Dangerous conditions in Townsends Inlet stirring concerns for boaters: "We never had this much beach before"
Numerous concerns have been raised in recent weeks about conditions in Townsends Inlet, off the southern tip of Sea Isle City, New Jersey.
"It was definitely not like this," Joe Hopple of Boyertown said. "This is something new. We never had this much beach before."
The beach is growing.
Part of it is now jutting out, threatening the Townsends Inlet channel that takes watercraft under the drawbridge.
The crew of the Miss Avalon has documented the shifting sand for the past month. They've now referred to it in social media posts as "The Bad Beach."
"We have to go through there at quick speeds, or I'd lose my steering and we can't make it," Irv Hurd, captain of the Miss Avalon, said.
Hurd has been a licensed boat master for decades. The tricky maneuvering under the bridge in a boat Miss Avalon's size isn't safe, he says.
"It is the most dangerous thing I've ever done," he said. "The point on the Townsends Inlet side continues to grow and it's sticking out into the drawl."
Large vessels seemingly put on a show as they bend within 10 yards of the beach to align with the channel's trajectory.
Hurd recently canceled five outings, fearing he wouldn't make the channel in more challenging tidal and weather conditions.
"Either I run aground and who knows what happens, or I hit the bridge," he said. "If I hit the bridge, who knows, it's a fiberglass boat. It'll pop like an eggshell."
On the boat or in the sand, there is agreement that the problem has worsened in just a month.
"Probably 40-foot difference where the water was," Hopple said. "You can see the water back there. All through here was where the water was, where the boats went."
CBS News Philadelphia has been researching the inlet for the past few weeks. Which agency oversees it wasn't immediately clear.
We emailed and left voicemails for the mayors of Sea Isle City and Avalon. Neither elected official responded about the situation.
The Army Corps of Engineers does take sand from the inlet for use with beach replenishment projects, according to the agency.
The U.S. Coast Guard is known to determine "best water" for safe navigation. They indicated awareness that mariners were reporting trouble navigating the inlet.
But what specifically about oversight of the channel?
A spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Transportation said no one actually oversees the inlet.
We then turned to Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who represents Cape May County. He confirmed the plan Thursday morning.
It calls for an increase in Coast Guard monitoring for safe navigation, the removal of nearly 1 million cubic yards of sand from the inlet for beach replenishment projects and a longer-term goal of investigating making Townsends Inlet a federal navigation channel, which would improve oversight of the waterway.
