Cape Cod: Articles: Nature -- post an article

Shallows and Shoals

As you see the tides receding at Cape Cod and behold the land beneath them emerging, as it were, you will know that Cape Cod waters are “shallow waters. They are far from deep.

You may see Cape Cod fishing vessels heading for open sea, some of them perhaps bound for the fishing banks. The banks, such as the Grand Banks off Newfoundland or Georges Bank to the East of the Cape, are shallows of considerable depth so that ships can navigate them. There are also “shoals” in these areas not more than six fathoms (thirty-six feet) deep where ships could run aground easily, especially during an extreme low tide. Such water, as its depth decreases, is said to “shoal” or become “shallow”.

There is one story told of a football game that took place between the crews of two fish draggers during an extreme low tide. The game supposedly took place on a semi-dry sandbar somewhere near the Cultivator Shoal or Georges Shoal area over 100 miles to the East of Cape Cod.

• tell-a-friend • link to this post •