My View of Life on the Dock
So this is November at Long Beach, views mostly from the Gloucester edge approximately two hours post high tide which was at 2:00PM November 27, 2018.
High tide was here
30 second video clips
— when sunlight broke through spin drifts tossed rainbows
Long Beach – big waves even at low tide after Saturday’s October 27, 2018 storm.
The pull of the ocean 🙂
On a gray day the tide revealed a dead adult seal about 6 feet long and weighing hundreds of pounds on the Gloucester side of Long Beach near Cape Ann Motor Inn. (I have not seen a dead adult seal on this beach in 12 years.) Unlike dead seal pups torn open and attracting gulls, there are no visible markings on its exposed sides and the body remains undisturbed. There is one faint thin red line in the sand.
Area residents murmuring that the smoke is possibly due to a refrigerator electrical fire. Rockport firefighters are assessing the situation on the ground. Simultaneous scene of spectators and beachgoers
What a stunner day for the next phase of the Long Beach seawall repair. They’re loading and raking in fill to level the walkway today. Roller still to come.
speedy backing up
this way and that still to come
Phases of storm repair continue.
Classic- last one runs to the front.
Photos show the next stage in the seawall repair on the walkway (what the white spray paint meant). The promenade is two lanes: the ocean lane is a bit higher for now. Hooray!~more staircases are passable.
This is one of the paintings in Erin Luman’s upcoming show. It’s called “Thirty Six.”
The Jane Deering Gallery will host a month-long exhibition of the work of Gloucester artist Erin Luman, whose new paintings focus on the cottages of Long Beach in Gloucester. Luman’s previous work explored the power lines, buildings and rooftops of downtown Gloucester (You prolly read about that one on Good Morning Gloucester here), and now she’s turned her view toward the beach to make sure the cottages that have served as the backdrop of generations of family vacations are remembered. The opening reception will be held this Saturday June 2, from 4 to 6 p.m. The Jane Deering Gallery is at 19 Pleasant Street in Gloucester.
Photo journal documenting rapid damage and repairs post trio of winter storms as of May 2018.
is creeping back, truly. (view looking across to Gloucester side)
(sand migrating back- view looking to Rockport– see 2017 post about Long Beach annual shifting sands )
beach erosion was significant
Spring tides slam the Long Beach seawall.
photo: A tree tossed up like a toothpick atop the rip rap helps to illustrate the ocean’s twice daily whollops.
vulnerable spots clearly visible to the naked eye (I marked up two with red lines)
When the seawall opened up and heavy concrete sections balanced like hanging chads or individual playing cards, I was not surprised. The massive promenade had shown signs of strain. Small fissures and tiny holes were noticeable before the winter storms accelerated its decline. Water finds a way in at high tides. The manmade wall is noticeably shifting and rumbling at a greater pace. Holes, cracks and breaks along the seawall expand, and new ones erupt. I can’t help conjuring up comparisons to Yellowstone’s boiling and unpredictable surface. I imagine stakeholders are mapping details of their immediate landscape. Though beaten down, the promenade is walkable and sturdy. Tiny holes do expand rather alarmingly.
example –
and another (filled)- the cone eventually dropped beneath the path
Fissures
more photos (before-afters, repairs, boulder pyres, stairs or lack thereof, and nuisance popples) and videos of seawall ramparts giant boulder shuffle
Does anybody know the age of the mangrove-like roots that began to surface back in 2012 aside Eagle Rock and the creek? The 2018 winter storm erosion exposed more of a grove line parallel to the seawall. I am curious about the seemingly fossilized piercings and how the landscape may have looked before the beach we walk today.
more photos in my GMG post from 2016: Shore nature challenge: what are these? Long Beach Easter Island
ERIN LUMAN shelter | the cottages of Long Beach
June 2018 Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester
reception June 2, 4-6pm
Many thanks to Martin Del Vecchio for sharing his video and still images (see photos here) of the spectacularly beautiful pod of North American Right Whales feeding off of Cape Ann shores yesterday, May 4, 2018.
Good Morning Gloucester 