Good News For Boaters: Chatham Waterways Relatively ‘Stable’

CHATHAM – No one would ever call the town’s waterways “stable.” But right now, conditions are apparently as close to that as they can be.

 According to waterways officials, conditions in the town’s harbors haven’t changed much from last season. In fact, some access has improved. But that statement always comes with a huge caveat.

 “Things can change and move quickly,” Harbormaster Jason Holm warned during the Monomoy Yacht Club’s annual harbor update session held Saturday, June 13 at the Chatham Orpheum Theater.

 The Morris Island channel, which runs between Morris Island and Monomoy Island, “hasn’t changed a whole lot since the end of last year,” he said. “It is pretty shallow, but it seems like it’s deepening up with a little bit of traffic.” There is a lot of shoaling in the area, but channel markers are in place, though Holm said boaters should “use your eyes” and traverse this area with care.

 “This is certainly one of our problematic areas and has been for quite some time,” he said. “It is passable, it’s just very narrow in some sections, and right now I think at low tide, a skiff can maybe get through there.” Two hours at either side of low tide are the most navigable for the average center-console vessel, he added. 

 The South Cut, opposite Lighthouse Beach, has four to 4.5 feet depth at low tide. “I know a boat that draws six foot scraped the other day but he was able to get out,” Holm said. It’s a straight shot out of the harbor, although the channel is a bit narrow.

 “One thing we have this year is that with both inlets, the current has increased significantly so we’ve been having to use a little heavier tackle” on buoys and navigation aids. “It’s probably some of the stronger ones I’ve seen prior to the north break, when it used to run through here pretty hard.”

The third area that mariners need to pay attention to is the North Cut. After a zig and a zag, it’s “pretty much a straight show” out of the harbor and Pleasant Bay into the Atlantic, Holm said. Depth in the channel is about three to 3.5 feet at low tide, he said.

Holm reviewed several other developments on the water and along the waterfront. A real-time wave buoy just north of the South Inlet is providing publicly available data on wave height, direction, wind speed, water temperature and other off-shore details. There is a link to the data at the harbormaster’s website (www.chatham-ma.gov/259/Harbormaster-Division), and he urged mariners to check it before heading out.

The often unpredictable conditions in the inlets and offshore were the impetus for securing the buoy, Holm said. “The hope is that we have this buoy that people will be able to utilize and get a good idea…if it’s really sunny and you’re seeing six foot on this thing, you might want to stay away from the inlets because it’s going to be a pretty mean day. You could be in a really bad position really quick.” It’s a tool boaters can use, along with weather and marine forecasts, to help make decisions before venturing out.

Just last week the town replaced floats at the Barn Hill town landing, and a new walkway along the fish pier’s south jog was completed recently and will ideally keep pedestrians away from boat and truck traffic. Barnstable County also completed dredging in Aunt Lydia’s Cove and Mill Creek this winter, and the Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to remove shoals from the Stage Harbor entrance channel in July, Holm said.

Harwich Harbormaster John Harker also noted that dredging projects were completed in Allen, Wychmere and Saquatucket harbors. 

Coast Guard Station Chatham Senior Chief Ross Comstock reminded boaters that the station’s phone number was changed over the winter and is now 206-815-7158. South East New England Sector headquarters in Woods Hole, which he likened to calling 911 for a boating emergency, can be reached at 866-819-9128.

A video of Saturday’s meeting can be viewed at myc.wildapricot.org/Annual-Harbor-Update.