Anchorage

Pilgrims'

4.8United StatesCape Cod and the Islands

Shelter: NW, N, W, SW
Seabed: sand
Anchoring: Allowed

Anchorage in Provincetown Harbor at the tip of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, on a sand bottom, with fresh water available ashore.

Water
Pontoon
Beach

Guide

Approach and anchoring

The sand bottom gives good holding in the outer harbour; the ground inside the breakwater is softer and littered with debris. The anchorage is sheltered from north-west through south-west and lies open to the south and east. Anchor clear of the town mooring fields off MacMillan Wharf. Taylor Marine and Safe Harbor Green Harbor at Marshfield lie about 20.7 miles to the west across Cape Cod Bay.

Ashore

MacMillan Wharf lands you in the centre of town, with provisions, restaurants and chandlery on Commercial Street. The Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum stand on High Pole Hill above the harbour, and the dunes and beaches of the Cape Cod National Seashore begin a short walk to the north.

History

The Mayflower dropped anchor in this harbour on 11 November 1620, and the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact aboard before going ashore at the north-west corner of the bay, five weeks before the move to Plymouth. The 77-metre granite Pilgrim Monument, completed in 1910, marks the landfall.