its funny how theres an article on this now when theyve been replenishing for how long? The army corps needs to understand that sandbars help control the beaches size, not replenishment. So many millions of dollars washed out to sea...
Yeah, they can write an occasional article about it, but the history of Delmarva shows that it is all about protecting all the coastal property and hotel real estate. So, while sanbars do help prevent the errosion, you can see from that Rehobeth overhead photo how close the water line was getting to the coastal properties on each side of the replenishment project.... So, we have discussed this many times in the past, but if the engineers had never started the beach pumpnig and replenishment projects all those years ago, what would the state of Ocean City be? Would most of the hotels along the shore been shut down and condemned. Would fall and winter storms have leveled the already small strip of sand which OC lies on... I really dont know the answer, but my "assumption" would be that without the replenishments, that Ocean Pines would be the ocean front, further eroding year after year. So anyway, long story short is that no one is ever going to win the replenishment battle by saying that neck trauma is more likely or that it is a safety issue. Its all about that hotel money. They control the beaches. Which is why OC has the inlet and 2 surf beaches aover 150 city blocks. Because its bad for business to have your hotel guests not being able to swim out in front of their hotel.... Some things never change. But its all part of what makes the area work. its been the same sh** for the 30 years ive been alive. erosion, replenish.... rest. repeat. years of bad sandbars, followed by years of great sandbars....
Damn Shame I'm not sure what the deal is in DE the last couple years. I'm from VB and my inlaws have a place in BB. I've never seen anywhere like here and OC where its constantly shorebreak. EVEN AT LOW TIDE! The last couple yrs have been esp bad where it's like a lake on the northside of the IR inlets, nothing is even breaking there! Freaking wierd. I've seen some nice Fall and Winter swells here,but the everyday ordinary conditions are super odd from what I'm used to and pretty seem to suck w/out a solid swell! Not that VB is the north shore or OBX or NJ, but damn its hard to find surf here in DE!
I love how they need to do research to prove that the project created a shore break. Anyone with eyes can see it. You should see what they gave us to measure the slope!
I have been surfing Md, De for about 10 years. Its obvious is you look at the difference between Assateague & all points North to the Naval Jetties. Nothing breaks unless there is something that holds sand like the groin at the jetties, the inlet & the piers. Everything dumps along a parallel line to the beach even on low tide. Not much we can do - Surfers are not going to win battles againts development. Thank goodness Md has protected Assategue from it.
but the history of Delmarva shows that it is all about protecting all the coastal property and hotel real estate Zach, your exactly right!
I have been spending more time over the last ten years around OC md and Assateague. The OC beaches seem the worst this summer that I can remember. Shore break, Shore break! There will never be enough Aloha Spirit or good will from the surfing community to overcome the $$$$$$$$ of beach goers. What amazes me is how the replenishment makes swimming more dangerous for unaware swimmers and waders but the cities up and down the coast ignor the fact. "The Jaws syndrome" in full swing. We just have continue to be good citizens and fight for what is best for the beach which would also be best for surfing. Enjoy what we have and work to improve as we can.
theyre all out in the deep. fishing voice and money too big. great idea but the success rate is low. just gotta wait til wave action redistributes sand
OC has one way off shore. they dropped all those old cleaned up subway cars from NYC off the OC MD coast a few years back, but from what I understand, that is an artificial reef about 20 miles offshore... Interesting to see the pics though. Looked crazy. Just dropping subway cars off a barge.
It was my understanding that project or at least site 11 was to restore marine habitat, and for the most part it worked. We're pulling very nice flounder off of those cars, the size of which I haven't seen in years. Makes for good sea bass too.
Artificial reef design is in a state of rapid evolution right now, and has come a long way in the last few years. It is now seen as a viable solution to erosion mitigation AND creating recreational opportunities, including fishing and surfing. Many reefs created in past years specifically for surfing have failed, but much has been learned. That knowledge is now being put to use, and the new generation of reefs should prove to be more successful. Several are in the planning/permitting stages now... none of them on the east coast, as far as I know. But they're starting to spring up around the world... England, India, California, Oz, NZ... with good results. So the concept that seemed so great at first, then was laughed at, is now back. Let's hope they've got a better handle on erosion patterns, bathymetry, swell direction/size/period, wind patterns, currents, etc... as well as the structural engineering part of the reef construction itself this time around.
this discussion has me pondering the question, are there any half-decent surf spots left in delmarva other than assateague?
