CAPT. MIKE IN OCEAN CITY MARYLAND

Capt. Mikes companion wanted to head to  Ocean City Maryland for a few days in the off season to walk on the beach. As always Capt. Mike goes along to get along. Actually, if I can't be on the water an ocean front room looking out over the Atlantic Ocean is not so terrible:

As with shores on the East Coast man often has a prolonged battle with trying to make the restless ocean halt or at least postpone it's efforts to move the beaches further inland. You can see this most vividly at the Ocean City Inlet. The inlet was made in 1933 by the Chesapeake Potomac hurricane.   You can see the offset where the undisturbed Assateague Island shoreline has moved further west when compared to the Ocean City shoreline at the top of the picture which has been replenished over the years by dredging:

From my 11th floor room I also noticed how the paths to the beach are arranged in a chevron like pattern:

Looking a little closer you can see why this pattern makes sense when storms threaten. The chevron pattern makes it harder for ocean waves break through:

 This pattern might very well help the sand build up on the path in storm conditions rather than have a straight path to the streets of Ocean City.

One day we took a drive over to Assateague Island  where there are two kinds of horsepower on display in the beach parking lots:

The hurricane that opened up the inlet also opened up the opportunities for the local residents to participate in one of the east coasts major fishing industries. The inlet allows easy access to the Atlantic Ocean. While heading back from lunch one day this boat caught my eye:

Is it a sailboat or is it a fishing boat?  The answer it's both! While it was built when fuel prices were cheaper and is currently just sitting at the dock. With today's rising fuel prices it will probably be out on the ocean again doing some long line fishing before too long.