Cape Cod Duck Boats Sink!

by Bill Russo, 

reporting on location

 from Columbo's Ristorante on Main Street in Hyannis

Sad times are ahead for thousands of Cape Cod Tourists and locals as one of the island's favorite attractions is being forced to cease operations.

Near the 'Dog Days' of August in the Summer of 2019, the famed Cape Cod Duckmobiles will stop rolling down the main streets of Hyannis and cruising through the waters surrounding the unofficial Capital of Cape Cod. 

It isn't that they are not popular. The big yellow and blue amphibian vehicles are almost always fully stuffed with visitors as well as Cape Codders as they make their way down Main Street to the harbor and then on to a Lewis Bay cruise. 

It's 'insurance' that's killing this renowned crowd pleaser, which waddled its first 'ducks' down the main streets of Cape Cod's only city, back in the 1900s.  

Insurance companies in the United States are declining to review the policies of companies like the one that operates on the Cape. The Cape's Duckmobiles have a fine safety record, but other amphibious vehicles have been involved in a number of accidents. Just last summer at the Branson, Missouri tourist area, high winds overturned a similar vehicle and 17 people lost their lives.

The Duckmobiles motor down Main Street for the last time on August 22, 2019, after decades of service dating back to 1995.

Main Street Hyannis

A lot of people hope that somehow, a way will be found to for the boats to keep running - they have safely carried some 30,000 people every summer.  

If they are gone for good, Main Street and the Harbor, just won't seem the same.

Shown above, Hyannis Harbor, leading to Lewis Bay, one of the many sheltered, watery oasis areas surrounding the 64 mile long island/peninsula that is lovingly known simply as,  

"THE CAPE".

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