CWR:

No need to speculate. When I worked for TOC as a deputy shellfish constable I frequently was required to leave my vehicle to the north and approach the area on foot so as to minimize any risk to the plovers. This was back in 2003-2005 but ABSOLUTELY at that time this was deemed to be prime plover habitat and vehicle access was prohibited.

CWR:

The article says "highest point in that section", NOT on the island. That section is flat, has no dunes, and is frequently over washed: making ideal conditions for plovers to nest and breed free of predators.

I just think 20 years is itself pretty speculative. If someone were arguing 20 months I'd be more inclined to listen. Just dont want to repeat the mistakes that were made on North Beach. "Mr speaker, I paid for this microphone!"

Steve, your correct I mis-typed when I said highest point on the island. However right behind where that Camp once stood is a small dune and well vegetated, so the new Camp would not see overwashes under normal and moderate storms. South and West of there yes that area does overwash.

All the Camps including mine are within ear shoot of potential plover habitat the entire barrier beach and island fits Dr. French's description. You can see current evidence of overwashes in that location in Karl Swanson's pictures.

As for Bill S. glad to see your up on your RWR quotes. I used that quote the other night at public meeting, it was sad that no-one appeared to know the origin of it. Even after attribution I saw blank stares...

Edited by author 11-06-2009 12:17 AM
President Reagan, arguably the greatest "economy" President of our lifetimes, figures all too little in folks' thinking today. Like the beach, the economy waxes and wanes. But Reagan Republican Bush and his Treasury head Hank "the hammer" Paulson have now all but guaranteed that the financial sector will once again be heavily regulated. By foisting TARP on the banks, Paulson violated every tenet of Reaganomics. What his stupidity has cost us will take decades to put right. Here on the Left Coast we build State Highways (PCH/RT 1) on barrier beaches and jetties abound. You can only imagine how much money the Corps spends on beach renewal annually and repeatedly.

Hi Steve, Good reply. I do recall that on TOC deed, the right of way was to be on the old coast guard pole line, then southerly to the point. I believe, correct if wrong, there was another deed that gave access on the outside. I was always curious why the first village owners prefered to have the traffic go by the camps instead of to the outside. A stipulation could have been no parking. Of course it don't matter now, but food for discussion. Hope alls well.

Appears that a lot of sand washed in over the tip of N/B last night. 30 mph NW winds today. Expect some erosion along beach face ultimaely leading to more sand sweeping over and around the point. Although the duneline has rounded, the beach continues to bulk up. CWR Of course I'm also wont to bring up inconvenient truths!

Tom,

TOC always did run traffic on the outside so perhaps the TOC deed does have such language. I was only commenting on our private property deed. But both our deed and the TOC deed derive from Nickerson and it is remarkable that he foresaw guaranteed access rights for TOC residents as important enough that they be "etched in stone". A practical minded old New Englander he was, I presume.

The original right of way for the inhabitants of the Town of Chatham was within 100' of the old pole line. Before that area washed away, the camp owners of the North Village requested the relocation of the right of way so they could enjoy private beaches. It would have been interesting what would have happened if the ROW had not been relocated and the camp owners shut down access when the original locaiton washed away. There are some funny thoughts that come to mind - easement by necessity and bam the road is open again.

It is common for properties that are conveyed to the inhabitants to be extended to our visitors. Most of the Town beaches were conveyed in this manner.

There was one north village camp given approval in 2007/2008 ny NHESP to relocate to the edge of overwash. The camp could not be located within the overwash area and at the time there was a nesting pair within that overwash. This recent application of the ESA shows how non-uniformly it is enforced.

The turtle road has been re-opened.. and the Pochet bypass is closed, meaning the roads are back to normal. inner road to #7 open. See TOO website for all the details

Edited by author 11-06-2009 04:25 PM
Hi All,

Sadly it was only a day trip out to the camp and then it was back to the office I go. Luckly enough my dad (CWR) and my brother had great weather out on the beach. Also luckly enough we timed the route to get on using the front beach, as during dead high tide we may not have been so lucky depending on waves and timing of making it down the front beach. It is really impressive how much can change in just a few months (from the Sept trip I took with my work buddies). I mean turning off the front beach at check pt 1 proved to be steeper then I thought (though the Dodge seemed to just power right up and over). I would have loved to see some of the summer time goers try and get up and over at check point 1. Talk about good people watching that would be.

The inner trail from that point on looked ok, some water in the road, but nothing that was would have caused any concern. Great day on the beach and at the camp. I sometimes forget just how lucky and relaxing it is to go out to the beach mid week and just take in the sun and air.

Like my dad posted earlier, we got the camp ready for the winter months ahead, however my brother and I were able to still sneak off to the front beach for a while to watch the waves crash in.

I am hoping to maybe get down there again next week as my roomates friend from work is playing a gig at the Land Ho next Thursday. I am glad to hear that the Inner road is open all the way, as I did notice the sand and the turn to go to the front beach from the washover was really soft and loose at that point, so this should make the trip a little easier.

Hope all is well with everyone and hopefully some day our paths cross out on the beach (remember if we literally cross, coming off as the right of way =P )

Geoff

Anyway, now that this terrapin event seems to be over, I have a few questions, maybe Bill S. can answer these, I did read that some terrapin hatchlings can winter over in the "nest?" I always thought turtles laid eggs, Ma left, the eggs hatched and off they went in search of wetter pastures. My biggest question is what would a hatchling, buried underground, be eating to survive in Feb.

I also meant to ask what happened to these particular hatchlings now that the trail is open. Wily Coyote? Sly Fox? Black Snake? Crow. etc.

Tom, I don't think any of your villains, subject them selves to same rules we do... with our ORVs.

this last set of high tides and and stormy weather has bulked up N/B. There is now about 400 plus feet from duneline to the tip about 30 minutes from the 2.7 foot low tide.

Terrapins have a large yolk and dont move much in their eggs so they would just survive quietly until warmer weather triggered their hatching a year later. probably these were laid late so they didn't get the requisite temperature trigger. Our cold July could also contribute to not getting the trigger to hatch. I think that's about right.

I'm struck by how how the tides are in Pleasant Bay. I think we'll see a lot of reinforcement of gabions etc in many places throughout the bay. So warm this morning you could dive for the many scallops! Last piece of Hammatt's hangar pickup up off of Scatteree Landing yesterday.

Story in the Cape Codder last Friday.

Nauset beach pact on the table
By Doreen Leggett Fri Nov 06, 2009, 11:59 AM EST

ORLEANS - Orleans and Chatham have had a joint agreement to manage Nauset Beach for 50 years, but what happens if Chatham doesn’t have a beach anymore? Will Chatham residents still enjoy their traditional access?

Those are just a few of the questions the two towns will have to grapple with because if they don’t sign a new agreement by Dec. 31, the existing pact expires next April. The two towns extended their agreement for the barrier beach for a year last fall. But a lot has happened in that one year; a village of beach camps was lost and Chatham had to close its section of the beach entirely because storms took out the outer beach and the trail.

Before the 1987 break Nauset’s outer beach extended 12 miles; after the break it dropped to eight and with the most recent break in 2007 the beach is now about five miles long, but only about a half mile of that is in Chatham.

The fact that its neighbor has such a small section left has complicated matters for Orleans. It has also given rise to the question of whether Chatham even wants to continue with the decades-old agreement.

Orleans parks and beaches Superintendent Paul Fulcher came before the board of selectmen last week to lay out some of the questions the towns need to answer.

“If we are going to be asked to police, we need to know if it is going to be open,” Fulcher said. “These are things that need to be addressed, have to be answered.”

Robert Duncanson, Chatham’s director of health and environment, said the town does want to extend the agreement. But hashing out the issues will take a meeting between staff in the two towns as well as a joint meeting of boards of selectmen.

“Let’s get together and talk about what changes need to be made, if any are needed,” he said.
One of Orleans’ concerns has already been addressed. A new trail for the end of the beach has been permitted by the conservation commission. It’s expected the parks and recreation commission, which manages the beach, will open it at its next meeting.

If erosion continues and Chatham needs to close what’s left of its beach, around Exit 6, Orleans will have to decide whether Chatham residents can still pay $40 for a permit instead of the $180 that nonresidents pay. If that happens, Orleans may collect those fees as well – now the money (about $12,000) generated by permits bought by Chatham residents goes to Chatham.

Fulcher isn’t in favor of charging full price for Chatham residents because they have had rights to the beach for so long. If needed, he is hoping a compromise can be worked out – perhaps Chatham residents can pay $75 or $100.

“I don’t think there is any question they want to preserve their ability to get out there,” Duncanson said.

Money matters because since last year Orleans has agreed to patrol the entire beach, but recent budget shortfalls have prompted town officials to ask departments to make cuts. As it stands now, the park department is barely covering the $225,000 cost of running the program. Before erosion and protected bird species issues closed down the beach for 62 days and decimated permit sales, the beach was a money-maker for the town.

Another gnarly question is North Beach in Chatham, which can only be reached oversand through Orleans. It has been traditionally managed by the parks and beaches department. Now that beach, which people have fished from and camped on as an escape from the madding crowds, may have completely eroded.

It’s unclear, said Fulcher, if the Chatham beach that remains comes under the jurisdiction of the conservation commission. If that’s the case, who will come up with rules and regulations about driving and overnights in campers?

And a new problem, added Fulcher, is how to handle the preponderance of sharks that have recently appeared offshore. Last year there were as many as 20 and a few of them swam through the cut.

“We had sharks off trails three and four,” said Fulcher. “This has changed everything. It’s another whole realm of headache.”