Conference vicki::boats

    I was down in Chatam this past weekend (by car) and the shoaling is
    incredible.  I was there 3 years ago and the area around the light is
    completely different.  I took a harbor cruise and the captain was a
    former fisherman.  He said the area changes with every tide and local
    knowledge is the only good chart available.
    
    And I thought the mouth of the merrimack changed a lot.
    
    Gordon
    

    The break is the primary reason why we're not returning to Chatham for
    vacation this year.  It wasnt fun last year and all the signs were for
    more problems.  I'm sorry to hear I was right.  
    
    Btw: The passage over the bar at Stage harbor wasnt easy either. 
    Unless it's been dredged, its likely to be worse.
    
     

I did two really dumb things this weekend.

1. A beautiful wood hull (with a finish that allowed you to see the wood) sail-
   boat return to Stage Harbor as I was leaving, had my attention long enough 
   that I hit a nun and gouged my gel coat. Just plain dumb.

2. Passengers uncomfortable with going out "into the open ocean" around South
   beach convinced me to try to make it over the shoaling beween northern tip
   off South beach and Chatham mainland (by Outermost Marine). Local knowledge
   hint: don't do this except at high tide. And even then think twice in a 
   larger boat.

Not having enough water to use the prop I raised the I/O and we prepared to 
push/pull it through in about 15 inches of water. Out going tide. Too soon we 
had 12. Then 10. Then... none. Vessel Lady Bee was high around on an out going
tide, approximately 4 hours before low tide! A large seal pup got to watch the
show in amusment. There was nothing to be done but to set the anchor and wait
for more water. (Actually this meant two tide cycles, since the CG didn't want
me to return at night when they couldn't see me on the camera from Chatham
Light Station and preferred I come back in the morning.)

The point? Even at high tide there is very little water here anymore. I'd say
that boats much larger than mine might even be able to make it at high tide any
more. It seems to be continuing to build in this area and seems possible that
the way may be completely blocked in the future. So, for those that are think-
ing about passing between Pleasant Bay and Nantucket Sound, your two choices, 
through the break or past South Beach, must be navigated with carefull atten-
tion to the tides as each has it's dangers. No water between at the north end
of South Beach, and extremely turbulent, confused, choppy water in the break
and the area just in front of Chatham Light. Steep swells going out, following
seas danger coming in.

I haven't been in this notesfile for a long time, so if this discussion has
been carried on elsewhere please forgive me...

After the usual delays and problems that prevent an earlier launch I finally
got Lady Bee in the water last weekend and took her out this past Saturday
and Sunday. Besides having a pretty darn nice time (even seeing a herd(?) of
seals dining on flounder), I have the following news about the Chatham break.

The southern tip of Nauset Beach has eroded even further north. Many places
(both natural and built by people) are simply vanished into the sea. The sand
that used to be part of the barrier beach has shoaled up in the break and in
the Chatham Harbor area, I saw only one or two fishing boats off the fish pier
where I used to see dozens. (in the past they haven' *all* been out that the
same time fishing, though they may have been).

The northern tip of South Beach (the name of the lower end of Nauset Beach
broken off) has connected with the mainland just south of Chatham Light. 
People can now walk across at any tide and it is no longer the domain of
boaters and water taxi fare payer's alone. This now means that anyone who 
wants to pass from Nantucket Sound to Chatham Harbor (and Pleasant Bay), or
the other way, *must* go out and around South Beach and in through the
break. One can no longer pass north or south in protected waters there. Outer-
most Harbor is in danger of becoming landlocked. There are signs of continuous
dredging there.

Passing through from Nantucket Sound to the Atlantic between the southern tip 
of South Beach and the northern end of Monomoy is also getting very interest-
ing. Matter of fact somehow I missed the entrance trying to come in from the
Atlantic on Saturday. When we tried it again on Sunday (after calling the CG
to make sure it was still there) I noticed a bouy we had missed. The thing is
that the entrance to this channel as migrated as far south as the break in
Monomoy Island, this is what through me, I just couldn't believe we in the
right place when I finally saw a break in South Beach, we were just too far
south.

Hey, this is what makes boating in the ocean more interesting that boating on
a lake where the big changes are a new place being built where just trees 
used to florish, and what new boats are out there this year, right?

john