Cape Cod Maritime Museum introduces a brand new primary exhibit, Making Waves: Maritime Ventures on Cape Cod, which opens to the public on Tuesday, March 8th. Encompassing five centuries, Making Waves narrates the Cape’s work on the water with iconic imagery, artifacts, and biographies. The exhibit is a story of Cape Cod’s ocean stewards—their risky business on the high seas and along the coast, and their livelihood from Nantucket Sound, Cape Cod Bay, and the waters of the Outer Cape.

Making Waves presents an array of artifacts from nearly 400 years of Cape Cod maritime ventures, including a Cape-featured colonial-era mariner’s chart, visions of 19th century fishing and whaling, traditional Wampanoag fish harvesting implements, early 20th century resort & recreation photographs, exquisite local model ships, and natural history relics.

The exhibit tells a story from descriptions of the Cape’s pre-colonial masters of the sea to a photographic essay of 20th century resort life and contemporary coastal commerce. It encapsulates Cape Cod Maritime Museum’s mission to preserve maritime heritage, by describing the “unwavering bond” that the Cape’s residents have experienced between them and the sea. Making Waves is an educational celebration of Cape Cod’s maritime ventures, and the ocean stewards that have persevered from its bounty.

Fisherman at Shanty, Courtesy Robert Eldred, Co, Inc., (left). Provincetown, ca. 1850, Courtesy, North Wind Picture Archives, (right).

Sparrow Hawk Wreckage

The Sparrow-Hawk is the only surviving remains of a 17th century trans-Atlantic vessel and is currently on loan to the Cape Cod Maritime Museum from the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth. These original timbers exemplify the small, sturdy ships vital to the colonization of America. Their size is evidence of the courage of those who undertook the journey to the New World. The Sparrow-Hawk, of about 36 tons and 40 feet in length, was typical of 17th century vessels. The Mayflower, of 180 tons, was one of the largest. The Fortune, which came to Plymouth in 1621, was about 50 tons. The black and white engraving to the right illustrates a ship similar to the Sparrow-Hawk.

After being wrecked in 1626, the Sparrow-Hawk was buried in sand and mud in a part of Orleans later known as "Old Ship Harbor." The timbers were visible from time to time until 1862, when they were uncovered in a great storm. The ancient hull was removed and reassembled. After exhibition in many cities, it was presented to the Pilgrim Society in 1889.