Cape & Islands Harbormasters Association Town of Harwich, Massachusetts Harbormaster Thomas E. Leach, CHM ** President C&IHA Principal Clerk Michelle Morris Harwich Waterfront Crime Watch Closest Scaled Nautical Chart 13229 Close Up Handy Chart USGS MAP Tide Table Saquatucket Harbor Wychmere Harbor Allen Harbor Herring River Red River Round Cove Jack Knife Harbor Harwich is a Federal "No Discharge Zone" -- no dumping of sewage, treated or untreated, is allowed! VHF Hailing Channel 68 or 16 Limited Coastal Radio Call Sign KZN 522 "It is better to earn loyalty then demand it" Horatio Hornblower VHF Working Channel 68 & 66 Assistant Harbormasters Heinz M. Proft Alex Sherr Jake Sklarew James F. Coyle Frank Kunz Don Hartmann Police Officers/Asst. Harbormasters Chief William A.Mason Lt.Barry M. Mitchell Lt.Thomas A. Gagnon Sgt.David J. Jacek Sgt.Richard R. Sayers Sgt.Richard Campbell Sgt.Dennis J. Kendrick Sgt. Christopher J. Kender Sgt. John F. Sullivan, Jr. Other Harbormasters Chatham HM, Stuart F.X.Smith Orleans HM, Dawson Farber Phone (508)430-7532 Fax(s) 508-430-7535 508-432-5309 (c/o Town Hall) Primary Patrol Vessel COMMANDER Duffy 35 Address Saquatucket Harbor Municipal Marina Post Office Box 207 715 Main St. Route 28 Harwich Port, MA  02646 Website www.town.harwich.ma.us/harbor Email harbor@town.harwich.ma.us Emergency Phone 911 Harbor Cam Saquatucket Harbor Special Feature Harbormasters of Harwich **designates Mass. Criminal Justice Training Council and Massachusetts Maritime Academy Certified Harbormaster Harbormaster Town Reports Community Information Town of Harwich Commonwealth Communities - Harwich, Massachusetts DHCD - Community Profiles - Harwich Harwich Massachusetts Chamber Commerce - www.harwichcc.com Chatham Fish Pier Cam Harwich Today Daily Picture U.S. Gazetteer Census Data - Harwich, Massachusetts Hon. Shirley Gomes, State Rep. On Cape - Harwich Yahoo! Get Local - Harwich, Massachusetts Search the Web for Harwich Harbormaster Maps Yahoo! Maps and Driving Directions - Harwich, Massachusetts Marine Info Harbormaster Webpage and Natural Resources Department - Packed with useful information Cape Cod Hook Fishermen's Association - Marine Education Center Lower Cape Boating Safety Classes - You are never too old or too experienced to review this stuff! Chatham Fishermen's Wives Association Harwich Waterfront Crime Watch Harwich Coastal No Discharge Area Plan SEACLOPS development Weather The Weather Channel - Harwich, MA (02645) Weather Underground - Harwich, Massachusetts Forecast Tide Table - Wychmere Harbor, Harwich Port Yacht Clubs & Marinas Harwich Port Boat Works - Wychmere Harbor - Harwich Port, MA Stone Horse Yacht Club - Harwich Port, Massachusetts Allen Harbor Yacht Club - Harwich Port, MA Wychmere Harbor Club - Harwich Port, MA Harwich Port PHRF Fleet Allen Harbor Marine Service - Harwich Port Cape Yachts - Harwich Port Cape Water Sports - Harwich Port   home  |  email  |  staff  |  charts

The Town of Harwich is a resort and residential community located on the south side of the Cape peninsula, with an extensive shoreline on Nantucket Sound. It was settled around 1665, and incorporated in 1694. Its early economy included agriculture and maritime industries and its history has included boom and bust cycles from the earliest days of the community. When the whaling industry collapsed with the discovery of oil, the community's emphasis shifted to cod fishing. By 1802, 15 to 20 ships were shore fishing and another four ships were cod fishing in Newfoundland and Labrador, and by 1851, there were 48 ships employing 577 men and bringing in thousands of tons of cod and mackerel. The eventual decline of the fishing industry in Harwich by the latter part of the 19th century was caused by increases in the size of ships which eventually outstripped the shallow port's ability to house them.

Today, the fishing power of the Harwich fishing fleet rivals its ancestors due in part to the maintenance of adequate harbor entrance channels and the development of the diesel engine. There are a total of 40 fast small groundfishing vessels (31'-48') plying the pelagic Atlantic for cod and haddock. In addition Harwich Port becomes the seasonal home to an additional 85+ boats chasing tuna from August through October. In the winter months, an additional 20 commercial vessels may use the Town docks under special permit. There are also 10 charter boats that take passengers for hire. In all this fishing effort currently employs more than 400 people.

Dodge Morgan
as a young man worked for his uncle Bill Lee at the Harwich Port Boat Works
Dodge in 1983 set the around the world single handed non stop sailing record (220 days) in AMERICAN PROMISE

Harwich mooring gear now includes ground tackle, a buoy, and a lawyer

"A mooring in Wychmere or Allen Harbor is like a piece of gold," says Harwich Harbormaster Tom Leach.

Moorings are rare gems all over the Lower Cape, but in Harwich in particular they have become not only hard to get, but virtually priceless. Those rare gems lay in a mooring scheme that basically shipwrecked.

Conflict over mooring access turned the mooring fields into political minefields, prompting selectmen to overhaul the entire Harwich harbor management plan. The new system is meant to make the mooring scene more equitable, but it won't be until after this upcoming recreational boating season that it's clear whether the town has made the leash on moorings too tight. With boat owners, marina operators, the state, and local officials each pulling in different directions, Leach is the guy who has to keep it all straight.

He believes that selectmen are recasting the mooring system in a sincere attempt to "try to answer to their constituency, and they had some cause here."

With 946 people on the mooring waiting list, Leach says, "We need to do something to make it possible for people to get a mooring in a reasonable amount of time. We need to force people to use it or lose it."

But no one is sure how the strict new regulations will work in practice. ....