Put this number in your cell phone — 508-627-8390 — and label it TTOR (The Trustees Of Reservations) beach information hotline. This time of year, it’s a good idea to call that number before making plans to head out onto Chappy beaches in an over-sand vehicle. Mother Nature is very busy replenishing the shorebird population which requires the closure of several stretches of TTOR beach properties to motorized traffic. She is also doing some major barrier beach sculpting. Apparently, the sand that made the beach wide enough to drive over at the very corner of Wasque was needed elsewhere. She doesn’t seem to be in any hurry to put it back. So, for now, you can’t drive to town “by the beach.”
What there was of a swan pond during the winter has completely filled with sand. The old channel from Katama Bay now ends about midway between the two Wasque parking lots. There is a stairway 100 yards west of the so-called fisherman’s parking lot for getting down the bluff onto the ocean beach. As of the first of this week it was still possible to drive the length of Norton Point beach all of the way to Wasque Point, but of course not around the corner to East Beach. The message on the TTOR beach information hotline is very complete and informative.
The Slip Away farmstand is open Fridays and Saturdays now from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They have various early Slip Away veggies. In the freezer, they’ve got pork sausage and whole or parted chicken. As Collins Heavener says, “The Slip Away farmstand is absolutely the best one this side of Muskeget Channel!”
Chappy roads are narrow and winding with little room for bikes or pedestrians so it is important to make yourself visible with bright clothing, day or night. Remember that vehicle drivers might be blinded by the sun early and late in the day and won’t be able to see you no matter what. That age-old custom of riding with the traffic and walking against the traffic only makes you safer if you can be seen. None of the traffic rules are meant to endanger you. Common sense should prevail. You might have to bike or walk on the wrong side of the road to be seen.
The Chappy Community Center will start to get busy soon. The first day of Mahjong is Monday June 19. Beginners are welcome. I don’t want to hear anyone say that there’s nothing interesting happening on Chappy on Mondays and Fridays between 1 and 3:30 p.m. Take a look at the CCC website. Lots of activities are getting underway this month. A heads-up for you photographers: the deadline to submit photos for the 2018 CCC calendar contest is July 21. It’s important to have sufficient resolution for your photo submissions. The following is taken from the photo contest guidelines: Photographs should be close to 12 inches wide by seven inches high, if possible. The calendar is in a horizontal format. Please note: a digital file may be requested if photo is chosen. File size must be at least 300 ppi at 101/2” X 7”. If you don’t know what those numbers mean and you want to find out if your camera, iPhone or iPad meets these requirements I recommend asking someone at least 20 years younger than you are.
There is a sign at the TTOR parking lot at what I call the swimming beach. The sign reads, “Notice, Dogs Must Be Leashed, No Camping, No Fires, No Hunting, No Lifeguards.” I know what they mean about no lifeguards. But let’s just suppose that you are a little kid and haven’t yet acquired a worldly knowledge. You might think that the TTOR are of the opinion that people whose profession involves lifeguarding might not be desirable types to have on their beach. This reminds me of a story.
When my daughter Nearess’s birth mother Jeanne was a very little girl walking down the street in Bangor, Maine on a hot summer day, holding her mother’s hand, they passed by a bar. In the window of the bar was a sign which read “No Minors Allowed.” This upset Jeanne. She told her mother that it seemed very unfair that if you had been working hard in a mine all day long and were thirsty that you should not be allowed to go in and get something to drink. I love the plain-hearted view that children sometimes have of the world.
Send Chappy news to peterchappyferry@gmail.com.
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