Eastham Ocean Beach RIP

On May 5, after years of emotional debate on whether or not to build a town beach between Nauset Light and Coast Guard beaches, Eastham voted 502-476 to totally abandon the project (a 2/3 majority was needed to continue). The Ocean Beach project began in 2002 following a decision by the National Seashore to end drop offs at Coast Guard beach. Nursing a long time grievance from the loss of parking spaces at Coast Guard Beach after a 1978 storm, this decision was the final straw. A group of residents discovered that the town of Eastham owned 127 acres on the bluff south of Nauset Light and formed the The Ocean Beach Committee. Committee members worked hard to address conservation and cost concerns. On Monday night a majority of town residents decided to leave the undeveloped area alone. Even though The Committee failed in its primary goal the effort caused the National Seashore to set aside 72 parking spots (62 at Nauset Light 10 at Coast Guard) dedicated exclusively to Eastham residents. Here's the story of Monday night's vote in the Cape Cod Times.

Learn more about the history of Eastham's Ocean Beach here.

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Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 May 2008 )

Devastation in Burma

Before and after Cyclone Nargis, NASA images

On May 2 Cyclone Nargis swept out of the Bay of Bengal and made landfall on the low lying Irawaddy delta region of Burma with peak winds of 135 mph. The storm devastated life and property. As with Hurricane Katrina the worst destruction was wrought by the storm surge. The images to the right (courtesy of Wikimedia and NASA) show the delta region before and after the cyclone. Note how much of the land is covered by water in the bottom image. Here's a sense of what the storm was like on the ground:

"Kwagyi is a village on a river island which is so low and exposed that during the twelve hours of Cyclone Nargis’s spate, it ceased to be an island at all. The waters were six and a half feet high; they covered everything except the buildings, and many of those had been blown away... Myint Swa the boatman climbed a palm tree and hung on for dear life. His wife and eight children cowered in the boat and rode out the boiling waters." Kenneth Denby in Pyapon, Burma for Timesonline UK.

Over 1.5 million people are reported to have been severely affected by the storm. The death toll may reach 100,000+. Help has been offered by world agencies. Unfortunately the prideful, corrupt and worthless dictators of Burma have only recently begun to accept it.

Here's the Wikipedia entry on Nargis

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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 May 2008 )

Cape Cod surf outlook week of May 4

nantucket buoy

Outlook as of Saturday 9am - N wind at 25+ today... with rain. N is for Nasty. Tomorrow is N at 15+ but sunny. Looks like the wind will be blowing hard from N and NE for the next week.

Friday 6:40am - NE wind building today and blowing hard from NE and N well into next week. SE facing beaches should offer some clean chest+ waves. Cape Ann might be a good bet: Long Beach, Good Harbor, Cape Hedge. Or maybe Devereaux in Marblehead.

Thursday 9am - Ankle biters out there now. Victory at Sea on the way. The story for the next few days is wind. Today will be SW at 15+. Tomorrow wind will shift to NE at 10+ and become N at 30+ on Saturday. Sunday should be clean up day with new storm moving in early next week.

Wednesday 9:45am - Knee high; NW wind shifting to SW this afternoon; low tide at 7:54pm. Nor'easter coming through on Friday. Saturday is clean up day with chest+

Tuesday 10:15am - Knee to thigh E swell with light wind today and tomorrow. Low tide at 7 pm this evening. Sunny.

Sunday 6pm - Monday looks like chest high in morning, dropping through the day. N wind at 10-15 is forecast, shifting NW in later afternoon; low tide at 6:05. Tuesday and Wednesday might offer clean thigh highs. Next Saturday is showing head high.