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☀️ The Cape's Own Circumnavigator

☀️ The Cape's Own Circumnavigator

Plus: The Cape's Gourmet Popcorn Kings

Cape Coddah
July 17, 2026

Good morning Cape Cod. Today is World Emoji Day! Fun fact: the date was chosen because July 17 is what shows on Apple's calendar emoji 📅. So essentially, we're celebrating a holiday because of a design choice from an iPhone icon. The internet is a strange, wonderful place. 🤗

In this week’s Cape Coddah:

The last house on Brownell Road
The Cape’s love affair with cars
Events and live music

Let’s get to it.

⛵️ The Cape's Own Circumnavigator

Mac LaBarge, a 25-year-old Nauset High grad from Dennis, sailed into Provincetown Harbor this month after circumnavigating the entire globe, and his family paddled out to greet him right on the water.

He captains the Vela, a 112-foot schooner for Sea-mester, a program where college students live and sail for 90 days at a time. Starting in Antigua in early 2025, Mac and his crew crossed the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, and the Atlantic, dodging pirates, ripping currents, and steep waves before finishing 15 months later.

Funny thing is, sailing wasn't always the plan. A baseball injury in college sidelined him, and that's when he spotted a poster for the program. He called this P-town homecoming one of the most meaningful anchor drops of his life, a stop before joining the Sail250 tall ship parade in Boston. Read more»

🚧 The Last House on Brownell Road

Erosion keeps reshaping the Brownell Road neighborhood in Eastham, and one family is fighting to save the last oceanfront house standing there.

Richard and Nancy Hayes already moved their house at 153 Brownell Road about 44 feet back from the crumbling cliff overlooking Nauset Light Beach. Now they want to do more, putting it on helical columns and updating the septic setup. But first they need the town's sign-off, and the Conservation Commission wants a consultant to review the whole plan closely.

The neighborhood tells the story. Two nearby houses have already been demolished or lost to erosion, and one lot was handed back to nature. Coastal erosion ranks as the second biggest worry among Cape residents, right behind housing. The hearing continues August 25. Read more»

🦈 Contender's Headed for the Cape

The Atlantic's largest tagged great white shark on record just pinged off North Carolina, and it looks to be headed our way.

Named Contender, this beast measures nearly 14 feet long and weighs 1,653 pounds. Scientists first tagged him off the Florida-Georgia coast back in January 2025. He's an adult male, believed to be just over 30 years old.

His most recent ping came on July 10, and based on his path, he appears to be swimming toward Cape Cod and the coast of Canada. That tracks with the season, since great whites head north this time of year chasing warmer water and more food.

Want to follow along? OCEARCH runs a free shark tracker app where you can watch Contender and other tagged sharks in near real time. Read more»

📸 @davidlong3653 |📍Chatham

Tag @thecapecoddah to get your photos in the Coddah!

🚘 The Cape’s Love Affair with Cars

Cape Cod's car culture is alive and well, and it's really about the people. Take Cape Cod Classics, a club dating back to the 1950s. These days it draws nearly 500 members and packs the Dennis parking lot every week for what the president calls a big party for charity. Last year they raised over $11,000.

There's something for everyone. One club is all British cars, cruising the back roads in little Triumphs and Jaguars. Over at Heritage Museums & Gardens in Sandwich, a crew of volunteers has gotten 32 antique cars running again, some nearly a century old.

The common thread? Community. Folks swap parts, share stories, and match their outfits to their 1934 Fords. One member put it simply after buying her dream car: "Life is now." Read more»

Two original 27-foot Christmas Tree Shops signs are up for online auction through August 2nd, with all proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod to build affordable homes.

A Dennis Port man spins a funny tale about the 27-year quest he and his wife have shared to name their seaside cottage, running through every pun and possibility out there before deciding that no single sign could ever capture all the memories.

WATCH: The Cape Playhouse in Dennis, founded in 1927 in a converted 19th-century meetinghouse, is still bringing professional, Broadway-caliber theater to Cape Cod nearly a century later.

🍿 The Cape's Gourmet Popcorn Kings

Back in 2018, brothers Dan and Pat Smith left their careers, Dan was an architect, Pat sold medical devices, to open Smith Family Popcorn at Mashpee Commons.

The early days were rough. They wondered if they'd made a big mistake quitting their jobs. But once folks got a taste, they were hooked. Eight years later, the Smiths are cranking out hundreds of thousands of bags a year across a dozen flavors, with a second manufacturing spot in Hyannis handling wholesale and grocery orders.

Turns out the holidays are just as busy as summer, all packed into a few hectic weeks. They've even got a low-calorie popcorn for dogs, a hit with service and police dog trainers. And with every tin sold, they give 5% back to local charities. Read more»

The Freedom ferry from Harwich got stuck under Nantucket's Old North Wharf Tuesday morning after a runaway engine left it disabled, prompting the Coast Guard and island crews to safely evacuate all 79 passengers with no injuries.

Vintage baseball is coming to Martha's Vineyard on July 25, when the Westfield Wheelmen and Providence Grays face off, playing by original 1860s and 1880s rules, wooden bats, no gloves, and all.

The Nantucket Community Pool will open on Sundays starting September 13, its first Sunday hours in over a decade, offering lap swim and adult programming from 8 a.m. to noon in response to community demand.

Oak Bluffs is putting together a committee to figure out what to do with the long-vacant Island Theatre, which residents voted this year to buy or take by eminent domain for up to $5M.

Gay widower in Chatham,retired health care provider. looking to make friends with people who enjoy walks on conservation lands, card playing, wildlife watching, movies. (#106)

If one of these caught your eye, don't let it pass. Reply to this email with the ad number, a few words about yourself, and I'll make the introduction. Everything stays private until you both want otherwise. Let's get some people connected. ❤️

Want to place your own ad? Reply and send it over, and I'll work it into an upcoming issue.

SPONSORED BY:
CAPE PINES PHOTOGRAPHY

⚖️ A Mortgage, a Mansion, and a Lawsuit

The Blasch house, that giant Wellfleet mansion that teetered on an eroding cliff until it was torn down last year, is back in the news. The last owner, retired New York attorney John Bonomi, paid $5.5M for it in 2021. Now he's suing JPMorgan Chase to void his mortgage.

His argument? The bank never should've lent him the money, because he was in the grip of a "manic psychosis" tied to his bipolar disorder when he bought it. He's seeking a jury trial and millions in damages.

Legal experts say he faces a steep climb. One noted that Bonomi kept making payments for nearly three years before stopping, which looks a lot like rational decision-making. The land, once assessed over $4M, is now valued at just $385,000.
Read more»

👋 Meet: Neo
🐾 Jack (Parson) Russell Terrier
🎂 6 years old
♀︎ Male
Available to adopt at MSCPA-Cape Cod

SUNDAY - JULY 19

Andrew DiMarzo @ Flying Bridge | 1 PM
Andy Rice @ Love Farms | 1 PM
Dan Sturgis @ Shipwrecked | 2 PM
Leah & Colleen @ Island Pickle | 3 PM
Tony Disavino @ CC Coffee | 3 PM
Tinfoil Hat @ CC MOA | 4 PM
Ry McDonald @ Chapin’s Bayside | 4 PM
Jack & Oriana @ Oliver’s & Planck’s | 5 PM
The Value Leaders @ The Woodshed | 5 PM
Mephiskapheles @ Neptune’s CC | 5 PM
John Ebersold @ Irish Goodbye | 5:30 PM
Sentimental Fools @ Love Farms | 6 PM
Anthony K. @ Torino | 6 PM
The Brothers Comatose @ Payomet PAC | 6 PM
Jeff Dunn @ Margaritaville | 7 PM
Half a Mind @ Chapin’s Bayside | 7:30 PM
Yachtley Crew @ Cape Melody Tent | 8 PM
Spencer Bebon @ The Woodshed | 9:30 PM

_{Nothing in this section is sponsored. We'll let you know when something's sponsored.}