 Onset Harbor
 Making for
Onset Harbor
History
of Onset
Onset
Harbormaster
Where
to Eat
Things to Do
New Bedford Marine Rescue (TowBOAT/U.S.) -- New Bedford
Marine Rescue (TowBOAT/U.S.) -- Tow Service: (508) 990-3997
(BOAT/US and NBOA Tower); Channel 16 (156.8MHz), or 1-800-391-4869
Making for Onset Harbor
When approaching Onset from either the Cape Cod Canal or from Buzzards Bay, turn to the west into the 100-ft. Onset Bay Channel, keeping about 75 feet to the southwest of flashing white light 11 on a steel-pile dolphin. Use the latest chart for the eastern end of Buzzards Bay - the entrance buoys to the Cape Cod Canal were renumbered a couple of years ago.
In the channel, you find a minimum depth of 12 to 15 feet from the entrance to Wickets Island, then 14 feet right up to the town wharf. Around the boat basin, you’ll find from eight to 15 feet of depth. There are two anchorages, one at the town wharf and another at Point Independence - both are well-sheltered and have excellent holding. The inlet at Hogs Neck as you enter the channel may seem inviting, but the bottom is covered with eel grass, the holding is poor, and the area is exposed to heavy winds and turbulence from the mouth of the canal.
Use NOAA charts 13229, 13230, and 13236. Crossing the Cape Cod Canal channel, you may hit the fierce current blasting out of the canal (it reaches 6 knots).
Stay well within the channel - just outside the channel, the bottom shoals up (as low as one foot around Onset Island, and there are rocks). After turning at Wickets Island, you can anchor safely or pick up a mooring. At the anchorage off the docks at Point Independence, the Point Independence Yacht Club maintains a few guest moorings. Inside Wickets Island, reached from the channel to the west, the town maintains some moorings and depths on both sides allow for safe anchorage there, also. At the yacht club, launch service is available. From both sides of Wickets, you can walk to restaurants, grocery stores and laundry facilities ashore.
You can also approach to or from Wareham Narrows. Use the charts listed above for guidance.
History of Onset
Onset is a small village within the town of Wareham, which bills itself as the “Gateway to Cape Cod.” The name “Onset” derives from a form of “Onkowam” (or Agawam), meaning “the sandy landing place.”
Originally known as Pine Point, the village became known as Onset in 1877 after the Onset Bay Grove Association applied for and was granted a charter by the state legislature.
At that time, Onset was surrounded by deep forests and dirt roads, so access from the public roads at the time was difficult. In 1884, town meeting voted to lay a road from the Agawam railroad depot to the village at Pine Point, making travel over land to Onset easier. Even at the turn of the 20th century, Onset was experiencing an influx of visitors because of its invigorating salt air, sandy beaches, and distance from the cities served by the railroads.
An ideal vacation spot for families, the government undertook an urban renewal program in the 1970’s to revive and maintain the spiritualist theme and image of the town, where the wooden cottages and buildings had become rundown.
One of the reasons Onset’s image suffered in the early 20th century had to do with the publication of a book in 1891 entitled “The Vampires of Onset.” This book exposed the spiritualists who had established Onset Village as frauds. Although not one of the incidents written about had taken place in Onset, the image of the village suffered and tourism declined.
The Onset Bay Grove Association decided to counteract the damage the book had done to the town’s image and the spiritualist movement by building the On-I-Set wigwam. Its purpose was twofold - to counteract the defamation the book had incited and to worship the native American spirit guides.
Construction of the wigwam was completed in 1894 and dedicated to the native Americans of the area, the Wampanoags, with the hope of attracting tourists interested in holistic spirituality. The Onset wigwam, a shingled wooden building, stands today with a plaque that reads “Erected to the Memory of the Red Man - 1894 - Liberty Throughout the World And Freedom To All Races.” It is listed as a Historical Society monument and is the first stop on their walking tour. It is located at 13th Street at Crescent Park on the outskirts of Onset Village. The Wigwam still plays a role in town events as a stop in the many candlelight processions held throughout the years. In 1995, a MicMac Indian spirit guide performed a ritual to resensitize the healing pole inside the wigwam.
The Onset Protective League was responsible for protecting the land from over-development and for improving the street lighting on Onset Avenue. In July 1997, the town hosted a huge Victorian gala to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Merchants and townspeople were dressed in Victorian garb and merchants lined the streets to sell their wares.
A plaque on Onset bluffs is dedicated to Albert Ball of Springfield, Massachusetts, who bequeathed to the town of Wareham a trust fund for improvements of Onset Park. The town several years back added a new park to Onset. Should you enter Onset from Wareham Narrows, you can take advantage of the playground at Edward Lopes Park.
In 1946, a Cambridge woman, Ruth McGurk, was abducted from one of Onset's dance halls, which upset the quiet family-friendly feel of the town. A negative image of the town developed, and, for a time, Onset was viewed outside of the immediate area as a village of sin and corruption.
In 1960, Interstate 195 linked Providence to Cape Cod, bypassing the town of Wareham, the nearby town of Buzzards Bay, and Onset. All three towns felt the loss of traffic. Onset has rebounded once more, the result of efforts of businessmen to revitalize commercial traffic onshore on Rte. 6 (the Cranberry Highway) and with residential economic development.
In 1995, further economic development grants provided for accessibility to the town’s bandshell and improvements to storefront signage. A series of concerts and summer festivals began, including the Onset Bay in Bloom - A Victorian Tea, the summer concert series, a blues festival, and the annual Illumination Night.
You can find out more at www.onsetvillage.com.
Things to Do
From the Town Wharf, the Trade Winds IV (508-295-9402) takes people deep sea fishing and the Viking (508-295-3883) takes them on tours of the Cape Cod Canal. As far back as the 1920s, there were plenty of rooms for rent for tourists in town, and you could get salt water taffy and hot dogs at Onset Beach - same as you can today. There is food available right in the village, or you can venture farther afield.
Walk around Onset and get a feel for the town. There are shops, pizza parlors, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, a tavern or two, the Point Independence Yacht Club, and some interesting architecture.
Harbormaster
Contact the Onset Harbormaster at 508-295-8160 or you
can reach him at VHF Ch. 13 or 16. Pt. Independence Yacht
Club: 508-295-3972
Onset Bay Marina: 508-295-0338, fax - 508-295-8873, or
VHF Ch. 9 - Transient moorings and slips, laundry facility;
showers, heads, ice, fuel (gas and diesel), pump out station,
public telephones, ship’s store. Contact them for prices.
Emergency shoreside and marine services:
Tow services: New Bedford Marine Rescue (TowBOAT U.S.):
(508) 990-3997, VHF Ch. 16 (156.8 MHz), or 1-800-391-4869.
Police: 911/ 508-295-1473 (business); 508-295-1212 (emergency)
Fire: 911/ 508-295-2973 (business); 508-295-2323 (emergency)
Radio Telephone: VHF 24, 26, 87 (New Bedford Marine Operator)
Airport: Barnstable Municipal Airport, 508-775-2020; New
Bedford Regional Airport: 508-991-6160
Coast Guard: Cape Cod Canal Station, 508-888-0020, 508-888-0335
(emergency) or VHF Ch. 16 or 21.
Taxi services: All Village, 508-540-7200; Cranberry Taxi,
508-295-8577; Del’s Taxi, 508-295-0947.
Where to Eat
You can try the places below or ask around. Onset is a friendly and diverse harbor town.
The Beachmoor Inn, 11 Buttermilk Way, Buzzards Bay, 508-759-7522
Charlie’s Place, Rte. 28, Wareham, 508-295-6656
Cranberry Cottage, 246 Marion Rd., Wareham, 508-291-1515
Hong Kong Island, Rte. 28, Wareham, 508-295-0524
Knotty Pine, Cranberry Hwy., Wareham, 508-291-6024
Lindsey’s Seafood Restaurant, Cranberry Hwy., Wareham,
508-759-5544
Penner’s Place on Buzzards Bay, 4 Main St., Buzzards Bay,
508-759-3004
Quintal’s, Scenic Hwy., Buzzards Bay, 508-759-7222
Rosemary Inn, Cedar Street, Wareham, 508-295-5369
Zeadey’s, Cranberry Hwy., 508-295-3489
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