Rescuing a Cape Cod Rescue Surfboat

A famous old adage, “Only cowards and fools leave a sinking ship,” was close to the heart of the life-saving surfmen of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, over a century ago. In those days, extensive shoals along the Atlantic coast of Cape Cod ran parallel to the beaches, and storms often caused sailing ships to run aground, sometimes after poor navigation left them trapped between sandbars. Their crews were most likely to survive if they stayed with the ship rather than attempting to negotiate the frigid and roiling surf to get ashore. It was far better for them to await rescue by the surfmen who patrolled the beaches day and night during winter months.

In December 1891, the lumber schooner DANIEL B. FEARING’s shrouds gave way in a northeaster off the coast of the Cape, and she grounded on the Outer Bar. When crews at the lifesaving station at Cahoon Hollow in Wellfleet spotted the ship, they knew from long experience that she was doomed. The surfmen readied their Cape Cod–style surfboat and—recalling their mantra, “You have to go, but you don’t have to come back”—headed to the crippled ship. The six rowers, under the mastery of skipper Dan Cole on the steering oar, battled breaking seas to reach the wreck. After loading the crew onto the boat, they learned that the cook was missing; he had gone to the galley to rescue his pet cat. The slight delay in waiting for the cook and his cat to board enabled the skipper to catch a perfect wave that carried the surfboat safely back to shore.

To read the rest of this article:

Click the button below to log into your Digital Issue Access account.

Read the Issue

No digital access? Subscribe or upgrade to a WoodenBoat Digital Subscription and finish reading this article as well as every article we have published for the past 50-years.

Subscribe Now