OUR CHOCOLATE BAR MOLD
A deep sense of place infuses our work at Chequessett Chocolate. We pay homage to our home on Cape Cod with nautical packaging, featuring marine knots, ocean floor bathymetry, and famous Provincetown boats.
Trustworthy knots are the stock and trade of maritime life. They display natural, intricate beauty on top of their indispensable function. Delicious chocolate—like marine knots—brings people together. Enjoyed alone or with loved ones, chocolate is a deeply nostalgic flavor that brings us back to our happiest moments.
Before chocolate is enjoyed, the bean-to-bar process binds chocolatiers to their producers, building strong connections across the globe. We believe that marine knots represent chocolate’s power to bring different people, places, and cultures together.
Marvin McKinney
Founder & CEO
OUR CHOCOLATE BAR ENVELOPE
We believe that chocolate is an opportunity to learn about land; bathymetry, the study of the ocean floor, is just one manifestation of this constant curiosity. Before her career as a chocolatier, co-founder Katherine Reed studied cartography and the sea level rise. Bathymetry maps—existing at the intersection of these passions—became a source of fascination.
In our mission to inspire reflection about the bounty and beauty of land, we carefully package our chocolate bars in paper wrappers printed with bathymetry maps. Charting the shape of underwater terrain with long, sloping lines, the naturally elegant design of these maps is a testament to the intrinsic artistry in our surroundings.
We serve our chocolate in these memorable wrappers to commemorate our roots near the ocean and to provoke rumination on the wild charm around us.
Marvin McKinney
Founder & CEO
MEET THE FLEET
Chequessett Chocolate is rooted on the land of the Outer Cape. We are, however, deeply inspired by our proximity to the sea. Boats have long been a central part of life on the Cape and Islands. As a mode of transportation, boats navigate the vast waters surrounding our narrow swath of land. Boats are the backbone of the seafood market, supporting fisherman who make a living off their daily catches. Besides supporting the local food chain, boats—especially historic wooden vessels—build community.
The arduous task of preserving a wooden boat requires teamwork; our work in chocolate is inspired by and helps fuel these communal efforts to create and preserve these important vessels. For these reasons, we adorn our chocolate bar cases with three famous Provincetown boats: Schooner Hindu, Cutter Bloodhound and Schooner Istar.
A RISING TIDE LIFTS ALL SHIPS
SCHOONER HINDU
Built by the Hodgdon Brothers in Boothbay, Maine, the Hindu was first launched under the name “Princess Pat” in 1925. She changed names a few times throughout the first years of her life until William J. Parker took the schooner to India and re-christened her “Hindu.” The name stuck, but the schooner took on a new life during WWII as a U.S. Coast Guard Vessel. After a few years shooting down German U-Boats, the Hindu settled down in Provincetown, remaining there as a charter vessel that pioneered whale watching tours in the 1960s.
The boat fell into disrepair following an unfortunate string of events at the turn of the 21st century. Near demolition, Kevin “Foggy” Foley rallied support and saved the Hindu in 2009. He chartered the boat in Provincetown during the summer and sailed her to Key West in the winter. Years later, the boat deteriorated again, only to be rescued by architect William Rowan, who re-inaugurated the Hindu’s tradition of splitting her time between Provincetown and Key West. The Hindu is still chartered today in Provincetown.
CUTTER BLOODHOUND
The original Bloodhound was built in 1874 for the Marquess of Ailsa, a small island off the west coast of Scotland. She was designed exclusively as a racing yacht, one of the first of her kind, by the legendary Scottish yacht builder William Fife II. The Bloodhound won every race she entered until tragically burning in a fire in the 1920’s.
A replica was constructed from original drawings in the 1990’s, capturing the Bloodhound’s original grace and speed. The boat is available for charter in Provincetown. Latitude magazine said that she had "spars unknown in the animal kingdom".
The replica, built in the 1990’s in Del Ray California, is based on drawings recovered from the Kennedy Family Castle in Scotland. The Bloodhound has seventy feet of beautiful teak deck, a 22 foot retractable bowsprite and a 48 foot boom. She has 3,500 square feet of sail, including a jackyard topsail. She is available for private cruising and racing charters for those who wish to experience her timeless beauty and performance.
SCHOONER ISTAR
Istar, a 36-foot, hand-crafted, wooden coastal schooner, was launched in 2014, after 38 years of construction by the Mayo family- punctuated by inspiration, perspiration, personal loss, near-total discouragement, intense determination and, finally, complete euphoria.
What began as Charles “Stormy” Mayo and his late wife Barbara’s somewhat vague aspiration to build a wooden boat, perhaps to set sail and travel at will, evolved into a passion shared eventually by their sons, Josiah (Chequessett Chocolate Co-Founder) and Nathaniel, and ultimately by a wide swath of the Provincetown community.
Now, in June 2021, in the rosy glow of post-launch satisfaction, Mayo’s gratitude overflows to the legions of friends, family, Center for Coastal Studies staffers and assorted boat geeks who stepped in to help in the final stages of the Istar-building saga.
