This afternoon all of the drive on beaches were closed. The parks’ guys told me they would reevaluate on Monday about reopening them. There is a slight possibility they will open as early as Sunday if the weather calms down, but it is not likely. As of right now you can still walk onto the beaches, after what I saw today unless you are beach combing, a seal, or metal detecting I would not bother. Water at high tide was hammering the dune bases on all beaches in some areas it was a foot deep. Cast For A Cure has been canceled, “We are sorry to announce due to possible coastal flooding, gale force winds, and the fact that the ocean has already met the dunes the parks have closed the beaches; We will be cancelling all tournament activities this weekend. We were able to reschedule the participant buffet at Delaware Distilling Company for Oct 18th at 2 P.M. We will have the tournament bags , giveaways, and present the check to the American Cancer Society. Please take this time to prepare your homes and businesses for the storm. Everyone stay safe and hope to see you all on the 18th.
.
The campgrounds in Delaware Seashore State Park, Cape Henlopen State Park and Trap Pond are closing tomorrow at 8 AM. That will be reevaluated in the next few days as well. From DNREC… “Campers currently in the campgrounds attached to each of the parks will be given the opportunity to relocate to an inland state park campground at Killens Pond near Felton or Lums Pond in Bear, Del. Any park guests who are en route to or who have already checked into cabins at Cape Henlopen or the cottages at the Indian River Marina will be allowed to stay. Cabins at Trap Pond State Park will be closed. “
I saw a dozen campers at the southside campground and couldn’t help but think who chooses to camp in a Nor’easter. No one chooses too, they hope to have enough time to get in some vacation time. I can understand that, sometimes you just have to deal with what mother nature throws at you. We have all been there. The whole … I-am-on-vacation-nothing-will-stop-me attitude. Unfortunately mother nature has other plans for us the next several days. Keep in mind hurricane Joaquin is still near the Bahamas. We are experiencing a Nor’easter right now, this is not from the hurricane. That will possibly hit us on Monday it is still too early to tell which way it will track. A car had to be rescued on the southside today that was leaving the condos there, the water as usual flooded the road form the marsh side and disabled the vehicle as it tried to drive through the water. The flood waters near marshes, canals, and creeks is saltwater, do not drive through saltwater it will ruin your vehicle.
During my storm chasing travels today I saw a gentlemen fishing the Indian River Inlet, no bites, he didn’t care. I saw Gene down there too and he said only a crazy man would try to fish this and the fish aren’t there right now, water is next level rough. He wasn’t getting out of the truck, I looked like a drowned rat and decided wetting a line was just that, crazy. The water was washing over the inlet walls and over the jetty caps in several places. The next high tide is tonight at midnight and tomorrow at 12:45 PM at the inlet. The marshes are holding a great deal of water and it will not drain out anytime soon, low tide will look like a normal high tide. The winds are pushing water into the inland bays, expect the next few high tides to be progressively worse. The rains have filled up the median and sides of route 1 rather full. Oak orchard is flooding at all the usual spots. The low lying communities in Long Neck, Angola, and all bay communities are seeing some of the usual minor tidal flooding and that will increase a tad with each higher tide. Canary creek flooded the road in Lewes today near the University of Delaware. There has been a parade of boats on all roads being pulled today, all of the boat companies are working into the night to pull people’s boats. If you are still thinking about it, it could be too late, call now! No, not me, the boat companies. I saw one business owner in Fenwick Island boarding up store front windows this morning. The parks were getting any equipment they didn’t want ruined out of maintenance buildings. Some people are thinking storm of ’62 scenarios, better safe than sorry. If anything gets worse we will keep you updated. I have a lot of video to edit, or you can look on the DSF Facebook page . The Cape May Lewes Ferry announced 6 to 8 foot seas, welcome to the vomitorium.
Stay safe, dry and warm.
Fish On!!
Rich King