Category Archives: Cape Cod News

The Finest Hours Movie Of The CG36500 Rescue Off Of Cape Cod Will Be Released January 29, 2016


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The Disney blockbuster movie, The Finest Hours, will hit movie theaters on January 29, 2016. It is a true story of of the US Coast Guard’s most daring rescue off of Chatham on Cape Cod.

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The CG36500, which was built in 1946, was decommissioned in 1968 and eventually fell into disrepair. The Orleans Historical Society acquired ownership and restored the vessel.

The CG36500 is docked at Rock Harbor in Orleans during the summer months and is operated as a “floating museum,” open to visitors.

The book was awesome, so check out the movie! I am so looking forward to seeing this daring rescue.

Disney’s Finest Hours Blockbuster Movie Based On The Book To Be Released On January 29, 2016

On January 29, 2016 Disney will release the blockbuster film, The Finest Hours, which is a true story of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Most Daring Sea Rescue. It took place off of Chatham on Cape Cod in 1952. Four Coast Guard crewmen set out in a small vessel in Chatham to rescue 33 men stranded aboard the SS Pendeleton after the ship split in half during a legendary nor’easter.

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We had the privilege a couple of months ago to attend a book presentation and signing, sponsored by the Eastham Library,  of The Finest Hours author, Michael J. Tougias. It was spellbinding as he related his research and writing of his book.

I will post photographs of the actual boat tomorrow that is docked at Rock Harbor in Orleans on Cape Cod during the summer months. It is a must to see if you come to visit Cape Cod and unbelievable that 33 men plus crew fit on this small vessel.

First Wireless Communication Between Europe And America From Wellfleet On Cape Cod

On January 18, 1903, the first public two-way wireless communication between Europe and America occurred. Communiques between President Theodore Roosevelt and King Edward VII were translated into international Morse Code at the South Wellfleet and English stations and were broadcast.

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For fifteen years the South Wellfleet spark-gap transmitter continued in commercial use. Skilled telegraphers sent out messages at the rate of 17 words a minute and station CC (Cape Cod) served , in effect, as the first “Voice of America.” Because of the sea cliff was eroding at the rate of 3 feet per year, the South Wellfleet Station closed in 1917.

You can still go to the Marconi Station in South Wellfleet and see the original wireless. And you can go out on the cliff on a cold winter day and reflect on the event that sparked the birth of global wireless communication.

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If you have never been to the National Seashore Visitors Center in South Wellfleet, it is well worth the trip for the whole family. What a piece of history!

Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail In Wellfleet On Cape Cod

Atlantic White Cedar Swamp Trail in Wellfleet on  Cape Cod is a  mostly shaded 1.2 mile loop which explores one of the Cape’s few remaining stands of Atlantic White Cedar, located on the former site of Camp Wellfleet, a U.S. Army base.

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Early settlers split White Cedar into boards for houses and farm buildings as well as joists, frames, doors, rafters, floors, fence posts and even organ pipes. Being so easy to shape it was very versatile.

This is a great hike for the whole family any time of the year, but make sure you bring bug repellent if you hike it in the summer as there can be many mosquitoes on the boardwalk over the swamp.