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

Getting Ready

Things are finally starting to get busy around the waterfront. Two mooring companies are putting moorings in the water. The crew above was working off of Francis Street Beach today setting gear. It's very difficult to load the moorings which are stored on shore into boats without the use of the children's Beach boat ramp which is not completed yet. You have to go to Grey Lady Marine and use their facility for the time being.

Speaking of the new boat ramp, your guess is as good as mine as to when it will ever be done. I was told by a marine official that the new ramp would be ready by this Sunday, April 15th. I'm not sure they will meet that deadline. I'm thinking it will be ready to use my early May. Three quarters of the concrete slabs have been laid in place and a small part of the finger piers are built. Here's a picture of the construction I took yesterday-


There was a little buoy tender working off Brant Point late this afternoon. She was replacing buoys 11 and 13 when I grabbed her picture-
Click on the picture below.

Nantucket Waterfront News

M/V Iyanough Problems?

The very first day the SSA's M/V, Iyanough arrived here, I noticed large areas on her hull and superstructure that looks to be dimpled. I'm not sure if dimpled is the proper word or not. I took the picture below this afternoon. I circled the dimpled areas in red-
Click on any picture to enlarge.


Here's a closer shot-


I'm not a shipbuilder and I have never aspired to be one but something doesn't look right. I have never seen a ship dimpled like the Iyanough. Is this common practice in today's shipbuilding? I'm surprised they let her out of the yard looking like this. Is there anyone here that is familiar with shipbuilding that could provide some insight on this? If so, please leave a comment in the comment section. Thanks.

I added a new feature on the left. Click on the picture for a weather radar of the east coast.

Stranger In The Boat Basin

Click on any picture to enlarge.

This past Sunday morning, there was a strange boat in the Boat Basin pictured above. She was a police/fire boat from Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard. Not sure why she was here. She left at some point during the afternoon. Here's another shot of her-

Does anyone know why she was here?

I was out at Sankaty last week and saw the little black survey boat which has been tied up at the end of the Town Pier for the last several days. She was working about 1/4 mile offshore. The apparatus on her bow was lowered into the water. I'm thinking this has something to do with the 'Sconset Beach Bluff Project. Here's a picture of the boat working off Sankaty-


And here's a shot I grabbed a few days ago of the new SSA fast ferry "I Won't Go"(her new nickname) as she was headed outbound down the main channel-


Click on the picture below. It's a collection of a few of the blog pictures. Eventually I will work on removing the duplicates.

Nantucket Waterfront News