Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

March 17, 2015

Beach Day!

That's right, I said it! Beach Day!  We'd gotten 2 inches of snow on Sunday night, but yesterday dawned clear and cold, but by midday the temps were back up to the 40s.  I was in Sandwich and decided to head to the beaches instead of going home to do boring laundry and watch boring TV.  

I started out at Sandy Neck, in E. Sandwich/W. Barnstable.  It was very windy so my attempts at beach combing there were cut short.  I forgot how much I missed the sound of the waves.  Last time I was at the beach was some time in January! 

The erosion has gotten worse.  There never used to be this flat stretch of sand 'back in the day'.  It was more sloped down from the parking lot and there used to be stairs but those are all washed away.

Nice rollers though.



Looking west towards Sandwich

Looking east.

There used to be way more dunes.  I don't have a four wheel drive so I have no idea how the actual Neck part looks.


Then I drove to downtown Sandwich and I had to stop to take a picture of this barn because in all my life, I never once noticed it, till a couple of weeks ago.  I pointed it out to Russell and asked if it was always there and he said that he never noticed it either!  

It makes a pretty pic though.

This is next to the barn.

Stopped at Mill Creek and Boardwalk.  Nice to see it flowing again.  The blizzard at the end of January deposited so much sand at the mouth of the creek that the tides couldn't flow freely to clean out the marshes.  This meant a major threat to the shellfish beds that weren't being washed out with clean salt and fresh water, and possible flooding in town.





This is bad. Very, very bad.  The dunes are all gone and now you can see clearly out to the Bay.  The town keeps trying to replace sand at Town Neck but it's constantly being washed away now. 





After I left Boardwalk, I decided to head to Town Neck Beach to see the devastation for myself.  Stay tuned.

6 comments:

  1. You do live in a gorgeous area JoJo and I always enjoy your pix. Erosion is just part of nature which one has to accept. In NC they have tried replacing sand but it's really somewhat pointless.

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    1. Thank you! We really do live in a nice place. But the erosion has gotten 10x worse over the past few years. It was gradual. Storms seem to be more intense and it makes the erosion speed up. I don't know what's going to happen if we have a hurricane this summer or nor'easters during high tide. Town is probably going to start flooding.

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  2. Sorry about the erosion in the area, but good to see the weather was very nice for you to enjoy an outside day!

    betty

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    1. It felt so great to be outside. I was actually getting a bit too warm in my winter coat, even when I returned to the windy beach.

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  3. Beautiful pictures! I've only been to the ocean a few times but I could stay there all day long...

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    1. Thanks!!! I am very lucky to live so close to so many beaches! Of course in summer they charge an insane amt to park there (unless you buy a sticker), and the tourists crowd them too, which is why I don't buy a sticker and just avoid the beach from Memorial Day to Labour Day.

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