Cape Cod

Camp Namequoit
Well, if this isn't a real Fenno's Paradox! (Actually it isn't, I just heard the term on the news and wanted to throw it in) Is this the same Froggy, tennis player and sailor extrodinare? The same thief of flags from Eastward Ho golf course and thief of food from the camp kitchen? The same one to use the clever euphemistic phrases like "the fog is rolling in" and "furling the mainsail"? If it is, then it is good to hear from you.

Well Charlie, now you have to find out what Fenno's Paradox is.

ther fog is rolling in
Hey Guys,
I can absolutely tell you that the phrase "the fog is rolling in" was a term that was started at PBC when the head of sailing came upon Jake Williams (sailing counselor)sitting on the main log at about 10:30 on evening. I think it got to the other camps becasue Jake was friends with Roger at Namaquiet and he used to hang around alot with us.

The Roger you refer to is probably Roger Carol. He had long blond hair. I too remember Rafters in Orleans. I don't think it exists any more. Those were the good old days when under-aged drinking wasn't seen as such a problem.

It was Roger Carroll. You are right about the Rafters. If you had an ID you were in. We had many nights there, especially durning the summer of 74. I heard Roger lived at PBC the following winter. He was a wild guy and a pretty good sailor. Did you know Jake Williams from PBC? I think he dated a girl from quanset named connie. She ended up at PBC during the summer of 75 as a counsellor. Pretty lady...Wow....this site is bring back alot of memories...

I was a camper at PBC from 1968-1971. Those were wonderful summers!!! I loved that beautiful bay (with the gorgeous view from the bluff where they had flag-raising, remember?), and I remember well the great sailing in those gaff-rigged Baybirds. I do remember Quonset, but I think we campers were too young to be really interested in the Quonset girls! Just as nostalgic trivia: all the PBC cabins were named, as I recall, after a class of sailboat: Whistlers, Comets, Lightnings, Beetlecats, etc.

By way of news, I heard from another fellow on the Internet, who had been a counselor in the 1950's, that Cap'n Jim and Barb got divorced, and I read an article somewhere not too long ago that Jim was going on some kind of round-the-world sailing trip or some such in his 80's! It would be great to communicate further, as I have previously tried to find fellow PBC vets without much success.

CapeFanatic. I was also at PBC as a camper during 68 and 69. I returned a counselor in 1972. I was in comet cabin and also two years as a flying dutchman. They were great summers. I also heard about Barb and Capt. Jim. I read an article that Jim got remarried and then built a boat which he sailed all over the atlantic and in Europe. I believe Barb stayed on the cape in the big house at the near the end of the camp road. I was in the same cabin with Bart, Peter and Chuck and when i came back as a counselor worked with all of them. Also the Smiths, Charles and Cheryl. My brother and sister also went to PBC. Do you remember Natao, the sailing counselor from 69? Also, Hank the head of sailing in 68 and Rich the director of activates and head of swimming? Wow...the more i see on this site the more i remember. What cabin were you in?....I also look for fellow PBC folks on the net....want to hear something funny?...My mother was also a PBC counselor back in the 50's. hope to hear more memories...

Hi Daysailor. I was first in the Whistlers, then in Comets for 2 yrs, then Flying Dutchmen for one. Yeah, I remember all those guys---Rich rather intimidated me...I can recall thinking he was a bit of a bastard, actually. Doubtless I'd think differently today, but this was through the eyes of a little 9/10 year-old. Natao also seemed rather fearsome, though I didn't really interact with him much.

Although I enjoyed recreational sailing, I was never that great a sailor---I never progressed beyond "Apprentice Helmsman." In fact, I remember in my first regatta race as crew (for which I was drafted, not a volunteer) I was in a boat skippered by Bart Melcher. He was very competitive, and he urgently instructed me to inform him when a rival boat was "tacking." Now, this was my first season, and I was a very green sailor indeed at the time; I hadn't the slightest idea what "tacking" meant. So of course I didn't warn him in time, and he screamed at me, then reamed me all the way back to the Chatham Yacht Club. NOT a very comforting introduction to sailing.

Still, I loved the swimming, the trips around the bay to such places as Sipson's Island and Hog Island, and of course the outing to Nauset Beach the "OSB" (Outside Beach) if your cabin won "inspection" for a a full week running. From an aesthetic angle, one of the images that sticks with me all these years was when the sun was lowering in the West it played out on Hog Island across the bay to the East, giving the sand dunes and the vegetation there (sea spray roses and hog cranberry, I love 'em!!) a beautiful gold-green color. Magnificent. To this day, sometimes when I have trouble sleeping (alas a rather chronic condition) I summon up those images, and it is really soothing!

Well, I could go on and on but I guess that's enough for now. Possibly we could communicate directly and not take up forum space...apparently I have not been on the site long enough to be allowed to send a private message. If you like, let me know your e-mail address...or, we can just continue posting, no problem. In any event, it is great to be able to trade memories with a fellow PBC alumnus!!!

Take up the space! I think this is all great!

CapeFanatic---Thanks for the response. I do remember those views from flag raising. They were amazing! I also remember waiting on the steps to come down for activates to the beach. You could see the islands, the OSB and the flats. When i was a counselor there we would take the Nile on over nights to hog island and even in to big bay. One year i got it stuck on a sand bar and we had to get it towed off.

My camper experience was all about sailing. My final year as a camper i made master sailor and that (and girls) was all that i cared about at camp that year. I know Bart could be a pain when it came to racing. All the kids who skippered were to some degree. In later years when i was a counselor, we tried to tone it down alot, but the competitive spirit was always there. PBC was always know for its great sailors so i think that was part of it. I remember crewing for Billy Whitelaw in a PBC cup race and getting yelled at because I laughed when he jibbed. Still, PBC was were i learned to love sailing and when i was in high school, i even won the sailing cup as a junior and a senior. My family also really got into it and did a lot of cruising.

Being a counselor at PBC was also a blast and allot different from being a camper. You still got to have all the great camp exeriences, but allot got allot of time to play. I did that for 4 years from 1972-1975. It was the exact opposite from my high school (very strict) and we were all treated like adults by Jim, Barb and the program directors. We also got to be friends with counselors from other camps and we would often spend out nights off together "partying on the Beach" at Nauset. It was also cool how kids who were campers would come back as counselors. One of the kids that was in my cabin my first year was my co-counselor my last year. Also when the camp closed, the counselors that year invited a number of us back to be at the final dinner. I think 5-6 of those kids had been campers while i was a counselor.

Finally, do you remember Klutz?..he was one of the skippers in 69, with Bart, charlie smith, Benji, and cheryl smith....????
talk to you later...

My e-mail is [email protected]

Camp Viking, Pleasant Bay
I was a camper at Viking in 72- cabin 4, 73 - cabin 5 (Honor Cabin), 74 - cabin 8 , shop counselor 78 cabin 6 and 8.

Ced died while sailing a sunfish on PBay and a storm hit.

His will specified land had to stay as boy's camp or wildlife sancutary.

It is currently a sanctuary. No development, no camp.

Whenever I tie a knot I think of camp.

Had my first beer at the Yardarm which still exists in Orleans.

Digger,
I was at PBC when you were at Viking as a camper. I dont remember the Yardarm , but i do remember the Landho pub!. I had many beers there. The head of sailing at Viking once picked a group of us up when were hitch hiking back from a concert in Hyaniss. I think his name was Chris LIncoln, but i am not sure any more. Niceguy and a good sailor. The PBC kids always though the Viking whale boats were cool...

That was Tom Lincoln and he is still on the Cape. I went to Land Ho this summer and it is exactly the same. They still ahve those Roast Beef Sandwiches.

Digger, I was at Viking at the same time you were. I drove up the Viking road as far as I could. It was essentially the same except that near the end the road branched out. One took you to a huge clearing where there was a large house. The other to a cul de sac where there wre a coupl of houses and he third to the right had a fence up that said "Private Property"

Cape Cod Camps
I was at Namequoit from 76 through 78. I remember the Ewing brothers and the fantastic Odin ceremony to select the crews for the regatta. I still call bug juice that is too thin "Beck juice!"

N/A day was the first time I ever danced, ever fell in love. Don't stop thinkin about tomorrow. I can still see that lit court at Avalon when I hear the song and close my eyes.

The rafters of the dining hall at CN had so much history, I hope those pennant we all worked so hard to win are still somewhere.

Anybody care to recount Bloody Benny? Was told to me by a ewing in a torn shirt, rushing into our cabin at 11PM or so - - clutching his pocket knife. All I can remember is the spooky blue light, from a lighthouse, out on an island...

DQ treats from our counselor, making a sailboat in wood shop, pitching for the baseball team. performing "The Important Papers" in the talent show.

Learning the stages to get to be skipper taught me to study.

RedSox fan to this day I can remember the summer of 78 hearing the pennant race in the dining hall.

Namequoit taught me so much more than any school ever did.

I ended up teaching sailing at a yacht club in CT later on in my HS years, and I emulated Chaucey and the Ewings. I could teach to do a dock landing better than anybody!

I found this thread while looking for a camp where I could send my son... sadly no Namequoit. Any recommendations out there?

Viking
I also went to Camp Viking. I believe it was 84 and 85. Last years of the camp before it moved up to Maine and became Portinamicut. I was an AC there for a year. I have extremely fond memories of my days in camp. Kenny Manaeker climbing the mast of a whaleboat in a storm. Jake teaching me how to steer a cape cod merc in heavy winds. The damn blisters on my hands from holding line with no sailing gloves (Tom the owner said we werent aloud to wear em). The dances at Avalon etc. Many many memories. Color wars. French counselors teaching me to use a windsurfer.

What a great experience!

Viking daze
Yo Sidecut, we covered sopme of the same time at Viking - I remember some but not all of the guys and stories -

The legend of Nahan Eldredge - Nope.

Sampson and sipson islands - sailed around them.

The outer beach trips to the cabin including when you became an AC digging he new outhouse. - Outer beach was the bomb, never forget those trips. last one in 75

A trip tp monomoy where we were caught in a huricane and had to make it to Stage Harbor for refuge - hmm, avoided those ones . .

Of course the intercamp regattas ( I wonder if anyone ever retired the cup) - You could only skipper 2 races in a row - got the lead after 2, then sat 2, then the last race wind came up big and Tom gave me big Frank Lundy to crew and hold the boat down. he did.

SLS/JLS with Lincoln and Lewellyn - Holding the massive Tom Lincoln underwater until he emerged to try to take you out for SLS certificaiton - yikes! but Jack Carter just kicked him around and said it was easy!

The amazing treasure hunts - "its such a fine line"

small stores - been there - great long walks, much mischief
VVA6 ??
Nav Cabin - hmm
Rifelry Range - I only remember archery by the water - ka thunk at 20 yards, then he'd put them further out and we'd dig thru that wooden box for a bow strong enough to send them all the way out.

4 square - ?
evening Sail - I remember folding lots of sails and scrubbing lots of hulls before the races . .

The great assortment of boats from the mercs to the whale boats to the FD and Whistlers. YES, just the best. don't forget the aqua cat, could cut the sandbar ridiculously fast with inches of water - made it most of the time and had a few spectacular grand outs.


Counselors:Lincoln, Buckle, Grant Millard, of course Beanie, Leroyer, Iver, Todd Silberman, Tom Madden, Rankin, Dean Chamberlain, MAtt, MArvin,

Grant bought me beer. Liked that, but it was warm
Madden - tennis counselor from Alaska - played all instruments, best on the trombone and had the sweet girl that lived next door drop in and say that was a nice bathtub we had last night Tom . . - umm, liked that
Buck was Ced's boy, never changed. where'd he end out? Always seemed stressed about making it work
Ced - the patriarch. was it the black hawk? stout inboard. but he dies on a sunfish - hmm dunno about that.
Beanie - dangerous pilot -
Rankin - the bible toting archer
Todd - the serious one, taught me a lot about sailing. still have those knots in my head, down to the backwards bowline he taught me . .

The Babe: you dont eat your vegetables you dont get no ice cream.
No Man, it was "wegebles," not "vegetables." man his food could really be bad. enough to convince me to never join the navy!!

Who else was there - John Lennon (Really!), Tony Davis a kid I knew form home, Jack, Frank, hmmm, will ponder that a bit. started in cabin 6, then 9, bosuns, JC, all good times. Brought a stereo out the the JC cabin that year and played early Springsteen and the Doors alot . .

What about the nurses - that was the place to be - Lewellyn spent a lot of time there. who wouldn't be horny . .

I was there 72-75 or so. Since your kid is going to the cape, you must be east coast - I moved west, and didn't go back, but thinking about a visit this summer.

dems were the days, so fine. ready to quit work and just lapse back, sail and shoot arrows all day long.

MC

MC, who are you? Drop me a line at [email protected] and check this out:

http://www.campvikingcapecod.org

Tag

Hmmmm... maybe I'll cruise out that way next time I'm on cape. All this reminiscing is making me nostaligic and I had nothing to do with any of these camps!

I was at Viking in 1970 and 1970. Seem to remember most of the names I've seen here. Definitely remember Iver's supercharged Corvair, and the Babe, Ced, Tom Lincoln, Beanie Smellyonion, Nauset Beach, whaleboats, etc. Good to see that people still have great memories of the place!!

camp Quanset
I went to Quanset Camp for 4 years in the late 50's. Nothing but fond memories of those summers. Sailing, horseback riding. Camping out at OSB, dances with Tonset and Viking, and Namequoit-Quanset Day where every year one full day was spent at each others camps. We alternated as I recall. We sailed in Baybirds and flatbottomed boats called Sharpies. We had this large cat boat I think, named Tioga that could carry a bunch of people. We got to sail on that to OSB when we camped.

PBC was right next door to us. I never knew anyone from there though. As I recall our two camps never mixed which seems kind of odd.

Quanset and PBC
Andiw,
I went to PBC and was a counsellor there from the late 60's to mid 70's. The reason Quanset and PBC didn't get along was because the directors of each were related to each other and always in competition with each other. One year as a counsellor, i let the kids from my cabin on a sleep out at the bluff run up and down the Quanset swimming dock. The PBC camp director was pretty angry at me and i remember him telling me that he had enough problems with his relatives. Anyway, that later calmed down and I got to know abunch of the Quanset counsellors.