The Army Corp of Engineers will be repairing the south jetty at the mouth of the Merrimack River this summer. The Feds. handed over a 3.2 million dollar grant today to repair it. I'm happy to hear that, and I'm sure the folks on Plum Island are too. Plum Island has lost a number of homes to the sea over the years due to the disrepair of the south jetty. I have breached the mouth of the river hundreds of times and the jetty is broken and missing stones that protect the beaches from eroding.
Six years ago two young men were fishing off the jetty and as the tide came up they were cut off because of the missing stones and they were swept out to sea and never found. The mouth of the Merrimack is the 2nd most dangerous tributary on the east coast, but has some of the best striper fishing in the N.E.
The most dangerous times are the end of a low tide with a NE wind. You have the entire Merrimack River emptying out and a NE wind pushing a incoming tide creating 10 to 12 ft swells...not for the faint of heart.
One time I came past the last green can ( buoy) on the Salisbury State Park side of the river and the door as we call it is on the north jetty was rocking and rolling with 6 footers. I thought to myself that's not to bad, but as I came to the end of the jetty a rogue 15 footer came up and I had no time to turn around and had to climb it.
Picture the scene in the perfect storm..".Come on you son of a bitch" and blasted over the top and slid down the back side and buried the bow and threw water over the roof of the boat and it landed behind me in the stern. My knees were knocking but I loved it!!!. Anyway the improvement to the jetty will improve the environmental impact to Plum Island and the Merrimack River Tributary.
Mother Earth is not making anymore shorelines....we have to protect them..... or is she?
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