Family Trip

Plans for our 2016 Thanksgiving were hatched over a year ago.  With both girls now in New England, we were hosted by my maternal uncle on Cape Cod.  Some cancelled and some were mildly ill, but our travels from Michigan were without issue, and by 2:30 PM on the day before Thanksgiving, my wife and I were reunited with our studious girls.  By 5 PM, we were on the Cape!

With fewer people in attendance and the hosting house less attractive due to illness, we had more time to be together as a nuclear family and extra time to explore.  It turned out to be a wonderfully relaxing long weekend!  The trip back to Michigan wasn't too painful, and I even scored a bonus day free from work, so I got to try for a muskie one more time.

Thanksgiving Day itself was very pleasant.  During the meal, we discussed (among other things) boat names.  I've collected quite a few possibilities for my future boats, but when pressed for the likely name of my next saltwater boat, I proposed Mooncusser.  This meets all my requirements for a proper boat name; it's unique, thought provoking and simply sounds just a little bit naughty.

A "mooncusser" is a land-based pirate.  You have to admire that!  Their efforts were likely thwarted by moonlight, hence the name.  They depended on luring ships within range by establishing false lighthouses.  I suppose in the deepest gloom, enough captains made enough mistakes to make this a viable method for making a living.

The next day, we were walking the beach at Chatham.  I was pleasantly surprised to note the following:

Municipal Mooncussing; the lighthouse at Chatham, Massachusetts is short and quite a ways inland; a perfect recipe for land-based piracy, especially when combined with shoal water and a shifting inlet.

This shack along the beach caught our attention. It referenced an "Occupation" for some cause, and perhaps has served as a legitimate shelter.

To my delight, I found this inside the shack. 

I can't guarantee she'll be Mooncusser, but the odds certainly have improved!

The trip also included my rediscovery of what was once family property:

This property was once in my grandparents' possession.  I have faint memories of the porch, the hill on the side and the interior lay-out.  I have no recollection of it being so close to the ocean!  But I was only 5 or 6 when the house was sold, and that was before I'd found fishing.

We also poked around the Brewster/Orleans area and found Nickerson State Park.  It was beautifully quiet in the off-season and attractive to the sweet-water fisherman in me.  I am sure we will return again, some day.

Flax Pond in Nickerson State Park, Brewster, Massachusetts.  Some trout were rising; I had no gear.  I met a couple of fishermen on their way out, and it looked like Berkley PowerBait on the bottom was their plan.