Surfwellfleet wonders “What is a Wellfleetian? “ Do you have to be born here?  Do you have to work here? Do you drink coffee here? Are you a town character? Are you on a soap box regularly in town politics or the local paper? Is being a Wellfleetian the equivalent of being a Cape Codder, or just someone who is here?

Infamous, famous, local, or sort-of-local, here are a few examples of Wellfleetians.

Black Sam Bellamy

Although “Black Sam” Bellamy’s career as a pirate lasted less than a year, he and his crew captured more than 50 ships before his death at age 29.  He was called "Black Sam" because he opted out of the fashionable powdered wig, instead tying back his long black hair. Bellamy became known for his mercy and generosity toward those he captured on his raids. This reputation gained him the second nickname of the "Prince of Pirates," and his crew called themselves "Robin Hood’s Band." At a young age Sam found himself on Cape Cod, where he hooked up with a frisky women named Maria Hallett. The legend is that she walked the sand cliffs waiting for his return. Condemned as a witch, her spirit is still said to walk the clifftops of Wellfleet near the wreck. In 1717 Black Sam chased down the Whydah, a slave ship that just finished from a time in the Atlantic Slave trade, and was loaded with gold and booty! Sam and his crew sailed up the shore of New England where they found themselves on the wrong side of a northeastor off WELLFLEET! The Whydah got caught up in a violent storm off the backside of Cape Cod where they went aground and the ship went down dispersing it’s booty in the in the gale. Black Bellamy goes down in history as one generous Wellfleetian pirate! Today, remnants of the Whydah can be seen in the museum in Provincetown.

Caleb Potter

Wellfleet is awaiting Caleb’s return to Wellfleet after an accident and hospitalization. Caleb is a fisherman in Wellfleet,
A surfwellfleet friend Jeffrey Bergeron says:

"If a town could be judged by its collective kindness, Wellfleet could be designated the compassion capital of the East Coast."
(Article from The Daily Summit, Colorado, Jeffrey Bergeron)

Keeping with a July 4th tradition, Caleb Potter, dressed as a pirate, sauntered down Wellfleet’s Main Street. He sported a three-cornered hat, a long yellow beard, eye patch and carried a Jolly Roger flag.

Many along the parade route recognized the 25-year-old oyster fisherman. Caleb grew up in that close-knit Cape Cod community and was well-known and well-liked.

I can’t be sure what Caleb was feeling that day, but I can imagine. He was in a place he cherished, around people who cared for him. He was young, handsome, and enjoyed his work. I would guess that on that day he felt, safe, loved and lucky.

Caleb Potter worked and played on the water. He was a surfer, fisherman and sailor, and he also loved to skateboard. He had the rugged good looks of a young man who spends his days outdoors and uses his strong body for both work and play.

Though I live 2,000 miles away and two miles higher than Caleb, I would bet his and my Independence Day were much the same. We both might have pursued our particular recreational passions in the morning, he on water, me in mountains. We both participated in our local parades, and we both enjoyed the aftermath of the celebration with friends and family. As the sun was setting, I remember riding to yet another barbecue on my motor scooter, my mate on the back, reminding myself drive carefully. I didn’t want to ruin a good day.

If you have your health, are loved and know what makes you happy, you are blessed. Both Caleb and I were blessed that day.

About the same time I was heading to Psycho-Dave’s house for another party, Caleb was on his skateboard being pulled (skitching) behind his friend’s pick-up. That is when the commonality of our respective days ended.

One moment Caleb was laughing and waving at friends, the next his skateboard slid under the truck’s rear tire, and the young man crashed hard.

His head injuries were extensive. The doctors at Cape Cod Hospital didn’t expect him to live. When he made it through the night, they informed his family that his brain damage could be “unthinkable.”

It seems Caleb beat the odds. Though he has lost the sight in one eye, the good news is, he already owns an eye patch. What’s still undetermined is how quickly — or if — he can recover from his brain injury. Will he return to Wellfleet the same person who marched down Main Street as Yellowbeard the Pirate?

At last report, Caleb has begun to communicate to friends and family with notes and hugs — and has actually been able to walk short distances.

What’s as remarkable as Caleb’s speed of recovery is the town of Wellfleet’s response to a favorite son in need. There have been many benefits, concerts, clam bakes and countless prayer circles to help with his healing. I was recently sent a picture of 125 surfboards forming a prayer circle offshore in the fallen surfer’s honor.

If a town could be judged by its collective kindness, Wellfleet could be designated the compassion capital of the East Coast. To learn more check out www.calebpotter.blogspot.com.

I have never met Caleb Potter. What I have told you is just about all I know of this injured man. I was recently sent an e-mail with his story by a mutual friend, and I searched online for some more information.

But we all know someone like Caleb. Someone whose life was fine and fun then, in the blink of an eye, everything changed. In Caleb’s case, everything also changed for his parents, his friends and his home town. Like Caleb, they too will never be quite the same. I think it’s safe to say they will be stronger, more loving and more appreciative of their life and their community.

Is there a lesson to be learned?

Yes, but it isn’t to be more careful, take less chances and never skitch a ride on your skateboard. The lesson is that, no matter how you live or what you do for joy, your life can change in a second. So do what makes you happy, laugh like a crazy person and remember to appreciate every mountain, wave, sunset, smile, friend, lover and parade.

Jeffrey Bergeron, under the alias of Biff America, can be seen on RSN TV, heard on KOA radio, and read in several newspapers and magazines. He can be reached at biffbreck@yahoo.com. Biff’s book “Steep, Deep and Dyslexic” is available from local book stores or at Backcountrymagazine.com.

The Wellfleetian Omelette– The Lighthouse

Linguica sausage, green pepper, cheese, and eggs

Blackbeard – drive-by Wellfleetian, perhaps he visited Wellfleet

Sourced From the Mayflower Families
EDWARD TEACH - BLACKBEARD. Although Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina was his base of operations, Blackbeard (Edward Teach) terrorized the New England coast. Teach's beard was the talk of two continents. Jet black, it completely covered his face, even growing around his eyes and giving him a fierce appearance. He never took marriage seriously and during his lifetime he had fourteen wives and fathered forty children. In 1691, he and a sizeable crew landed at Lunging Island in the Isles of Shoals off Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There he buried a large treasure of silver bars which has never been discovered.

David Belding

(Sources WHOI and East Coast Shell Fisherman’s Association)
One of the greatest contributions to the science of aquaculture was made by a Wellfleetian, David Belding, who studied the local shellfish from his laboratory on the wharf of the Chequessett Inn. In 1911, Belding published a landmark study chronicling the life, growth, and cultivation of shellfish. His findings are still used by modern aquaculturists.

Wellfleet has been considered the home of one of the world’s great oyster beds for generations. When Samuel Champlain explored Cape Cod’s waters in 1605, he called Wellfleet Harbor “bay des huitres,” which means “oyster bay.” Over the next 200 years, a thriving oyster industry emerged. But by the beginning of the 1800s, the native oyster population was nearly depleted. Overfishing was the likely cause—oysters were popular not only for eating, but also for use in construction. Disease or habitat destruction may also have been factors.

Aquaculture began in Wellfleet as a result of this depletion crisis. Early on, young oysters were shipped in from Chesapeake Bay because the same species of eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is native to both places. The oysters were fattened and flavored in Wellfleet Harbor and then sold to the lucrative Boston market. Cultivating oysters has been an evolving and enduring part of Wellfleet’s economic life ever since.

Now, almost 200 acres of Wellfleet’s estuaries are dedicated to grants—pieces of town-owned land that are leased to commercial shellfishermen for oyster and clam farming—and approximately 100 locals are in the shellfishing trade. These commercial aquaculture grant areas exist on several of Wellfleet's beaches, including Mayo Beach, Indian Neck, and Lieutenant's Island and are marked by yellow buoys. The shellfish growing in these areas have been planted and tended by the aquaculturists and belong to them. In 2003, the Wellfleet Shellfish Department estimated that the town’s commercial oyster catch was over 2,250 bushels. At 375 oysters per bushel, close to 850,000 oysters were harvested. This limited production of oysters from such pristine waters makes the Wellfleet oyster a true delicacy.

Joe Francis – Fisherman

If you were a child growing up in Wellfleet, one of the highlights of the 4th of July Parade was Joe Francis and his spitting soft-shell clam. Joe’s legacy “float” is carried on today by “The Works” gallery pictured below.

Who do you think is a Wellfleetian? Email us.

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