Over the past 35 years I have been watching Cape Cod erode at a
frightening rate.
It started in 1978 with the February blizzard. That storm took out
a lot of ocean facing beaches and property. It took out Coast Guard Beach’s
parking lot and bathhouses. Just south of Coast Guard Beach, it took out the
dunes and washed away a handful of cottages, as well as Henry Beston’s Outermost
House.
I was able to visit the small, unassuming cottage twice in 1977…as if I were
being given the opportunity to say goodbye to that which was the focus of one
of my favorite books. If you have never read The Outermost House by Henry Beston, consider reading it. It's a classic.
After a storm in November of 1990, Dan Carnes and his kids were
walking along part of Coast Guard Beach and discovered the uncovered remains of
a series of Indian villages that dated back 11,000 years and most recently, 800
years. Thank goodness Dan was an amateur archeologist. He spotted a rock
outcropping uncovered by the storm and to him it looked like the type of oven
ancient Indians would use. This was a monumental find. The site was estimated
to have been five miles from the ocean at the time of its use. FIVE MILES.
The shape of Cape Cod as we know it is nowhere near what it used
to look like. But, that’s to be expected. We are aware of erosion and what it
does to alter the landscape. But five miles of erosion in 800 years?
Since the storm of 1978, erosion has been taking chunks of Cape
Cod at a greater rate. The lighthouse at Nauset Beach in Eastham had to be
moved way back from its original location because the dunes were giving way at
a rate of 2-3 feet every week. The same with Truro light.
Now, the Marconi site is in grave danger of being dropped into the
ocean…as is Cahoon Hollow parking lot and the Beachcomber restaurant and bar.
The breach of the dunes at Balston Beach that flooded the Pamet river valley is
devastating. This has happened before, but I think this time it is the worst.
The cut goes right through from ocean to bay. This winter the Cape has been
battered by storm after storm.
You might say that it has always been battered by storms. Yes it
has. The question now arises: are the storms more violent; have they just
uncovered the Cape’s interior soft spots; is it rising sea levels? It could be all of that. I really don't know.
I have said for many years now that one day the Cape would be four
islands.
The Cape Cod Canal, man made, cuts the Cape off from the mainland.
From here to the area around Orleans Circle will be the first island. The bay
and the ocean are not that far apart at that point.
From here to the Marconi site will become the second island. The
area of the Marconi site is less than a mile across to the bay. The current
storms are battering the dunes at this site and they could go any time…inching
closer to toward the bay.
From the Marconi site to the Pamet River will be island number
three. Once the Pamet is cut through permanently, the bridge that's there now will certainly be needed. Let's hope it doesn't get washed away.
Island number four will be what is left…namely the Province Lands.
And, as nature would have it, Provincetown is growing northward because of
littoral drift (the
process whereby beach material is gradually shifted laterally as a result of
waves meeting the shore at an oblique angle).
Hundreds of years from now, all that will be left of Cape Cod will
be the Province Lands with Provincetown the first town on a growing, sandy
island. Everything else will be gone.
I suggest you make reservations now, while you can.
