During the month of August The Trustees of Reservations on a day to day and tide by tide basis have had to close off Norton Point to traffic “going by the beach” between Chappy and town for short periods of time. Ocean waves occasionally washed over the narrow part of the beach during the higher of the high tides. This narrow part of the beach is approximately where the 2007 breach occurred. That section of Norton Point is only wide enough for one lane of traffic so drivers have had to take turns crossing over it. With a continuous string of potential tropical storms forming up off of the coast of Africa we may see a repeat of Mother Nature doing as she pleases with our tenuous isthmus.

Speaking of tropical storms. I’m pleased to note that one of them will be named after me if we should get that far along in the alphabet. I watch the formation and progress of hurricanes on Mike’s Weather Page online. Mike lives in Florida and has taken an interest in hurricanes since they so often beat the stuffing out of his home state. He has gathered up all kinds of links to weather sites. Once a hurricane seems likely, the National Weather Service maps out a couple dozen potential tracks that a hurricane would follow according to various different computer models. They call the tracks spaghetti models, which they do resemble. It seems that at least one will always aim for the Vineyard.

It has been a couple of years since we closed out the summer with tropical storms that scared the boats out of the water and the visitors onto the ferries earlier than intended.

This year Labor Day is as late as it can be. Since our final week of summer will be in September, I’m guessing that it will be a bit quieter people-wise than the last week of August.

The insularly prestigious Plumb Cup now has two more names emblazoned upon it following the successful return of the Chappy mixed doubles round robin tennis tournament after a half decade absence. Ten women and ten men signed up to duke it out on various Chappy courts with the finals at the Chappy Community Center court. Debra Fanton and Robert Beams won top honors with Lisa Bass and Brad Daggett close upon their heels.

A very busy summer for the CCC is drawing to a close. A few activities continue. Yoga, pilates, tai chi and mahjong will continue through Labor Day. The foreign film series has two more screenings. On August 28 see the Portuguese film City of God and on September 4 the Italian film 8½. Shows start at 7:30 p.m. Popcorn is provided by the CCC. The ever-popular potluck suppers start again in mid- September!

I have the great honor of announcing the launching of Captain Liz Villard’s grandson Jonathan Armand Michaud-Villard at New London in the early evening of August 19. He is starting out with a length over-all of 19 inches and a displacement of 6 pounds 10 ounces. His scantlings will no doubt increase under the care of his mom, NOAA Senior Lieut. Anna-Liza Villard-Howe and his devoted dad, Timothy Michaud.

If you ride the Chappy ferry often, at some point you will witness the ferries in action during a medical or fire emergency on Chappy. When the call comes over the pagers that someone is in trouble on Chappy, the ferries quickly complete their runs already in progress. If the ferry has just loaded it will proceed hastily to the other side to unload. You may think it would be quicker to back the cars off to have an empty boat ready and waiting for the first emergency vehicle. But we have learned from bad experience that 99.9% of drivers will get into trouble backing up.

Then the ferries wait with decks cleared in their respective slips. As the emergency personnel and vehicles arrive they are rapidly transported to Chappy. Sometimes the ambulance comes from Oak Bluffs if the Edgartown ambulance is already busy. So the ferry may be on emergency standby for up to 15 minutes. Only after all responders are across does the ferry return to regular service. We can’t take a chance on somebody’s car not starting or a passenger stepping in front of an ambulance or fire truck. I know it’s inconvenient to be delayed, but we’ll all do the same for you when you’re the one in trouble.

Send Chappy news to peter@chappyferry.net.