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.
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 …
12:24 pm on Monday, May 13, 2013
Anyone notice that the Sea Nettles are back? My lagoon was loaded with them yesterday. I guess the storm didn't wash them out as hoped. more ›
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…
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6:54 am on Friday, May 17, 2013
Has anyone been in Mill Creek in the Beach Haven West area? more ›
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 …
12:35 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2013
Going to be a lot fewer folks willing to pay any taxes. more ›
Grass roots organization hopes to use 'all available eyes' to document the presence of eastern oysters in the Barnegat Bay.
Calling all bay lovers! ReClam the Bay, a grass roots organization working to repopulate the Barnegat Bay with shellfish, is asking bay enthusiasts to help in its efforts. “ReClam The Bay is actively interested in changes in the bay, and while it monitors the growth of shellfish in its nurseries, it is also interested in changes that can only be observed by people who use the bay,” spokesman Charles Brandt said in a news release. The nonprofit is asking people to help with its project of identifying locations where wild oysters are found in the Barnegat Bay. “The idea is to use all available eyes to keep a look out and document the presence of eastern oysters in Barnegat Bay, adjacent lagoons and tributaries,” Brandt said. Those who locate…
11:59 am on Wednesday, April 24, 2013
I hope they come in droves this summer and I know a lot of business owners who are hoping for that also! Define Benny? I bet you a lot of you are the pot calling the kettle black!! What are the 2nd homeowners called, you know the ones that pay the taxes but get nothing in return? Take your elitist attitude elsewhere, NJ Shore does not need the haters!! more ›
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 …
10:14 am on Saturday, April 13, 2013
Important meeting Thurs. April 25th: All Shore towns' residents feel confusion, anger and despair about FEMA’s draconian mandates. Stop FEMA Now was created to inform property owners of the hardships they face from FEMA's temporary "advisory" base flood elevations, extra-high house elevation requirements and exorbitant annual insurance premiums. The grassroots organization wants to spur Congress … more ›
'Miracle of Route 35' video released by engineering firm that oversaw the closing of the Mantoloking breach
Arora and Associates, a Lawrenceville-based consulting civil and structural engineering firm, released a video Wednesday that contains stunning footage of the Mantoloking breach created by Superstorm Sandy. The video chronicles the efforts of the company's employees to engineer a solution to closing the breach, shoring up the island and rebuilding Route 35 and the base of the Mantoloking Bridge intersection.
10:05 am on Monday, April 15, 2013
@ MEB: agreed, especially those who used this route to get the trains from BayHead or PPB. more ›
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 …
12:06 am on Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Maybe Sandy was put on earth to wash away sea nettles. Hope that's all the wildlife that got destroyed. we are across from a wildlife preserve on a small arm of the bay. I am afraid they will never get to us and the crabs wont be back or edible for a long time. Next to Cranberry Cove Inlet Marina. I am afraid to think we are going to be forgotton. more ›
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.
Ri-Brickulous!
1:43 am on Saturday, May 18, 2013
We live in a new world now, you have the ability to take video of them and submit it to authorities and make it public. Wouldn't you do the same if you saw someone driving like a maniac on the highway. This is the only way things are going to change. more ›