The next Chappy potluck is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 3, hosted by Marvene and Bob O’Rourke. Please bring a dish for six. We start filling up on the appetizers at 6 p.m., then stampede for the buffet line when Marvene rings the chow bell at 6:30. The atmosphere is very cozy in the community center this time of year with the couches pulled up to the crackling fire. Remember to sign up to be host while there or phone 508-627-8222. Both March and April are still free as are the second potluck in May and the season-ender in June. Summer is just a few potlucks away.

You will have already read plenty about the snowstorm last weekend but let me fill in a few details. The Chappy ferry shut down Saturday at 10 a.m. The wind was howling out of the northeast and the snow had arrived. I figured that we had better stay put and preserve the ferries for emergencies. The good thing about a northeaster being a snowstorm is that folks just naturally stay home. If it was just raining they would be more likely to want to go out and be disappointed to find the ferry shut down. I believe that this one actually qualified as a blizzard. The top wind speed at the ferry point was 58 mph at 2 p.m. Saturday.

We of course got a lot more snow than expected, while other predictions fell short. The high tide for Saturday midnight was supposed to be a couple of feet higher than normal. The water came up a bit into the street but no further than the previous noontime tide. Granted the highest winds were around midday and had abated a bit by the middle of the night. We started running the ferry again first thing Sunday morning since the wind had eased and backed around to the north. I expected the Chappy slip to be choked with seaweed and pier lumber. There were no more than a couple of bushels of weed and a couple of planks. It was a good test of the new configuration of the bulkhead recently rebuilt on the south side of the slip. The top of the wall is now actually a level concrete slab a few inches lower than the top of the old wooden bulkhead. That lowering, along with a smoothly curved edge, encouraged the seaweed that did show up to wash right out of the slip at high tide.

Curiously the tide at noon on Sunday was the highest of the three storm tides. At the time that the ferry resumed service it was two hours after low tide and the water was up in the street only a few inches, but all other conditions were within reason for running again. I figured that it wouldn’t get any higher because the wind was dying and backing. Well it kept on coming up and at maximum was over six inches deep at the foot of the Edgartown ramp. If you drive slowly enough through that depth of water there will be no splashing and just your tires get wet. It’s probably less salty than the snowmelt on the salted roads. Anyway, it’s always your choice. You can always wait until the water goes down.

This snow was perfect for snowball-making at the outset, unlike the previous storm that brought very dry fluffy stuff. Last winter the big storms left four-foot-deep drifts across the paved road in the vicinity of Brine’s Pond in spite of the diligence of the snowplows. This year I am determined to avoid spending hours digging my truck out. As an experiment I put up 150 feet of snow fence on the community center tennis court land. My granddaughter Emily happened by and asked cheerfully, “Grandpa, how does it work?” All I know about snow fencing is where to buy it. I just figured there had to be enough room between the fence and the road to accommodate the volume of snow that would fill the road. This storm was not a good test since the snow wasn’t the drifting kind. Wherever a snowflake landed, it stuck. Not to worry, I’m sure there is more snow in our immediate future.

The Trustees of Reservations’ Chris Kennedy is hopeful that the beach route to town will be drivable by the end of the week. There are about a dozen laws of physics vying for predominance at shaping Wasque and the battle is far from over.

Send Chappy news to peter@chappyferry.net.