High tide. Notice how the water overtops the end of the north
jetty at high tide, and encroaches behind the south jetty.
The outside of the north jetty is diveable, however, getting to this dive site may not be easy. The road on the north side ends a quarter mile short of the inlet, so either a four-wheel drive and a beach permit, or better yet a boat, would be needed. Spearfishing the outside of the north jetty is reported to be excellent.
I dove the inside of the inlet once, under special circumstances, along the bulkhead in the park near the lighthouse. The water was clean and clear, and the bottom was white sand over clay.
Looking north
Jack Fullmer fought for years to get the jetties open to divers after they dredged the inlet channel, and was finally successful. As of Fall 2008, here are the new regulations for diving Barnegat inlet:
N.J.A.C. 13:82-3.17 (2006)
13:82-3.17 Diving and swimming
(c) Provisions for Barnegat Inlet are as follows:
February 2001: Repairs underway to save the lighthouse from erosion.
The first lighthouse here was built in 1824. The current tower dates to 1859, and is no longer in use as a navigational aid, but has become a beloved symbol of the Jersey shore. The name Barnegat is derived from the original Dutch Barende Gat, given by Henry Hudson in 1609. Gat is Dutch for a narrow inlet or passage; Barende is Dutch for breakers ( as in waves. )
The lighthouse was originally built 900 ft from the inlet, which has moved steadily southward since then. Concrete bulkheads and stone jetties now protect the tower, which was also moved onto a new stronger foundation a few years ago ( you can see the old foundation in front of the tower in the picture above). It was thought to be safe, until currents scoured out a deep hole in the channel next to it, which the derrick barge in the picture is engaged in filling in with rock.
Ocean inlets like this are not naturally stable, but move around, close up, and reopen, as the ocean, rivers, and storms rearrange the sands. In the past 300 years, there have been inlets at Sea Bright, Sea Girt, Bay Head, and Toms River, all of which have closed up. Modern-day inlets are maintained in place by stone walls and constant dredging.
At the dock: registered 62 ft 80 tons
The John De Wolf II,
a scalloper out of Barnegat, fouled her prop on a buoy
line and capsized just outside the inlet. No one was hurt as far as I know.
Posted on Thu, Oct. 28, 2004
By Sam Wood
Inquirer Staff Writer
A 54-foot fishing boat that drifted ashore just south of the Barnegat Inlet on Tuesday was refloated yesterday only to sink as it was being towed into port, authorities said. The steel-hulled John De Wolf II struck a buoy in the inlet Tuesday as it was heading out to sea on an ebb tide. A chain from the buoy became tangled in the vessel's propeller, and the engine ground to a halt, said Kimberly Smith, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Coast Guard.
Before a rescue crew could arrive, the boat floated out of the inlet and became stranded on a beach. The two people and a dog on board waded to shore without injury, Smith said. About 8:30 p.m., after the boat's diesel fuel and oily bilge water were removed, Shamrock Towing unsuccessfully tried to tow the vessel with the high tide, Smith said. The boat was brought afloat yesterday, but about noontime it sank while being towed 1 1/2 miles south of the inlet. Now considered a wreck, the John De Wolf II rests under 22 feet of water awaiting a salvage operation. The Coast Guard's Marine Safety Unit/Philadelphia is investigating the incident.
Contact staff writer Sam Wood at 856-779-3838 or at samwood@phillynews.com.
Published in the Asbury Park Press 10/27/04
By GREGORY J. VOLPE and NICHOLAS CLUNN
STAFF WRITERS
BARNEGAT LIGHT - A 70-foot scallop boat washed ashore after striking a buoy yesterday morning and remained stuck in the sand off 10th Avenue for most of the day. The John de Wolf II was heading to sea to harvest scallops some time after midnight when it struck a buoy in Barnegat Inlet, damaging the boat's propeller, which caused the engine to break, said Keith Larson, who maintains the vessel, which belongs to his father, John.
The crew dropped anchor, but the line broke, and the boat drifted to shore. The captain, Louis Roberson, another man and a dog, were safely ashore by 5:30 a.m., officials said. "That's the main thing," said Jim Gutowski, a scallop-boat owner and assistant dock manager at Viking Village. "No injury. No environmental situation." Gutowski said he thinks the captain misjudged the depth of the water because of quick-moving tides. "there's been a lot of easterly wind, a big swell in the inlet, and the tides are abnormally high," he said. "Sometimes it can trick you, and it looks like it's coming in, but it's going out fast."
The boat stood on the beach, leaning slightly toward the water as crews worked to get it back to sea, and people gathered to watch. "You never know what you're going to find on the beach on Barnegat Light," said Carol DeMerritt, who owns a summer home in town. "All kinds of treasures wash up." She saw the boat while walking and rushed home to tell her husband. "Holy cow," said Steve DeMerritt, 67. "This is pretty amazing."
Under the oversight of the Coast Guard and state Department of Environmental Protection, workers were pumping gas and potable water off the boat while a backhoe dug a trench around it in hopes of being able to float it away, said Rob Schrader, DEP emergency response specialist. Schrader said there were no environmental problems and the sand dug out would return naturally in about two days. Tow boats were planning to tug the boat away at high tide, around 7 p.m. yesterday. Gutowski said it would be difficult to get the boat off the beach and over a sand bar to deep water. "they have to get him enough oomph to bounce him over that bar," he said.
Though the boat just touched the water's edge yesterday afternoon, Bob Van Meter, captain of the Barnegat Light First Aid Squad, said waves were hitting its side, sending water over its deck. Van Meter said he's seen about 20 boats wash ashore in his 40 years on the first aid squad; several have been commercial.
Joe Procida, 86, of Woodlynne, Camden County, has fished on the island for 30 years and never saw a sight like he saw yesterday. "It's something for me to see; I wish them luck in getting out," he said. "I was wondering if it was going to be another one.' He was referring to the Sea King, a wreck that washed ashore about 40 years ago in a similar location. A raging sea combined with the weight of a boat in tow pushed the Sea King into treacherous shoals that have helped make Barnegat Inlet one of the most dangerous inlets on the East Coast. Its wooden mast still juts out from the beach a few hundred feet inland from where the John de Wolf II was lodged yesterday.
Press Release Date: October 27, 2004
Contact: PA1 Kimberly Smith
609-517-1268
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - the Coast Guard Marine Safety Office (MSO) in Philadelphia, Pa., is overseeing cleanup and salvage operations for a fishing vessel that sunk a mile and a half south of Barnegat Inlet. Coast Guard Group Atlantic City received a report from the fishing vessel John De Wolf II that they were disabled after hitting a buoy while transiting out of the Barnegat Inlet.
A 47-foot rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Barnegat Inlet headed to the scene, but before the crew could arrive, the vessel floated out of the inlet with the ebbing tide to become stranded on the beach south of the inlet. The two people and a dog onboard the fishing vessel waded to the beach where crewmembers from Station Barnegat Light waited to give them assistance. No injuries were reported.
The owner of the 54-foot Barnegat Light fishing boat contracted Northstar Marine to remove the diesel fuel and oily bilge water from the vessel before Shamrock Towing attempted to tow the vessel off the beach. At 8:30 p.m. last night, Shamrock Towing attempted to refloat the vessel with high tide, but was unsuccessful.
The vessel was successfully refloated today, but sunk at about 11:45 a.m. while being towed back to the inlet. MSO Philadelphia is currently investigating.
She later sank under tow in deeper water.
The broken hull eventually washed up in the surf south of the inlet
see Regulations
The north end of the bay
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Copyright © 1996-2008 Rich Galiano
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