A 5 mph speed limit is enforced in the harbor.
The commercial fish piers in Stage Harbor are on The Neck at the head of the dredged channel opposite Stage Island and on the west bank of Oyster Pond River just above the first bend about 0.7 mile above the entrance to the river.
There are a marina and boatyard on the north side of Stage Harbor adjacent to the fish piers, and a marina on Mitchell River just west of the bridge. The marine railway at the boatyard can haul out craft up to 50 feet for hull and engine repairs or dry open or covered storage. Storage is also available at the bridge. Gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, marine supplies, and moorings are available at Stage Harbor and at the bridge. The marina at the bridge has a 10-ton lift; berthage in 6 feet of water, gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, storage facilities, some marine supplies and a launching ramp are also available. A launching ramp is on Sears Point.
Oyster Pond River extends from Stage Harbor for about 0.7 mile in a northwesterly direction, thence for 0.8 mile in a northeasterly direction into Oyster Pond. Private seasonal aids mark the channel at the bend in the river. Shoaling to 2 feet was reported at the bend in 1981. On the west bank at the bend there are a town wharf, a launching ramp, and a fish wharf. At 0.3 mile and 0.5 mile above the bend on the west bank are two boatyards and marinas. The largest marine railway at the yards can haul out craft up to 44 feet for hull and engine repairs or dry open or covered storage. Gasoline, diesel fuel, water, ice, marine supplies, launching ramps, berthage, and moorings are available.
Navigation:
Click the “Map View” button above to see a chart of this harbor.
Chatham Roads, at the northeast end of Nantucket Sound, is between the extensive shoals which extend northwestward from the northern end of Monomoy Island and the shoals extending 1.6 miles from the shore of Cape Cod at Harwich Port. The Roads is the approach to Stage Harbor and the prominent summer resort of Chatham on the hilly ground at the northeast shore of Nantucket Sound.
Stage Harbor Light (41°39’30″N., 69°59’04″W.), 42 feet above the water, is shown from a modular tower on the northeast side of Chatham Roads on the north side of the entrance to Stage Harbor.
Among the conspicuous landmarks approaching Chatham Roads and Stage Harbor are the domes of the National Weather Service’s installation on the eastern side of Morris Island, a radio tower at South Chatham, church spires, Chatham Light, and Stage Harbor Light.
A dredged channel, marked by buoys, leads from Chatham Roads for about 0.69 mile into Stage Harbor. The entrance is in an area of shifting sandbars and is subject to shoaling. In 2010, the controlling depth in the entrance channel was 3.0 feet (8.0 feet at midchannel) except shoaling to 0.1 foot along the right outside limit and 5.8 feet at midchannel near Harding Beach Point.
A narrow channel, marked by private seasonal buoys, leads northerly from Stage Harbor through Mitchell River to Mill Pond and has a depth of about 6 feet. This channel is crossed by a highway bridge that has a bascule span with a clearance of 8½ feet. When in the open position the bascule span will overhang the channel, providing an unobstructed width of 15 feet.
