Friday, May 17, 2013
National Safe Boating Week begins Saturday
National Safe Boating Week kicks off Saturday, May 18, and Patch caught up with the folks at U.S. Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet for some tips as we enter the Shore's first boating season since Superstorm Sandy.
Friday, May 10, 2013
FISHING FRIDAY: Blues swarming local waterways
It's funny what leads to some of our favorite moments on the water. Last Friday, I had set aside some time to help my neighbor fix her computer that's been on the fritz since she returned to Long Beach Island from Florida. But, to quote Seinfeld, yada yada yada, the computer cleanup was put off to another date. I used the time I had set aside to kill two birds with one stone: charge my boat's battery to full power (after its long winter's nap) with a lengthy run up Barnegat Bay, and fulfill the promise I made to all of you folks that I would check out the channels that lead to Barnegat Inlet and report the results. The results are mainly positive (mind the pun on the battery charging joke). I made my way to Barnegat Inlet in Double Creek …
Friday, April 26, 2013
Season's first boat ride was pleasantly uneventful – and unusually meaningful
Barnegat Bay seems, well, okay. And yes, I have the video to your right to prove it. Dire predictions of floating debris, extreme shoaling and death traps lurking behind every channel marker didn't seem to pan out on my first boat ride of the 2013 season, which took place last weekend between Manahawkin and Long Beach Island. As we reported here on Patch, a few weeks ago, a group of folks from the Marine Trades Association of New Jersey hopped on board their vessels and took a ride through the bay to prove the waterway was safe following Superstorm Sandy. Things went well for them, as it did for my dad and I as we took the maiden voyage of 2013 together. "Lots of people are hearing rumors, we thought the best way to go is show them," Brick…
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Barnegat Bay will be open by Memorial Day Weekend
Ocean County expects to receive approximately $40 million in reimbursements for some services performed following Superstorm Sandy within a couple weeks. The project worksheets for just debris removal are in their final stages of approval and the county will be receiving a check soon, Administrator Carl Block said at the Board of Chosen Freeholders’ pre-board meeting. “There is movement,” Block said. The $40 million is just a fraction of the $60 million the county has put out for debris removal. The county paid for the services of AshBritt and Louis Berger Group Inc. upfront, for some municipalities. Once the county is reimbursed, municipalities will pay their share, Block said. Freeholder John C. Bartlett said fronting the money, without …
Friday, April 12, 2013
Little Egg Harbor shellfish beds opened Friday
The last of New Jersey's shellfish beds that have been closed since Superstorm Sandy struck Oct. 29, 2012 are in the process of reopening. Shellfish beds in Little Egg Harbor opened Friday morning at sunrise and beds in Raritan Bay will open at sunrise April 15, the state Department of Environmental Protection said Friday. With the resumption of shellfish harvesting in both areas, all of New Jersey's shellfish beds that were once closed as a result of Superstorm Sandy will now return to the classifications they had before the storm hit at the end of October, the department said in a statement. The vast majority of the waters of Barnegat Bay had been reopened to shellfishing over the past several months, though a small section of Little Egg…
Oyster Creek Channel will be dredged, jetty will be repaired under Army Corps project
Damage along Barnegat Inlet's north jetty caused by Superstorm Sandy will be repaired as part of a larger project that will also include dredging the heavily-trafficked Oyster Creek Channel, officials said. The north jetty of the inlet, which runs along the south end of Island Beach State Park opposite Long Beach Island, was impacted by storm surge during Sandy, leading to shoaling which occurred at some points and the loss of some jetty rocks. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crews conducted a side-scan SONAR survey of the north jetty and inspected for toe failure, said Stephen Rochette, spokesman for the Corps' Philadelphia district. The channel remains open and active, though the scan revealed "moderate damage" of the jetty which will be …
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Dredge work may not begin until summer, however
Some of the pieces of equipment which will be used to clear submerged debris from Barnegat Bay are already in place and will begin operations soon, officials said. But work to dredge the waterway may not begin until after the unofficial start of summer. The equipment was starting to line up in northern Barnegat Bay last week, said Chris Nelson, Mantoloking borough's special counsel for storm cleanup. Nelson said state officials told him dredging portion of a state contract with CrowderGulf - the company responsible for cleaning up the bay north of Barnegat Inlet - includes two feet of dredging up the bulkheads. But that portion of the project may not begin until June, since that is how long it could potentially take for all of the …
Friday, March 1, 2013
Striped bass season opens Friday
Striped bass season begins in the back bays and rivers March 1, and Patch caught up with Dennis Palmatier of Murphy's Hook House Bait and Tackle in Toms River for some tips. The regulations for striped bass remains two fish per angler, per day, with a minimum size limit of 28 inches. Striped bass season in the back bays and rivers runs from March 1 through Dec. 31. In the ocean, the season is open year-round. Anglers fishing Oyster Creek should keep in mind that fishing the west side of the Route 9 bridge over the creek requires a freshwater fishing license. Fishing the east side of the bridge does not, though all anglers statewide must obtain a free registration card online before fishing.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
CrowderGulf, headquartered in Theodore, Alabama, will undertake bay cleanup and dredging effort
An Alabama company will undertake a massive cleanup and debris removal effort in Barnegat Bay following Superstorm Sandy. State authorities have removed more than 1,000 boats since the storm hit, but the remains of many others, plus debris resulting from everything from destroyed homes to derelict vessels previously undetected pose a threat to navigation as the spring boating season draws near. Three companies were awarded contracts to clear New Jersey's waterways of debris, hopefully before spring arrives. Donjon Marine will be responsible for the northern portion of the state, from the New York border to Raritan Bay. CrowderGulf, of Theodore, Alabama, will be responsible for the central portion of the state, from the Navesink River in …
Friday, February 1, 2013
State, Army Corps Of Engineers outline plans For Barnegat Bay cleanup; debris removal will be done all along New Jersey coastline, Ocean County Administrator says
Residents up and down the Jersey Shore have noticed a disturbing trend during the three months since Superstorm Sandy pummeled the coastline - more flooding after relatively minor storms. Hopefully, things will improve in the next few months as a massive debris cleanup of Barnegat Bay and waterways from Raritan Bay all the way down to the bottom of the state gets underway, Ocean County Administrator Carl W. Block said tonight. "The target is to have 75 percent of the debris out by June," he said. "While it's an ambitious target, they are trying to make sure there's a summer season." Block attended both of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's sessions on "wet debris" held at the Ocean County Administration Building Thursday for local…
brick strong
5:27 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Some of these comments are directed to locals but should be posted in north jersey and new York papers for the drunk bennies that don't care when they come down to our areas..   more ›