The photos were taken after the storm on Tuesday morning, at dead low tide, standing almost to Salt Island and looking toward Thacher Island. I don’t recall ever seeing such enormous waves at low tide and will stay tuned in the future. Look for the surfer’s head in the waves 🙂
Good Harbor Beach was slammed hard again by yesterday’s April storm. The high tide was hitting the edge of the dune, with more water surging through the openings in the dunes, dumping sand several feet deep ten feet down the boardwalks.
Half the newly installed Piping Plover signs were were buried in the sand, as well as the ropes.
The DPW was on the scene digging out the snack bar boardwalk, beach entrance #2.
Fresh dog and owner tracks on the dune side of the fence. Why?? Our beaches are in trouble folks. Please keep off the dunes.
With so many dogs and people trampling the Piping Plovers nesting area over the weekend, followed by the fierce storm and historic high tides, I wonder if the PiPl will even return to the nesting areas. A total of five had been here since April 3rd (what appear to be two nesting pairs and one bachelor) but I could only find one lone male this morning.
Thank you to Phil Cucuru for the Good Harbor Beach information and news of restoration plans to begin soon, after the public school’s April vacation. During the week when the school children are off premises, the DPW turns its attention to the school buildings and grounds. As soon as vacation is over the DPW will be resume work at Good Harbor Beach and all the Gloucester Beaches.
We lost about three to four feet –in depth– from Good Harbor Beach (Wingaersheek, as well). As you can see in the above photo, Phil is pointing to where the sand came up to the #3 sign prior to the March storms. This is why the tide is coming in so high and so close to the bluffs, and why the big rock has become even more exposed.
Up until the March storms, the metal fence posts were nearly completely buried beneath sand that had built up, with only about 3 inches protruding above the sand. Now they are completely exposed, with a sheer bluff, rather than a gently sloping dune.
Plans have been in place since last year to restore the dune fencing this coming summer! I was so happy to hear this update about the dunes from Phil because the fencing helps to create areas of vegetation on the beach, at the base of the bluffs, and fencing helps to keep people and pets out of the dunes and from trampling the fragile habitat, especially the wildflowers and beach grass so necessary for a strong, healthy, and vital dune ecosystem.
All three boardwalk accesses to the beach were severely damaged. Believe it or not, the storm surge was so strong, it broke away huge sections of the boardwalks, and pushed them twenty and thirty feet back into the dunes. Boardwalk number two is nearly destroyed, which is especially frustrating because the DPW completely redid boardwalk #2, and made wider for handicap accessibility, last spring. The surging ocean water poured all kinds of debris into the dunes as well, and widened the walkways onto the beach. Phil said that in twenty years of working for the DPW he has never seen the likes of the March nor’easters and, with that, such extensive damage to Gloucester beaches.
Phil measuring for repairs.
Good Harbor Beach footbridge torn from its footings and in the marsh.
The day before the first nor’easter Phil and fellow crew members added steel braces to help shore up the bridge but unfortunately, nothing was safe from the power of the late winter storms. Plans too are being developed to repair the footbridge, with the goal of full restoration by Memorial Day weekend.
Thanks again to Phil Cucuru for the updates, so glad to hear the good news!
Covering storms back to back, I didn’t have time to post on both Good Morning Gloucester and on my blog. The following are links to storm posts from the region’s three March nor’easters, beginning on March 2nd.