Annual Harbor Update June 14; Officials Continue To Urge Mariners To Avoid New Break

CHATHAM – Officials continue to recommend that boaters avoid the new break that opened up May 22 at the northern tip of North Beach Island.

 Mariners can get an update on the status of that break, as well as the town’s other waterways, at the annual harbor update sponsored by the Monomoy Yacht Club on Saturday, June. 14. The update, to be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Chatham Orpheum Theater, will include Chatham Harbormaster Jason Holm, Harwich Harbormaster John Harker, Senior Chief Ross Comstock of Coast Guard Station Chatham, and representatives of the Cape Cod Sail and Power Squadron and Coast Guard Auxiliary.

 Holm said there has been little change in the new break, about 1,000 feet south of the North Inlet. The harbormaster department is not marking the inlet for navigation, and because of shifting shoals and low water conditions, Holm recommends that boaters refrain from using it.

 “We’re still actively monitoring it,” he said, adding that it will take a while for the area to stabilize. There haven’t been any problems with mariners getting stuck in the new break, and he noted that last weekend’s windy weather kept many boaters off the water.

 “I think most people are being respectful of the ongoing changes,” Holm said.