A Tribute To Chief Lucey

Chief Lucey retired from the Coast Guard yesterday. She was in charge of Station Brant Point. The guys at the station made the above and hung it on the lighthouse for all to see. Lucey will start her new job as assistant harbor master in June.

What's Going On With Sankaty Light?

Click on picture to enlarge.

When I was out in 'Sconset today, I spotted something on Sankaty Light. Upon closer inspection, I saw what appeared to be lengths of wooden strapping held together with wire encircling the middle part of the Lighthouse. Anyone know what this is all about?
Discuss.

Children's Beach Boat Ramp Progress

I shot the above clip early this morning of the new Children's Beach boat ramp. I was told that it will be completed by May 15th. At the rate they are going, I don't think they will meet that deadline. The finger piers are yet to be completed and they are still working on the bulkhead up by the parking lot. They most likely will have to stop the project before Summer and come back in the Fall and resume work. I have spoken to several people about this new boat ramp. Some are having no trouble at all launching and hauling a boat and others are having a very hard time with the ramp. It seems that there is enough water to launch a small boat. There is simply not enough water to launch a big boat with a deep V hull. One guy I spoke with yesterday owns a 23' Regulator boat. He told me he had to back his truck so far down the ramp that his back bumper and wheels were underwater so his boat would float off the trailer. I don't know what the solution to this problem with the new boat ramp is but I know I will not be using it to launch or haul my boat. I will be using the ramps out at Madaket.

I went out to check out the Sesachacha Pond opening this afternoon. It was still flowing out nicely. The ditch took a turn to the north at some point between today and Sunday when the pond was opened.
Click on picture to enlarge.

Remembering Peter Miller

Peter Miller died in a fire at his home today. He was 80. Peter was a fixture down at the waterfront for as long as I can remember. We all called him Peter Puck. I don't know how he got that nickname. Most every day you could find Peter sitting on a bench behind my scallop boat on Straight Wharf. It could be 10 degrees and he'd be sitting there all day. When I came in from scalloping, Peter would be there on the bench. We would talk about scalloping and how good it was years ago. Many people don't know that Peter was a banker once a long time ago in New York City. For some reason his life took a downward turn and he discovered the bottle. The last time I saw Peter it was late one very cold day this past January. He had fallen on the dock and was unable to get himself back up. I just happened to be there and discovered him. I helped him up, dusted him off and offered him a ride home. He said no and that he had to go to the A&P to go shopping. Your battle is over, Peter. May you rest in peace.

Sesachacha Pond Opened To The Sea

I went out to watch the opening of Sesachacha Pond to the sea this afternoon. It was a successful opening.






An old salt chum of mine sent me this picture of the break at Smith's Point he grabbed from an airplane-

Alabama

Any rag boat fans, the schooner, Alabama is here tied up at the east face of Straight Wharf. I went down at noon time to have a look see. Not sure why she's here and she didn't appear to have any sails. Here are a couple more pictures-




Click here for info on the Alabama


The little western rigged sea scalloper, Donna Marie was tied up at the Town Pier today. I spotted her working off Sankaty yesterday.


Today was the day the new Children's Beach boat ramp was supposed to be completed. They have a ways to go. The finger piers along each side of the ramp are not finished and the bulkhead on the south side of the ramp is not completed. The ramp is open which is good news. Here's the crew working on the bulkhead today-


George Riethof e-mailed me a link to some pictures he shot from his airplane the other day. It shows the hundreds of coir bags from the man made bluff that collapsed at Sankaty last week littering the beach at Surfside and Nobadeer. Thanks for the pictures, George!

Click here for George's Pictures


Click on the picture below.

Nantucket Waterfront News

Click here for a picture of the dragger, Lady Of Grace which was raised off the ocean bottom this week


Coast Guard press release regarding the above Lady Of Grace photo

Mess On Beach/Hummock Pond Opening

I went to Cisco Beach to check out the Hummock Pond opening this afternoon and was shocked and dismayed at what I discovered out there. Hundreds of coir bags from the man made bluff project at Sankaty that collapsed last week were littering the beach as far as the eye could see in both directions. I can only imagine the hundreds of bags that are on the bottom of the ocean waiting to be snagged by commercial bass fishermen. How many boats will be in danger of these bags getting wound up in their wheels (props)? Here are a couple more pictures of the coir bags littering the beach-



After going through the obstacle course of coir bags on the beach, I finally made it to the opening of Hummock Pond-

Beautiful Day At The Waterfront

Beautiful day to be around the waterfront today. It felt almost like Summertime. The above shot was taken at Brant Point looking down the main channel. There was hardly any boating going on today. The new Children's Beach boat ramp is not completed as of this writing. It is open to the public, though. I have not personally witnessed anyone attempting to haul or launch a boat in the new ramp but I have heard stories of people that had a great degree of difficulty hauling and launching in the new ramp yesterday at high tide.

Here's what the ramp looks like now. I took the picture on Friday. Notice the piers have not been completed yet.


I'm not sure when this project will ever get done. Hopefully it will be completed by Memorial Day when the boating season really starts to get going here.

Here are some more scenes from today-

Children's Beach Boat Ramp

Just got back from the new ramp. It was dead low tide and there was approximately 8-10"[EDIT: 30" of water. Sorry for the confusion] of water depth in the ramp. I need at least three and a half feet of water depth to launch my boat. I don't know how this new ramp is going to be usable.

Discuss.

Break At Esthers

Took a ride out to Madaket today to check out the break at Smiths Point/Esthers. It's about 200 or so feet wide. When I was there, the tide was rushing out very strong. If this cut stays open, it will make a nice short cut for guys running down to the backside of the Island from Madaket. Here's a picture of the cut George Riethof took from the air. Thanks, George!

Click on any picture to enlarge.


Here's another picture of the break-

There were a few seals lazing around on the beach there. Here's a few shots of them-









Here's a video clip I took of the above seal-


The old Egg Harbor boat that was taking a beating at the old Shipyard finally sank the other day. Too bad, she was a nice old boat.

Death of an Old Girl

The old Egg Harbor boat has succumbed to a watery grave.
Pictures later tomorrow.

Storm Damage

I went out today and grabbed some shots of the storm damage to Sankaty Bluff. Also there was an Egg Harbor boat getting smashed apart at the old Shipyard this afternoon. Click on any picture to enlarge. Enjoy.









Click On The Picture Below

Nantucket Waterfront News

Storm Aftermath

I went out to Baxter Road this morning to observe the storm damage to the man made bluff. It was horrific. A huge section of the man made bank was lost last night. When I was there, I observed hundreds and hundreds of 12' pressure treated four by four pieces of wood floating around and drifting to the north towards Hoicks Hollow and Great Point. The site was littered with empty coir bags. Several sections of terrace measuring between 20 and thirty feet in length were floating dangerously out to sea. The people responsible for building this bluff have an enormous clean up on their hands. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pieces of lumber and huge sections of terrace are going to be littering our beaches in the next several days. Also, there are hundreds of empty coir bags drifting around offshore endangering birds, whales and fish not to mention boats transitting the area. People don't realize how bad this is until they go out there and see it for themselves. I took the above clip of the man made bluff project this morning about two hours before high tide. Here are some pictures I took-

This is looking north towards Sankaty Light. Notice all the sediment in the water and how far it extends out to sea.

Here a large section of the man made bluff was washed out to sea leaving several empty coir bags behind. These empty coir bags will eventually break loose from the beach and drift out to sea.

This shot is a section of the bluff that had at least two sections of the terrace removed by the waves. As I said before, these terrace sections are between 20 and 30 feet long.

This picture was taken from the Polpis Road looking towards the opening of Sesachacha Pond. Notice the waves breaking over the dune into the pond. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture.

UPDATE: Children's Beach Boat Ramp

The completion of the new Children's Beach boat ramp has been delayed yet again. This time until the 27th of this month. This past friday they removed the cofferdam and flooded the ramp. I was down there today and everything looks fine except for one thing. It looks to me that there isn't enough water to launch a boat in the new ramp. The pitch looks to be much too shallow. I was there this afternoon about an hour after dead low tide and there was only a foot and a half of water in the ramp. Not nearly enough to launch a boat. At high tide, it looks as though you would have to back your vehicle half into the water to have enough water in which to launch your boat. I hope I'm wrong about this but I've talked to several other people and they all said the same thing, there doesn't seem to be enough water in the ramp at either tide to launch a boat. If anyone has been down to the ramp lately and think differently, please leave a comment in the comment section.
Here's a picture of the new ramp I took today-
Click on any picture to enlarge.

There are several nesting pairs of Ospreys I've seen around the waterfront lately. Here is a pair I saw at Jackson's Point this week-


Batten down your hatches and check your ground tackle. There's a pretty good easterly coming.

Click here for the latest marine weather forecast