A beloved busker is back living on his boat in Provincetown Harbor after years of friction between the musician and the town's harbormasters.
That's according to Jack Styler of the Provincetown Independent.
CAI's Gilda Geist spoke with Jack to learn more about what one liveaboard's story tells us about housing challenges on the Outer Cape.
Gilda Geist Who is Thomas "Damon" Gorham II?
Jack Styler Damon Gorham is a well-known musician in Provincetown. He's been in town since 2012, and if you've been in Provincetown, especially in the summer, and you've seen people playing music, there's a good chance that you've probably seen Damon out there. He plays guitar and flute. He also is a part of the popular band The Barmaids, which plays gigs in Provincetown and around the Outer Cape. So, he's really been a staple in the Provincetown music scene for over a decade now, and he's really beloved in town.
GG How did Damon come to live on a boat?
JS Damon's housing story is like so many artists and people who come to Provincetown. He first came to town in 1991. He then left town for a couple decades. And he came back in 2012 and he was working on a house as a carpenter. But when that project finished up, he really didn't have anywhere to go. He was living at times in his van in Provincetown. And then during the winter, he would sometimes be able to secure a winter rental. But he told me that when May would come around, like so many folks on the Outer Cape, he would really be struggling to find housing. And so, in 2019, he first bought a sailboat. He eventually sold it, but after the pandemic, he decided to give it another go, trying to live on a sailboat as his primary residence. He bought the Little Miss Magic, which is a 35-foot sailboat, in 2021 and has basically been living on the sailboat ever since.
GG Can you explain the conflicts between Damon and Provincetown's harbormasters over the years?
JS The problem is that living on a sailboat during the winter is not allowed. There's a bylaw that expressly forbids staying in the harbor over winter because it is not safe. But Damon stayed in Provincetown Harbor for four consecutive winters. Provincetown's former harbormaster Don German really was trying to find a way to get him out of the harbor. Eventually, the community basically rallied around Damon, and he was able to stay in the harbor. In the winter of 2025, there wasn't an active harbormaster in Provincetown, so Damon was able at that time to stay in the harbor. But when the new harbormaster, Pete Whinn, got the job in the spring of 2025, he met Damon and realized that they really needed to work out a solution to this. He let Damon stay over that summer, but had a firm deadline of October 15 for Damon to leave. Damon did not leave and was potentially going to have his boat seized by the harbormaster, but instead signed a contract with Northside Marina in Dennis to winter there. The question sort of this past month in May was, can Damon now return to the harbor?
GG Damon's appearance before the harbor committee last month drew a small crowd. What happened at that meeting?
JS That was a pretty emotional meeting, especially for a harbor committee. Damon brought friends and other people in the community who came and rallied to kind of support him. But the harbormaster, Pete Whinn, also gave his side of the story and talked about how Damon has not been in compliance and really poses a significant safety issue both to himself and other mariners in the harbor by staying in a boat that he says is functionally derelict. Many of the people who showed up to support Damon and to speak on Damon's behalf said that Damon's situation is like that of so many other artists in town who are working so hard during the summer to try to make a living making art in Provincetown—something that the town is really known for and cares a lot about. But there's just not the housing. In the end, Damon was able to meet the conditions that harbormaster Pete Whinn set, and he has returned to the Provincetown Harbor. But when it comes winter, he will have to move again.
