Forecasting The Future For Cape Cod Wind And Weather

HARWICH – The financial barometer is on the rise at Cape Cod Wind and Weather.

The company, which has been based in town since 1939, was purchased in the fall by Paul Vasil and Karl Ivester, both Harwich homeowners who operate other businesses in the community. 

“We had a great holiday season and we’re excited about the years to come,” Vasil said. The new owners plan to grow the company and have fun doing so, he added.

 The locally-based firm has been hand-crafting and marketing weather instruments since Aaron Davis and his son David, both accomplished mariners, began assembling wind speed and wind direction instruments more than eight decades ago. Over the years the company has added additional instruments such as barometers, temperature indicators, tide clocks, rain gauges and time clocks.

Vasil is in the construction and development industry, and Ivester is president of New England Shutter Mills with a manufacturing facility in Lawrence and an office in West Harwich. Ivester’s company creates exterior and interior shuttler products.

Some of the company’s new growth is evident in the showroom at 189 Route 28, once the home of the Pleasant Trowel Garden Center. There are a number of additions, including wooden copalas and weather vanes. The walls hold a plethora of precision weather instruments on unique wooden panels holding instruments with rich tones and contrasting solid brass or brushed nickel faces. There is even a case displaying the history of the operation through instruments dating back to the founding of the company.

“We have 75 dealers who sell our products direct to customers, many of whom had not been called on or visited by a company rep for years,” said Vasil. “There is a lot of market upside for these high quality instruments in marinas, boat yards, country clubs and gift shops from Maine to Florida.”

The new owners plan to reach out to dealers along the East Coast. Vasil said a shop in Orlando, Fla. was just signed up to sell the instruments.

The company will be doing more targeted marketing to organizations and customizing panels, according to Vasil. He pointed to a panel on the wall in which AHYC (Allen Harbor Yacht Club) is engraved along with the club’s burgee. He said the Eastward Ho! Country Club and Sankaty Head Golf Club are on board.

“These instruments are great for event awards,” said Vasil.

Ren Nichols of Allen Harbor Marine Service purchased the company in 2008. In 2010, the company merged with its nearby competitor Downeaster, which was located in Dennis. That company was founded by former WBZ-TV meteorologist Don Kent. Cape Cod Wind and Weather continues to provide product lines from both companies. After Nichols’ passing, control of the company was transferred to Rahm Meehan in 2014. Meehan sold it to Vasil and Ivester in 2024.

“Rahm wanted to get out and we wanted to get in,” said Vasil.

Along with the history of local ownership, there is another tradition connected to Cape Cod Wind and Weather. Blair Nikula, who started working for David Davis in 1973, continues to craft instruments. His father, Jim Nikula, now 96 years of age, crafted the instruments for 20 years before his son started working for Davis.

“Some of the equipment is older than I am,” Nikula commented.

“We are still analogue," said Nikula, “Some instruments have little chips, but we’ve pretty much stayed away from digital stuff, and plastics aren’t very durable.”  

The instruments tend to last for quite a few years, and the company will make repairs if necessary, said Nikula

Nikula and one other employee do the assembling of instruments. They have an intern from Cape Cod Regional Technical High School working with them. The company utilizes the carpentry program at the tech school to create some of the panels on which the instruments are placed.

“We are fortunate to have such talent in our backyard,” said Ivester.

Cape Cod Wind and Weather is one of only two companies in the country that craft high-end weather instruments, according to Vasil. The company is planning to provide instrument crafting training sessions to assure the tradition weathers the digital age