reef and then turning seaward south of the reef. / majority of the 

 boats traversing the inlet were using this secondary channel. By 

 the end of the winter the uO-foot wide channel cut through the sand 

 bar at the mouth had again started to shoal to such an extent that 

 boats had difficulty in entering or leaving the inlet. During this 

 period the beach to the south of the inlet was continuing to erode. 



Plan of Improvement 



After a thorough study of the inlet over a period of several 

 years, a plan for maintenance of the inlet was submitted to local 

 interests in 1952 by the author. The plan for maintaining a navigable 

 channel first involved the construction of a timber jetty approximately 

 normal to the ocean shore line on the south side of the inlet. The 

 jetty served to stabilize and build up the narrow beach to the south 

 of the inlet and to protect the channel from shoaling during the 

 summer months when the direction of littoral transport is from the 

 south. During the winter months when the littoral transport is from 

 the north, the material was observed to be entering the harbor by 

 passing over the low portions of the rock reef near the southern end 

 of the rock jetty, with some entering across the low section of the 

 jetty where stone had been displaced by hurricane seas. The low 

 portion of the jetty and rock reef have been very aptly named as 

 "sand spillways". The sand passing over the spillway is deposited 

 in the calmer waters of the harbor area which acts as a stilling basin. 

 The plan was to allow this sand to accumulate in an artificially 

 deepened area along the north shore of the inlet behind the rock reef 

 and when sufficient material had been impounded, the sand would be 

 dredged and by-passed to the south side of the inlet where it is needed 

 to nourish the beach. In this protected bay area a pipe line dredge 

 can operate at any time of the year. After initial dredging, the most 

 logical time for periodic dredging would be in the fall after the 

 rainy season. Dredging at this time would deepen the impounding area 

 to receive the heavy influx of sand over the spillway during the 

 winter. The northeasters which occur in the winter months would 

 move southward the recently dredged stockpile of sand on the south 

 side of the inlet and benefit the areas to the south. This plan was 

 acceptable to the local people and in April and May 1952 they con- 

 structed 500 feet of bulkhead and groin on the south side of the inlet 

 and dredged about 10,000 cubic yards of sand from the impounding area 

 and pumped it to the shore south of the bulkhead. Sand moving north- 

 ward during the summer months in addition to the dredged sand leaves 

 the sand spit south of the inlet in excellent condition. The dredg- 

 ing quantity was not as much as planned and the result was that in 

 the winter of 1952-53, the bar across the inlet had shoaled and was 

 again creating trouble for the boats using the inlet. The sand spit 

 to the south had also begun to erode again, as the direction of 



