The ferry from Boston is almost the only vessel one can see on the broad blue expanse of Provincetown Harbor this morning. But this harbor has not always been so serene.
During most of the 19th century it was filled with Yankee whaling and merchant ships. As whaling declined, many of the Portuguese sailors on those vessels stayed in Provincetown. They thought there would always be a living to be made fishing these cold North Atlantic waters. They could not know that eventually, industrial fishing would deplete the ocean's bounty. Thirty years ago, there were 70 boats in the Provincetown fishing fleet. Now, there are just 12. "It's really sad to the fishing industry die in Provincetown because it was really the biggest part of the community," says Provincetown native John Vasque, who is now the captain of a whale watching boat for tourists.
Like most of his childhood friends, Captain Vasque's entire family is ethnically Portuguese, and like them, he had expected to fish all his life. "I used to own a dragger in Provincetown and the stocks got really dwindled and really tough and I decided to change professions."
"Do you remember hearing Portuguese spoken?"
"Yes. When I was a kid that's all I spoke was Portuguese. But through the years, I've lost it."?"
"You look a little bit sad or wistful when you talk about what was with the Portuguese here in Provincetown. Is that true?"
"It was a really close-knit community. Everybody kind of knew each other and a lot of families were interwoven through marriages. It was just one big happy place back then."
That's the way Catherine Pierce, 91, Annie Oliver and other friends at the nursing home remember it too. "We were very poor, but we were very happy. This town has changed a lot, hasn't it?" says Catherine Pierce.
"My childhood days there have been a lot of changes, adds Annie Oliver. " We had wooden sidewalks. We lived in the times when it was poor but good. They had a Portuguese dance every so often. And we all sang together. It was a very happy life.
It really was a beautiful town. I've seen it change so. I don't think it's for the good. The rents are very high here. And I think it's terrible for these poor people who want to work and can't find a place to stay. I mean, it's gotten out of line!" she recalls.
For a century or more, the Portuguese of Provincetown lived alongside artists and writers who were drawn to the area's near-magical light and its relative remoteness. There were some tourists, but the town was not considered a luxurious or easily accessible destination.
But as roads improved and fishing declined, tourism and then gay tourism became the town's lifeblood. Real estate prices are now beyond the reach of most artists, and many Portuguese have sold their homes and left. "It really was a sort of classic scenario of their not being enough to sustain a younger generation," says Amy Wharf McGuiggan. Her father was a Provincetown native, and her mother was a painter.