First and most importantly, most of this site's original HTML (about fifteen pages) was hand written by Jake Capistron and then only later edited by myself. I am deeply appreciative to Jake for helping (hardly a big enough word) to get me up and running in 1996. It is important to know that Jake did this as a High School junior and with only the distant possibility of seeing some financial support somewhere down the line. Without Jake, this site would not be as you see it today and certainly would not yet have achieved its current quality.

That said,

Welcome! I hope you've found what you're looking for at Cape Cod Outdoors TM. My purpose has been to create the friendliest and most comprehensive local outdoors page on the Net. I think I've accomplished that and with a minimum* of advertising and no hype. If you have taken the time to explore CCO, you've seen that you can aquire much of the "local knowledge" that makes it possible to enjoy the Cape's diversity and potential in even a brief visit.

I've tried to index at least the basics of all of the locally available outdoor activities. True, I've not included tennis and golf and such but I had to draw a line in the sand somewhere! These types of exercise abound on the Cape, including: horseback riding, jogging, water skiing and so forth. They are listed elsewhere on other sites and frankly, while I have done these things (and still do occasionally) they are not what I consider to be "outdoors" pursuits. I have included those interests that bring us into contact with our natural surroundings: wind, water, earth, animals and fish. I've tried to be comprehensive but if I've left out something important, let me know.

If you are thinking of building such a site for your own locale, bravo! I look forward to reading and learning from your efforts. The internet, as a "library" source of information, appears to me to be the perfect vehicle for the sporting man or woman. This is an opportunity for us to share information quickly and accurately so that we can spend more time where we really want to be, Outdoors! If you'd like to discuss the practicalities: time, research, cost, construction, legalities, upkeep and benefits, I'd be happy to talk it over with you. I don't think you have to put 1000 hours into a site to make it great (probably half what I have here), you just have to want to offer a quality source of information to the public (and maybe not be thinking of getting rich from it).

The site is designed for and looks best in Netscape. No prejudice is intended. I just like its look and feel and dislike some of the proprietary tactics of "Gigasoft". Now that Navigator is free for all to download and use, you may want to switch.

I try to update the site monthly, or more often. Obviously, when I am: fishing, chartering, sailing, hiking, birding, waterfowling, diving, camping, boating, hunting, biking, guiding, writing, partnering or parenting, the site comes second. "So many things to learn and do, so few lifetimes to do them." If I've let something go too long or something is out of date, my apologies. If you want to remind me by Email, that may help, go ahead. I'll respond as soon as I can.

The numbers. January, 1997, our first full month on the net, the site was visited 50 times. For calendar 1997, we had 7,000 hits. January, 1998, the site was visited 1000 times. For all of 1998, the site recieved over 30.000 hits. My, how things change! (March, 1999. I've just added over twenty more pages to the site; bringing the total to over ninety. Oh, my aching back!) In 1999, we got over 50,000 hits. It sure is nice to be appreciated.

Cape Cod Outdoors TM, the website, is an arm of Cape Cod Outdoors TM, the television show and my own outdoors writing and that submitted to local and national publications ( the Barnstable Patriot Ledger, On the Water magazine, the Cape Cod Chronicle, etc. etc.). I started the website, in the beginning, as part of improving my computer literacy so that I might be more helpful to my son as he grew up. The television show, the website, my PC skills and even my writing have all improved as a result of undertaking this project. In the near future, I hope to get the outdoor show to the commercial channels and to publish as Cape Cod Outdoors TM, in 2000. This would be in addition to my continuing work as a charter guide and, of course, my career as a psychotherapist. I hope you can understand how gratifying it is to succeed in serving the public in so many different ways.

Furthermore, I have created an instrument of learning and seen it appreciated by the community. We, all of us outdoors people, are more similar in our values than otherwise. Enlightened self interest is the usual basis for stimulating our protective reaction. If we continue to value our outdoors, we are likely to want to protect it. Let us all do what we can to help others find the same value we have found. And protect it.

 

About the Webmaster

Hi, I'm Michael Eichenseer. I'm a fairly candid fellow and I wanted to tell you a bit about myself so that you would know "where I was coming from", so to speak. Just using that phrase indicates I'm a post war baby boomer. And the where from is Cambridge, Massachusetts. I'm middle aged now but growing up in the shadow of Harvard University, back then, ought to suggest that I developed a certain knack for survival and an overriding interest in education. This is true.

A short history just so you know I wasn't silver spooned or fast tracked: I was a special education student until eighth grade; first public then private secondary education; I was apolitical in the sixties(!); then served in Vietnam; and finally became more political in the seventies (reading intelligence reports and seeing the discrepancies between that and what the public is told will do that to you). I've attended four universities; invested in two marriages and been blessed with one son by the wonderful woman I intend to live out my life with. Three degrees and twenty years after the war, I'm a husband, father, Licensed Psychotherapist, Public Access TV producer, outdoorsman, magazine and newspaper writer, webmaster, guide, and still an inadequate house cleaner. (Guess which one gets me in trouble?)

So where do the outdoors fit in? Well, growing up in a one-room apartment in the city drove me to it, you might say. Or rather, after the first time a friend's mother drove him and I to Beaver Brook in Belmont, I started going alone on my bike. It was four miles of city streets and highways but I found it on the first try. I was eight then and only had permission to bike one block. However, the woods were worth the risk to me and I never got caught because it was so important that I get away that I took every precaution to keep my secret. By the time I was twelve, I had permission to go a mile in Cambridge but was biking past Walden Pond to Littleton, 25 miles away. Sometimes I only had enough time to rest under a tree for a few minutes before starting back. Sometimes, I took a fishing pole or even just a hook and line and made a pole to catch fish and cook then over a tiny fire hidden away from the sight of others. I still remember many of those trips. Those were times of fulfillment.

The rest was just learning to explore further and further as I grew older and as I became more and more successful at whatever outdoor pursuit I started. My dad wasn't an outdoorsman, rarely fished and never hunted, but my grandfather, Frederick Crinion, was an incredible man. He invented the "Artic Fisherman", now called the Beaver Dam Tip-up; the forerunner of all non-freezing tipups. He took me bullhead fishing with cane poles during the summer in Wisconsin. I spent hours spent trying to sit still in his wooden boat and caught and ate thousands of fish with him. He taught me patience. What a great gift! Thanks, grampa.

Before, and again after the war, I walked steel. I was pretty unhappy and confused; even depressed at times. Then I travelled the country for a half a year and finally"got my head on straight" at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. That's where I discovered that I could survive being honest with myself and it's where I was "reborn" through facing myself. Its where I learned that taking the risk to let myself see and feel and act on what is happening inside myself is no risk at all. Ben Weaver and Jack Downing and others played a role in helping me find my way. That's when I knew I'd be a psychotherapist. I had discovered I had a small gift for seeing others after clearing away the crap of my own life. This is a lesson in itself.

More than you wanted to know? Well, you've read this far and it's still your choice whether you go on.

Going to college on the G.I Bill in western Massachusetts put me next to the woods again and for a long time. I took advantage of it and fished and hunted and discovered more everyday. I also found Tom Brown's first book, The Tracker. I read it and it showed me the possibilities. Everything else has just been taking the time and opening my eyes and senses to the world.

I know why I'm driven to learn and discover and figure out problems (psychotherapy is the most challenging task I've ever found). The why is both organic and environmental. The result is that I am interested in my surroundings and interested in sharing the wonders of my surroundings with others. I mean, experience is great but shared experience is even better. Who wants to be the only one to have slept with the mice, touched a passing deer, looked into the eye of an eagle or seen the rainbow in a fish's scales? This stuff is spectacular and its a great feeling to share these experiences. A spiritual experience, if you know what I mean.

So, by now you get it. I've had to figure out a few things, just like you did, to find my way in life. I've come to respect all of our individual abilities to grow and change (I did it, others can too). I'm in love with the outdoors (it's the healthiest place I've ever been). I figure, why not have both?

The smartest thing I've ever done in my life was living with my fear while pedaling my bike to Beaver Brook that first time. I still remember it. The landmarks, the traffic, the exhilaration of arrival.

The bravest thing I've ever done was feel.

 

Cape Cod Outdoors tm

The Cape Cod Outdoors name was first used, in television production, by Peggy Gabour. Unbeknowst to me, we were each producing our first cable access outdoor show at the same time and using the same title. Hers aired first. When I was told, I went to Peggy and asked if she was going to use the name again because I wanted to use it. She said, 'fine, go ahead, I'm done with it.' Something like that and I checked a couple more times just to make sure. I wanted the name, you see, and I didn't want to step on any toes.

After two years of producing television shows, about thirty half hour formats, and after starting an outdoors newsletter; a couple of locals tried to start a magazine using the name. They asked my show host for permission to use the name and felt they had the owner's permission. They didn't talk to me, the owner and producer or get my release. They printed one magazine and went bust. This kept me from legal action to preserve the name.

So, after a couple of brief confusions in the community, things are straight. Why tell you? Because people ask.

Cape Cod Outdoors TM (CCO) is the name of over fifty cable access television shows produced by me. It is my business name and, obviously, this website. Currently, CCO is planning another schedule of outdoor television programming. However, this will need to accommodate the time demands of: the website, guiding, CCO spinning and flyfishing products for sale over the net, charter booking services and writing for other venues. This year, 2000, I will be making a new series of outdoor television productions for the community and for video sales. In the future, I expect to take the outdoor show to commercial television for national exposure.

At Cape Cod Outdoors TM, I'm always interested in hearing of others' interests in the outdoors. If you have information you would like to share or a project you'd like to discuss, please contact me and we'll hash it over! If you'd like to be a part of CCO production: television, website, products or guiding, drop me a line and we'll see what's possible. (Frankly, one of the reasons for the reduced cable access programming is that I could almost never find anyone to help. It is just impossible to do alone and get any kind of usable tape. So if you are local and want to help, by all means, shout out.)

Well, I've got to get back to being a therapist and an outdoorsman. Perhaps we'll talk later. michael

Email Capt. Michael Eichenseer, webmaster.

You are the outdoor visitor to Cape Cod Outdoors. Welcome!

Copyright Cape Cod Outdoors, 2000