Last week I mentioned that the breach was staying firmly closed. But by the time the Gazette went to print The Trustees of Reservations staff had already closed Norton Point to through-traffic. The sand connector between the islands had thinned so much at the Wasque Point end that vehicle travel across that area was no longer safe. By dawn Sunday morning there was a new breach right in front of the Schifters’ house, almost a hundred feet wide with ocean water gushing into Katama Bay as the tide rose. High winds from the south causing continuous wash-overs seem to have been the key factor in the latest breaching. Sunday afternoon the high winds reached 42 mph at the ferry point and over an inch of rain fell, but the temperature remained in the upper 40s. The high winds kept up through Monday mid-day with a gust of 33 mph at the ferry at noontime. By nightfall the wind had died, the sky was clear and there was ice on the puddles.

I headed back to Wasque at lunchtime on Tuesday thinking that I should give an updated description of the new breach. I was a little surprised to find that the opening had healed up. Maybe it was even closed up on Monday! I figured that it would be flowing for at least a week. The only evidence of the breach was a distinct difference in the color of the sand in that spot. You could see that waves had been washing over the first thousand feet of Norton Point beach. It needs a lot more building up before it’s safely drivable.

When folks ask about the current condition of Norton Point you have to know whether they are a land person or a water person. When a land person asks if the beach is open, they mean is the beach open to over-sand vehicle passage. When a boater asks if the beach is open, they mean is there an opening allowing water to flow between the bay and the ocean. So when I tell a four-wheel-drive type person that the beach is closed, they don’t know if that’s good news or bad. I have to get more specific. The beach may be closed in that there is no breach but it could just as likely be that the beach is closed to vehicle traffic. Fortunately I’m a fast talker and happy to fill in the details.

From my point of view as Chappy fire captain, I feel relieved when the beach is drivable. It means that if there is a problem with the ferry then plan B is to “go by the beach.” Last February the breach was still wide open when the harbor suddenly clogged with ice. The ferry couldn’t run and our plan B was that the Oak Bluffs rescue boat would evacuate an emergency from Chappy by landing at the beach club. The only water access was a narrow slot of open water from there over to the Edgartown lighthouse, then along the shore and out to the lighted buoy. That would not have been a fun way to get to the hospital! Plan C was a helicopter ride. Depending on your type of emergency that might be a lot of fun!

Peter and Allison Getsinger will be the hosts for the next Chappy Community Center potluck to be held on Wednesday Jan. 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. Please bring a dish to serve six. We have hosts signed up for Feb. 3 and May 4 but all of the other dates are available. Potlucks are scheduled for the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. Sign up in the potluck date book at the next potluck or call the center at 508-627-8222. Hosting is no more work than baking a side dish. You put together some appetizers, make sure that there is plenty to drink and that the chow line is properly laid out. We’ll stay after to help with the clean up. It will look good on your resume.

Thanks to all who made donations to the Chappy Community Center over the past year. The quarter-century-old building is getting lots of repair work. The big oaks that succumbed to the bud-destroying wasp are being taken down. Planning of activities for the coming summer is well underway. Last time I spoke to Lynn, we were still looking for a sailing instructor. There is a detailed job description on the CCC website.

Send Chappy news to peter@chappyferry.net.