The "automatic" pump-out service that tends to weekly vessel waste removal for many vessels is ended for the 2008 season on 10/17/08.  Any vessel requiring waste removal services after noon on 10/17 must contact the Harbormaster Office (508-999-0759 or by e-mail) with sufficient advance notice (minimum of 24 hours) so that personnel may be scheduled to attend to the requested pump-out.  Pump-out by appointment will continue until freezing temperatures require winterizing of the waste removal equipment.

At approximately 1:30 PM, the 82 foot tugboat Southern Cross reported that she was taking on water and requested assistance.  She reported that she was just off Mishaum Ledge and was heading in to shallow water in hopes of grounding before the vessel sank in deep water. 

The Coast Guard dispatched a 47 foot cutter, along with a Rescue Helicopter and an Coast Guard Auxiliary fixed-wing aircraft. The Harbormaster and two assistants arrived on scene in their 22 foot AMBAR Patrol vessel and stood by with the Southern Cross until the Coast Guard cutter arrived. The rescue helicopter offered to drop a dewatering pump to the crew of the Southern Cross, but they determined that it was already too late. By that time, the Southern Cross was listing dangerously to port, and the master of the Southern Cross decided to abandon ship.  The coast guard cutter arrived and took the three man crew off of the Southern Cross.  The vessel owner, Patriot Marine LLC, contracted with Frank Corp to handle the cleanup of any spilled petroleum.

Images of the Southern Cross

The "automatic" pump-out service that tends to weekly vessel waste removal for many vessels is ended for the 2008 season on 10/17/08.  Any vessel requiring waste removal services after noon on 10/17 must contact the Harbormaster Office (508-999-0759 or by e-mail) with sufficient advance notice (minimum of 24 hours) so that personnel may be scheduled to attend to the requested pump-out.  Pump-out by appointment will continue until freezing temperatures require winterizing of the waste removal equipment.

Rusty-Colored Algae Floats Again in Buzzards Bay This summer marked the fourth summer since 2005 that Baywatcher volunteers reported cloudy streaks of rust-colored water in Buzzards Bay – the sign of abnormal amounts of Cochlodinium polykrikoides, a dinoflagellate, which is a type of phytoplankton or single-celled algae. Dinoflagellates, such as Cochlodinium, naturally occur in Buzzards Bay and are likely present all the time, but usually occur in significantly less densities. Whenever there is a population explosion, or “bloom,” of these microalgae, cell densities may exceed millions of cells per liter of water. Characteristic of all dinoflagellates, Cochlodinium cells have two flagella, or thin, whip-like outgrowths used for swimming, and armored plates of tissue. However, Cochlodinium cells also contain reddish pigments that give the water a rust-colored hue when high densities of this organism accumulate at the surface. Although a Cochlodinium bloom looks rusty-red, it is not the type of algae that is injurious to humans, such as the red tide alga, Alexandrium, which contains a toxin that attacks the nervous system in marine animals and humans. Cochlodinium does not contain any toxins; however, if a Cocholodinium bloom becomes large enough, especially in a semi-enclosed system such as a bay or harbor, it can kill fish, as the overabundance of algae consume all of the oxygen in the water. Large concentrations of Cochlodinium may also affect the growth, survival and development of some shellfish, such as oysters, but much remains unknown about these effects, and thus, is the focus of ongoing research. Algae blooms tend to occur when environmental conditions such as temperatures, nutrients, and turbulence change, triggering the rapid growth of algal cells. For example, when a long dry spell is followed by heavy rains, nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus contained in farm fertilizers, animal wastes and sewage-treatment-plant discharges are flushed into the bay. This addition of excess nutrients to the bay fuels the production of algal blooms similar to how fertilizer promotes the growth of your lawn or garden. “These blooms appear to be increasing in frequency, which is an indication that significant changes are occurring in Buzzards Bay,” said Coalition Director of Monitoring Programs Tony Williams. According to Dave Whittaker, Senior Marine Fisheries Biologist at the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, this “rusty tide” has occurred in Buzzards Bay long before 2005, but blooms were more sporadic. “In the last three or four years, blooms have been much more regular and pronounced with a much greater spatial distribution,” Whittaker explained. “We actually had a bloom as late as three weeks ago in Clarks Cove in New Bedford following that last extremely heavy rain event. With the size of these blooms, thank goodness Cochlodinium is not harmful to humans.” This year Baywatchers first began reporting observations of rusty-colored water at the end of July in Fiddlers Cove, which was about three weeks earlier than last year’s initial report. Baywatchers then reported seeing blooms two weeks later in August in Wings Cove, the Wareham River, West Falmouth Harbor, and Snug Harbor. Tracking trends, such as recording the occurrence of these “rusty tide” events, is critical to understanding the changing health of the bay and how human activities impact the bay ecosystem. As the Coalition’s 2007 State of the Bay Report reveals, the overall health of the bay is declining and algae blooms are just one sign of troubled waters. The Coalition will continue to monitor the bay’s health and collect long-term data to provide the information necessary to make informed, science-based decisions about the restoration and protection of Buzzards Bay. The Coalition needs your help in monitoring the health of Buzzards Bay. If you observe an algae bloom in Buzzards Bay, immediately contact Tony Williams, Coalition Director of Monitoring Programs at 508-999-6363 ext. 203 or e-mail at williams@savebuzzardsbay.org, with the location and a description of the bloom.

HURRICANE AND STORM PREPARATION

Hurricane and Storm Preparation

Dartmouth has been spared the direct hit of a major (category 4 or 5) hurricane for the life of most median-aged residents.   The early season Hurricane Bob in August of 1991 devastated Padanaram Harbor with a direct hit, but fortuitously struck at a low tide.  The impact upon the relatively sheltered harbor was significant and decimated the vessels left at anchor or on moorings.  The Padanaram Bridge and causeway were inoperable and impassible for up to one week following the storm.  Broken boats, some with moorings still attached, were strewn across the causeway.  In excess of one hundred vessels of all types and sizes foundered along the town shoreline, roadways, and causeway.  To this day, some vessels lost during Hurricane Bob still remain unaccounted for.  Low-lying areas, including roadways, parking lots and businesses were flooded with a storm surge that was minimal in comparison to similar storms.    Most private and business docks were either destroyed severely impacted by waves, loose boats, and flotsam.  High Hurricane season usually lasts from late August through October.   Hurricane preparation is not a joke.

The Saffir-Simpson scale classifies hurricanes into five categories according to their intensity, allowing comparisons of past hurricanes and communication of the strength of an approaching storm to the public.

Category 1: Minimal Damage Winds of 74-95 mph and storm surges of 4-5 ft. No significant wind damage to well constructed buildings. Some damage is done to poorly constructed signs. Wind damage primarily occurs to mobile homes, shrubbery, trees, and foliage. Low lying roads are inundated by storm surge. Minor pier damage occurs. Example: Danny, 1997 & Bob, 1991.

Category 2: Moderate Damage Winds of 96-110 mph and storm surges of 6-8 ft. Some roofing material, doors, windows of homes and businesses are damaged by winds. Considerable wind damage done to mobile homes and vegetation. Low lying roads are inundated by storm surge. Considerable damage done by storm surge and wave action to piers. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break their moorings. Example: Flossy, 1956

Category 3: Extensive Damage Winds of 111-130 mph and storm surges of 9-12 ft. Winds cause structural damage to homes and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failure. Mobile homes are destroyed. Storm surge flooding destroys many smaller buildings while large buildings are damaged by floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 10 feet above mean sea level is flooded. Example: Andrew, 1992

Category 4: Extreme Damage Winds of 131-155 mph and storm surges of 13-18 ft. More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof failure on homes. Major damage to lower floors of homes and businesses from storm surge flooding. Terrain continuously lower than 15 feet above mean sea level is flooded. Example: Audrey, 1957

Category 5: Catastrophic Damage Winds greater than 155 mph and storm surges greater than 18 ft. Compete roof failure of many homes and businesses. Complete structural failure of many small buildings. Major storm surge flooding to areas lower than 20 feet above mean sea level. Example: Camille, 1969 Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

High tide during a hurricane in Dartmouth can rise 4-6+ feet above the normal high tide caused by lowered atmospheric pressure. Wind-caused surge can form an addition and unpredicted wedge of water on top of this tide. Boats moored in high-energy areas such as the outer harbor will lose the protection of the breakwater which will be deeply submerged at high tide. These boats must be moved to safer harbor before the storm hits. Mooring scope at this time may become too short and cause anchors to pull.

Boat ramps will be jammed at the time close to the storm. Therefore, if you have reached the end of your useful boating season, consider an early haul out.

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO- SHORT OF HAULING OUT

MOORED BOATS:

1. Inspect your mooring tackle and renew all parts that show signs of serious wear. This should include quality of chain, splices, and condition of thimbles and shackles.   Especially important is the quality and sufficiency of chafing gear. (See  #3 below).

2. All moorings during these months should be equipped with secondary storm painter (mooring line) to attach to the opposite bow cleat.

3. Equip all mooring lines passing through bow chocks with chafing equipment which can include a short piece of rubber hose or vinyl tubing protecting the lines from wearing through. Wear and tear of mooring pennants at deck level has been the most common reason in Dartmouth for mooring failure.

4. Inspect the security of bow cleats and eyes. Sailing vessels extend mooring lines back to the base of the mast, remove and stow all sails.   The less windage you present to the storm, the less impact the storm-force winds will have upon your vessel, its mooring, and related deck hardware.

5. Batteries driving automatic bilge pumps should be fully charged and float switches tested for good working order. Bilges should be cleaned of oil and contaminants.

6. All through hull fittings equipped with valves as heads, holding tank valves, and exhaust overflows should be placed in closed position.

7. Where practical add to the mooring scope by lengthening the painter. Be sure you maintain clearance with boats around you. Position all extra fenders to fend off blows.

8.  Do not attempt to “ride-out” a storm on your vessel.  It may sound valiant and adventurous, but I have not yet heard of a single positive memory generated from such foolhardiness.  Resulting deaths have been documented.  The nature of the chaos found in a harbor during a hurricane prohibits even the saltiest mariner from being able to make any effective corrective maneuvers while dodging loose boats and flotsam.

DOCKSIDE BOATS

1. Secure extra fender between boats and docks. Make use of a fender board where vessel is tied up between pilings.

2. Double up all dock lines. Be sure spring lines are secured in both directions and make certain cleats are well secured.

3. In areas of floating docks, tie only to near top of the pilings, otherwise the rising tide will "jack" the pile or otherwise pull the boat under.

4. Owners with vessels tied alongside a fixed pier should make certain that the gunwales will not get caught under the dock as the tide rises. The boat may be warped away from the pier using an anchor as an outhaul.

5. Disconnect all shore power lines going to the vessel before the storm hits.

6. Attempt to dock sailboats so that masts will not be "caught" on one another when boats rock.

7. Wherever possible, get off of a dock or float unless in a very protected harbor.

BOATS HAULED OUT

1. All day sailors and light-weight boats which can make use of trailers should be taken out of the water as soon as possible.

2. Sailboats dinghy type should be flooded with freshwater on their trailers or tied to stakes as a means to hold them down.

3. At home, park boats close to buildings, if possible, to shelter it from the effects of direct wind gusts..

4. Boats stored using jack stands on soft ground, mud, sand, or gravel should use plywood under each stand as a precaution to prevent each stand from settlement. Make certain each jack is snug firmly against the boat hull and use safety chains to "cross-lock" jacks.

Concordia, Inc. with a principal place of business at 300 Gulf Road, Dartmouth, MA has made application to the United States Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) for the necessary federal permits to retain and maintain 167 existing commercial (rental) moorings in the public waters of Apponagansett Bay (Padanaram Harbor), Dartmouth, MA. Such commercial permits are required for the seasonal rental of moorings by regulation.
The US Army Corps of Engineers is seeking comments regarding the proposed permits. Written comments are to be filed with the Corps before October 26, 2007. Comments from individuals or entities are used to determine the need for a public hearing and also to determine the overall public interest of the proposed activity. If there is no valid request for a public hearing, the Corps will not consider such a hearing in this process. Submitted written comments will nonetheless be considered with or without a public hearing.
Statistically there are 1,194 mooring sites permitted in all areas of Dartmouth waters. In the outer Padanaram Harbor, south of the Padanaram Bridge, (the area where all 167 Concordia, Inc. moorings exist and are sought to be permitted) there are 586 permitted mooring sites total. Of these 586 outer harbor mooring sites, 409 sites are permitted annually for individual (non-rental) use.
Please use the following link to view the Army Corps public notice, File Number NAE2004-1077, as posted 25 September 2007 on their website:
http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/reg/pubnot2.asp
You may also directly download the PDF version of this Public Notice from this site:
http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/reg/1954_001.pdf

Dear Mooring Gear Owners,

The Dartmouth Harbormaster Office has received your mooring permit relinquishment forms, and your requests to attempt to sell your mooring gear to the next-assigned permit holder for your former site.  This message is to inform you of circumstances in Padanaram Harbor that have delayed to assignment of available mooring sites.  In early 2006, the Harbormaster was notified by the US Coast Guard (Group Woods Hole - Sector SE New England) Aid to Navigation Team Chief that there were "mooring balls" within the federally-designated navigation channel.  At about this same time, the two red nuns (10 & 12) were moved and repositioned by the USCG significantly toward the west.  The USCG intended to force the removal of all mooring gear and attached vessels if the Town did not act.

I asked the USCG ATN Chief to specify, in writing, where the federal channel began, where it ended, and what the width was determined to be.  None of these specifics could be determined from public information available.   He agreed to research and provide those answers before any further action would be taken.  Apparently the coordinates delineating the extent of our federal channel could not readily be found by federal authorities either, so discussions began again in May of 2007 with staff at the Woods Hole ATN station and superiors at MSO Providence.  The USCG sought to set the Padanaram Channel at 75 yards width (225').  For comparison, 225 feet wide is approximately the average width of the Cape Cod Canal.  After further negotiations, it was agreed that the federal authorities could live with a 50 yard wide (150') channel for most of our little harbor, narrowing out of necessity at the Padanaram Bridge.   This was the narrowest channel they would accept.  The location of both red nun buoys, as well as the addition of a new green can #13 opposite the South wharf was also negotiated with the USCG to achieve the maximum channel depth existing in the harbor, while maintaining as practical an approach as possible.  Later in the 2007 boating season, the USCG ATN team again visited Padanaram, and moved those government buoys into what is now believed to be their final positions.  

Although we have not yet received the final written coordinates for the channel in writing from USCG, after two years of meetings, negotiations and adjustments, I believe we finally have an understanding and agreement as to the extent of the federal channel in Padanaram Harbor. Obviously, federally-designated navigation channels take priority over local regulation and mooring placements.  No mooring may interfere or impede navigation in any way. The net result to the Dartmouth boating community appears to be a loss of approximately 26 mooring sites due to the "new" federal channel.   That loss hurts, especially in  the face of nearly 300 candidates awaiting mooring permits.  We need to gain sites, not lose ground on the overall access issue. 

Discussions at public meetings with the Dartmouth Waterways Commission led to the reasonable conclusion that people with individual mooring permits being "displaced" by virtue of relocation of the channel should be accommodated elsewhere.  These individuals with valid mooring permits will be offered available sites ahead of anyone on the mooring waiting list to avoid the unfair situation of new permits being issued to the wait list candidates, while existing boaters are removed and forced to the end of the list through no fault or action on their part.  The Harbormaster Office will be identifying and notifying each mooring permit holder affected by the channel change this fall and winter.  We will attempt to match as closely as possible those sites available to those vessels displaced.  All of this "shuffling" is being done against the backdrop of an ever-increasing need to re-grid the entire harbor for more efficient allocation of spaces.  That enormous entire re-grid project is looming in the near future, when that project policy is set by the Dartmouth Waterways Management Commission.

This lengthy explanation is designed to explain what appears to be a lack of movement of available sites to the Dartmouth Mooring Waiting list.  It is not for want of action on the part of this office.  The "behind-the-scenes" activity to make boating safer and more accessible consumes a great amount of time and effort on out part.  While we are cognizant of the funds each mooring gear owner has invested in their tackle, our over-riding focus must be upon the safe, fair and equitable distribution of limited public space for moorings.  Each mooring gear owner maintains ownership of their personal property, which is the mooring gear.  It has been difficult to make clear the distinction between ownership of that mooring gear, and the inability to claim any property or ownership interest in the site which was formerly permitted for keeping of that gear.  We will make every effort to encourage the re-use or re-cycling of existing mooring gear, however under local, state and federal laws, the re-assignment of any mooring permit cannot be conditioned upon the purchase of existing gear.

As always, each mooring gear owner is free to have the mooring service provider of their choice remove their mooring tackle for future use, resale, scrap metal value, or to simply stop the costs of required seasonal servicing.  Many municipalities actually do require that immediately upon termination of a mooring permit, all personal (mooring) gear be removed to return the site to its natural state.  Those who have discontinued their mooring permit have the option of waiting out this winter season for assignments to either displaced permit holders or the waiting list, or having their gear removed instead of winter servicing.

Any specific inquiries regarding this message should be directed to the Harbormaster in writing only. 

The "automatic" pump-out service that tends to weekly vessel waste removal for many vessels is ended for the 2008 season on 10/17/08.  Any vessel requiring waste removal services after noon on 10/17 must contact the Harbormaster Office (508-999-0759 or by e-mail) with sufficient advance notice (minimum of 24 hours) so that personnel may be scheduled to attend to the requested pump-out.  Pump-out by appointment will continue until freezing temperatures require winterizing of the waste removal equipment.

The Dartmouth Mooring Waiting list has been updated.  Please see our news page for details.