Many of us have watched the sunrise and sunset, but have you ever watched a moonrise? A number of years ago, Jacks Boat Rental employees were having a beach cookout on one of Wellfleet’s ocean beaches. We had burgers and dogs with many other tasty treats. The beach fire was crackling away and the stars were magnificent. All of the sudden we noticed a small red glow on the horizon over the ocean, many of us were unaware of what that glow was. As it turned out, and as time went by, we realized it was the moon rising from the sea. It was a wonderful sight and something I am sure many of us will remember, at least I remember. As that moon rose, it got brighter and brighter and started to shine it’s beams gracefully across the water. I had never really seen a moonrise, or shall I say, paid attention to a moonrise. It was truly an amazing site. If you want to see a moonrise, it’s something you have to plan. Not only do the times change, the phases also change, you should shoot for the full moon, as that is the most magnificent…

If you take the time, you will be rewarded!

Summertime fun on Cape Cod when we were young consisted of many things.

Many of us will remember going to the cupboard and getting a glass jar to capture some fireflies. We would wander in the woods looking for that flash, when we found it, we would carefully scoop that fly into the jar, later we would see if we could read from the collection of light. Just to let you know, I was never able to read from those flies… that being said, it was a wonderful activity.  We were in nature… we were not captivated with the I-Pads, I-phones, computers, etc. that our young have adopted in this age. There were no electronics to distract us from seeing the world around us. It was the simple things that kept us occupied…  flying a kite,building a tree fort, surf casting, exploring, skinny dipping in some of the Cape’s wonderful kettle ponds, and yes, even catching fireflies on a warm summer evening. Yesterday, as I drove around delivering and picking up boats, I came across two young children riding their bikes, an activity that I also enjoyed at that age. One thing I noticed that was different, one of them was using his I-phone and the other had her ear buds in and was listening to her I-tunes. They were both plugged in, unfortunately not to their surroundings and nature. As I sit on my deck and reflect back to those warm summer nights, I realize the world has changed, even the fireflies are not as plentiful.

We can learn so much from nature, if only we can stop, open our eyes and listen!

Yesterday I sat down on the stairs at Gull Pond to stop and observe, something many of us fail to do, including myself. As I observed the many people having a great time and enjoying the sunshine, a young boy sat down on the step beside me and began to plant his feet firmly in the sand. This is also an activity that I enjoy, even to this day. I believe there is a calming affect that takes place when you wiggle your toes in the sand, I suppose you could call it grounding one’s self. Just like the sun from above energizes all living things, so does the sand energize as well. One of my favorite things to do when I am at the ocean, is to stand at the waters edge and allow the waves to wash around my feet, with each passing wave your feet will sink deeper into the sand, it is a very relaxing feeling.

Next time you’re at the beach, stop for a moment; allow your feet to be planted in the sand, I think it is an exercise you won’t soon forget.

Yoga isn’t the only thing that makes one feel good…

Today I had the opportunity to spend some time with a long-time customer on what is called “The Crows Nest,” a deck on the side of a huge hill facing West, the view is out of this world. I remember sitting on this hill many years ago and watching the sunsets and also watching the moon rise. The weather was warm with a nice breeze and the conversation was great. It’s times like these that I really appreciate where I live and what I do…

Jack’s has allowed me to connect with so many people, on so many levels, it boggles my mind.

I love the connection, it warms my heart…

A short time ago I wrote a story about paying it forward and used an example of driving on Cape Cod and being thoughtful of other drivers. This year so far, Cape Cod has seen considerably more traffic and many more accidents but one thing I have noticed and I believe you probably have too, if not, you should. There are many more people driving with courtesy of other drivers, they are flashing their lights and giving someone a break. As I said, slowing down and allowing someone to go in front of you doesn’t take a lot of effort but it sure makes life a lot less stressful. It’s kind of like holding a door open for someone, small gesture with positive returns. This world needs to change, anger and hate needs to be replaced with love and kindness. The funny thing is each one of us has the ability to make that change.

Next time you are on the road take notice; I think you will see the ripples of change.

Hopefully you will want to become part of this positive change.

Herring river from the air...

Observing people over the years has been a real learning experience. One of the things people enjoy most while on Cape Cod, besides a great clambake, is the water. When making reservations for that long awaited vacation, one of the main questions people ask is…” How close is it to the water?” Comfort is important, but I think people put a higher value on proximity to the water. Personally, being out on the water has a calming effect, for the body as well as the soul. Having grown up around boats, my favorite mode of transport is the non-motorized type, kayaking, canoeing, rowing, or sailing. Don’t get me wrong, the motorboat has its place too, I just find the peaceful swish of a paddle or the wind filling your sails and blowing across your body to be far more relaxing than the deep throaty sound of a powerboat. I think that is the reason that I have resisted allowing Jack’s Boat Rental to get involved in the rental of powerboats. One of my favorite places to kayak is the Herring River in Wellfleet; it meanders through old apple orchards, under the old railroad bridge and a number of heavily forested areas. There are not a lot of houses along the river, so the wildlife is very abundant. Many people don’t realize that Gull Pond with all it’s fresh water springs, feeds directly into Herring River and on out into Wellfleet Harbor where it mixes with the salt. One other little known fact, oysters love the combination of fresh and salt water, this is one of the reasons the Wellfleet oyster is such a prized bivalve and has such a sweet taste.

It’s all about the water…..

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a family that has been coming to Jack’s for 30 years. We talked of the many memories they have of Gull Pond and the other ponds down stream, Higgins, William, and Herring. They said it is a special place and I agree with them. I love this interaction with people, the smiles, handshakes, kind words; it puts a smile on my face and makes my heart sing… I so love running Jack’s Boat Rental. The people I meet are amazing!!

Have a great Cape Cod vacation everyone…

The Wellfleet Beachcomber is about to enter its 35^th year and yes, I was there from the beginning. Reflecting back to the beginning puts a smile on my face, the friendship I have with Todd and Hugh the owners, is great.

This old building has gone through many changes from its original use. In the beginning this building was used as a Coast Guard life saving station. Because of the way Cape Cod protrudes into the Atlantic, many sailing ships on their way to Boston would miscalculate in their navigation and end up on the shores of the Cape. There were a number of these stations built all along the coast on the outer Cape; the Coast Guardsmen had beach patrols and would walk from station to station looking for distressed mariners. Each station was equipped with life saving equipment and a large rowboat to get out to the grounded vessel. As navigation improved, the need for these patrols became obsolete and the buildings were either removed or sold off. The Beachcomber has a very colorful past, too much for me to cover in this blog, so I’ll just cover when Todd and Hugh bought the building. ——– OK——- So I just got off the phone with Todd—- he helped refresh my memory. I couldn’t remember exactly how I met him and Hugh, he told me I was his gas delivery guy and then a light went on… It seems that I have this memory of going to the Beachcomber during the winter months with a heavy fleece lined jacket and a wide brimmed hat. Once inside, I would place hat and coat behind the bar, order a beer, play pool, and dance on the newly laid out dance floor till the wee hours. The problem was, the Beachcomber is only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. So how could this be? Well it seems I forgot a very important part; The Beachcomber was open the entire year in its first year in business!! Reaching back 35 years the memory can get a little fuzzy; as Todd and I talked about the beginning years more memories were restored. I remember working for Todd and Hugh by helping build the dance floor, remodel the kitchen, and handle bar back duties, in our conversation Todd also reminded me that I also worked the front door for a short while. The memories we threw back and fourth were great, and we had quite a few laughs. We had to admit its been quite a journey. We both agree, the energy in this place is very positive and like Jacks Boat Rental, we both enjoy making a positive difference in the lives of the many people that visit Cape Cod. If you are on the Cape this summer, I think the Beachcomber should be on your list of places to visit.

I love this place, I think you will too…

If you have gone to the “Is There Really a Jack?” page on my web site and seen the picture above, you should know that there’s more to the story.

As you can see from the picture, this boat had very low sides, or in the boating world, “freeboard.” The reason for this is the fact that this boat was originally an old square-backed wooden ribbed kayak covered with canvas.

I believe it was early fall on Cape Cod, the water was still warm and you could still swim in the ponds. A couple of friends and I were snorkeling and swimming in Higgins Pond in Wellfleet, near the sluice way; diving down and chasing fish and turtles was a fun thing to do. On one of those deep dives I spotted something unusual sticking out of the mud on the bottom of the pond. I dove down to take another look and realized it was a sunken boat. As I surfaced, I yelled to my buddies, “Hey I think I found a shipwreck!” As we circled above this sunken vessel, we each took turns diving down to see what kind of boat it was. It was covered with slime so it was obvious it had been there for a while. We decided to raise it to the surface, which was not an easy task. Since it was so deep we could only stay down there for a short period of time. We coordinated our dives, so that together we could pull it closer to the shore. After about an hour or so we were able to get it to the shore and dump all the water out. Upon further inspection, we discovered that it was an old square-backed, canvas-covered kayak. Realizing the person who lost this boat had probably given up on it a long time ago, we as the salvagers claimed her (funny how boats are referred to as her or she).

This posed another problem: now that we had her on the shore, what exactly were we going to do with her? Most of the canvas was weak so she wouldn’t float for very long, but aside from that the ribs seemed to be in relatively good shape. We decided to take it to my house with a plan to see if we could repair and restore her. Another few hours later we had her in my back yard on some blocks drying out in the sun.

My father was a carpenter and was good with his hands so when he got home that evening I showed him what we had found. I must admit, he did think I was a little nuts and restoring this old boat would be quite a chore. During dinner that night my father agreed to help me restore her and we set up a workspace in the basement. We removed all the old canvas and made the decision to convert her into a rowboat. We removed the deck area and decided to use marine plywood instead of canvas. It was a long project, something I had a hard time realizing at the age of nine. During that fall and winter, after we had dinner, my dad and I would go down stairs and work on her; it was a real learning experience. That next summer we launched this newly-restored boat at Gull Pond in Wellfleet and my younger brother Mike was there to celebrate; this picture you see was taken on that day.

I can’t begin to tell you the adventures I had with this boat…

Life is made up of defining moments; it’s up to us to extract the wisdom from those moments.

I’m reminded of a time when I was in seventh grade and was running for class president. I did all the usual things like posting signs and wrote a nice speech to be given in open assembly at the school. I studied that speech and knew it backwards and forwards so I felt no need to bring a written copy with me to the auditorium of my Cape Cod junior high. When my name was called my heart started to pound, as I stood behind the podium looking out at over five hundred faces I began to address all of the faculty and my classmates when something happened; I totally forgot what I was going to say. The moment of silence seemed like eternity… Then it happened: I started to speak from the heart. To this day I’m not sure exactly what I said, but I do remember what happened at the end of that speech; I received a standing ovation from everyone in that auditorium. I didn’t win the election, but I do feel I gained something far more valuable. That was a defining moment in my life and something I will never forget. We learn through living and I believe speaking through the heart can be far more truthful.

Think about it; we all have defining moments in our lives that change our views or perspective on life…