Dana Gaines reports that the Katama opening is still wide and deep. Without any actual measurements yet we only have eye witness accounts to go by. But most agree that it has not migrated noticeably from its original breach location.
The currents at the ferry crossing have been ignoring the times of high water predicted in the tide tables. The falling tide now gushes into the harbor rather than towards the lighthouse without a whole lot of change in height. The low tides haven’t been getting very low and the high tides haven’t gotten very high since the opening became established. It will be interesting to see if this promised weekend storm pushes water up onto Dock street.
Back in the 60s the breach was so wide and long-lived that it was mentioned in the Notice to Mariners. In between the regular reprints of nautical charts, they often provided a revision sketch of changes that would have been of concern to mariners that you could attach to your chart. I still have a Chappaquiddick Island chart with the correction square of the breach pasted over Norton Point. There are no depths as the shape and location of the opening were probably taken from an aerial photo. But there is a notation which seems ironic in the situation, “Caution, Shoaling may occur.”
A lso, the celebration of life and potluck to honor Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes the 3rd has been postponed until Nov. 21 due to the weather.
This article appears in September 25 2026.