping at CCSC. Long time Camp Viking camper, Brad Carpenter is now the 420 Race Coach at the Cape Cod Sea Camps where his son attends as a camper. Families wishing to carry on a sailing camp tradition continue to look toward CCSC as an option.

Located directly on Cape Cod Bay, the Cape Cod Sea Camps moors a fleet of 28 Cape Cod Mercuries in a natural channel just off its bay shore. It boasts one of the largest Mercury fleets in the country as they are well suited for tidal sailing in Brewster. In addition to bayside sailing opportunities, CCSC maintains a fleet of 18, Sunfish and 12, Collegiate 420s at their outpost camp on Long Pond. The 420s are used in the morning to introduce younger campers to these great racing boats. In the afternoon the CCSC race team trains for their races with local yacht clubs, this being the only outlet for competition since the other sailing camps have all closed. In 2008, CCSC camper Clerc Cooper took a 2nd place among the field of 45, 420s at the Chatham Regatta, hosted by the Chatham Yacht Club. The rest of the sailing team continues to grow and enjoy their racing as much as sharing their knowledge and skill with younger campers.

As more and more alumni of these famous sailing camps surface, there have been discussions of establishing a PBIR reunion event at the Courageous Sailing Center in Boston. Drop us a line if this seems interesting and stay tuned for future announcements

Fall Scallop Harvest

Hepsepah Clamflats took a stroll down to the bay looking for some of those delicious Bay Scallops. Turns out the Brewster Flats are still a little barren when it comes to this delicacy but Nantucket Sound and Pleasant Bay are seeing some fairly good harvests this year. The Bay Scallop is different from the Sea Scallop that you see on most restaurant menus. Bay Scallops are smaller and the muscle is harvested after the 2nd year of growth. They are very sweet and rich so it only takes a few to satisfy the taste buds.

This year, the scallops have tended to be much smaller in size with a bushel yielding about 6-8 lbs of scallops. If you have ever shucked scallops you will know that amounts to quite a bit of work. Perhaps some day when the Eel Grass in front of camp fills back in, we will once again see the bumper crops of the past.

Each summer, Campers at the Cape Cod Sea Camps enjoy getting up early on the lowest tides of the month to explore the flats in front of camp. Learning how to dig clams, catch crabs and identify the miriad shrimp, worms and fish that reside in the eel grass and tide pools. However, we are still waiting for the return of the blue eyed scallops to add to our list.