The Newsmagazine of Long Beach Island and Southern Ocean County

By Jon Coen | on August 31, 2022

Ship Bottom Beach Patrol’s Barnegat Bay Challenge had great conditions on Monday night. Photo by Biggy.

Have you been checking the numbers? Have you been going to the stats every day to look at hospitalizations, seven-day averages and (gulp) even deaths? Figuring that the end of summer was a good time to go back and pore over the latest statistics and charts, I pulled them all up to get a good idea of where we are, four months into New Jersey’s single-use bag ban.

And it turns out there have been zero deaths and not a single hospitalization caused. We hear the common flu is far more dangerous than the stress caused by having to bring your own bag to a store.

Now that’s not to say there haven’t been a few victims, even right here in Southern Ocean County. There have been several men wearing some form of 1776 shirts, who have nearly given themselves heart attacks when told by an elderly cashier that they would have to buy a $1 reusable bag to carry their three items to the car instead of the plastic bags that have been doled out for free (like communism) for the past 40 years … likely the same guys who berate a 16-year-old badge checker and call her a “snowflake.”

I read somewhere that someone in a neighboring state was going to make sure he takes double the plastic bags on every shopping trip to make up for the ones not used in New Jersey. Something about how sustainability is another example of the erosion of his constitutional rights … Damn, deep state …

There were a few folks who were caught off guard in May, even though it had been years in the making and announced last November with reusable bag deals for months prior. One whiny opinion piece that appeared on NJ 101.5 talked of the suffering one fella faced at the register and the “crime” wave it was causing as he suspected folks were stealing the grocery baskets from supermarkets.

“… The single-use plastic bags were ending up suffocating turtles or blowing down the street and hanging from trees too often for the virtue-signaling, tree-hugging godless fools to bear.” (He gets extra Patriot Points for bringing religion into it.)

But despite his pain and suffering, no one is on a ventilator some 120 days later. And the fact that society continues to function comes as something of a shock, considering that all through the winter and early spring, we were told what a disaster this would be, what a major shift in lifestyle it was to collect a few canvas totes and bring them into the supermarket.

I wasn’t aware of the calamity it would cause because, like others, I have been bringing my own bag into stores for 15 years. I’ve been given a nice canvas bag for free at nearly every event I have been involved in for the past 10 and have somehow come out with 10 fingers and 10 toes, despite the warnings. And I’m not even that bright.

But not everyone has had the same experience. This weekend, I started walking toward a retailer larger than 2,500 square feet when I realized I had left my bag. When I turned around to walk back 11 steps to my car, a man recognized what I was doing.

“The bag, right?! What a mess!” he screamed, as if the extra 12 seconds of getting my bag was a wound on the battlefield of his culture war. This is likely the same guy who will tell us that “This whole damn country has gone soft,” then launch into the diatribe of his ultimate plan to move to Florida for less extreme weather and lower taxes.

After all, New Jersey’s new law is now the most comprehensive in the country. It helps get us off single-use plastics and polystyrene. You can now suck from a straw made of bio-plastic, avocado pits, bamboo or sugarcane. (Or if you are past the age of a sippy cup, you can just not use a straw.)

Civilization as we know it has not been brought to its knees. The real benefits of the bag ban are fairly intricate, a complex reduction of nonpoint source pollution. They involve New Jersey pioneering a break from the plastic lobby. As other states follow, we have less global dependence on fossil fuels, less harm to wildlife, reduction of greenhouse gases, slowing of climate change, etc.

But there are simple benefits, too. Our county landfills are less taxed. There haven’t been Walmart plastic bags blowing down the street in months. They haven’t been gumming up engines and beach rakes. Think about it. Have you seen any bags in trees? Has anyone else noticed there are no Wawa bags floating in the bay? Surfers aren’t picking up blowing plastic bags on the way off the beach.

Maybe that makes all the indignities and grief well worth it.

SKATEPARK: Beach Haven is still moving forward on plans for a skatepark. I hope to have some news on locations and engineering approvals for readers soon. But I did learn this week that individuals can make donations. While you can call the borough hall for more info, donations can be made via check to Borough of Beach Haven. You will want to put “skatepark” on the memo line and include a note with your payment that the money be earmarked for the skatepark. Checks can be dropped in person or mailed to Borough of Beach Haven, 300 Engleside Ave., Beach Haven, N.J. 08008

You will get a receipt. The donation will be tax deductible, and should the project not go through for some reason, the money will be returned in full.

SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF: Or sweat in the small stuff. Small waves make the Island world go ’round in the summer, and that’s what we’ve had. But the ocean is plenty warm.

The summer of 2022 will be remembered far more for icy ocean temps than waves. Aside from one frigid morning in July and our little just-offshore low two weeks back, the surf has barely been over 2 foot. We have not had a single tropical swell this whole summer. (More on that later.) But hey, 2- foot is better than no foot, right? Hope you like longboarding.

After a few days of honorable-mention swell last week, the wind went hard south on Friday, and Saturday was one of the better days this season. Early on was windless, almost perfect glass and pushing belly high, probably the best conditions of the week. These are the kind of days you look forward to in the summer between a few more significant swells. This summer it’s been the best we’ve had.

The morning high tides were somewhat untimely this week, swamping most spots when the wind was good. But particularly on Saturday, the north winds abated in the afternoon and, while onshore, the surf was pretty clean through the midday low, making for a fair amount of weekend fun, mostly for logs but definitely ridable on a fish. You could also feel the water get warmer Saturday after Friday’s blow cooled it down a bit.

Sunday was another small-wave play day, but again, the wind and tide were on different pages. Monday was a similar tale, with more sunshine and less sea breeze.

Since the ocean temps were all the talk around the Island into mid-August, we might as well keep on talking about them. The ocean has been super toasty the last two weeks. In fact, last Thursday, Aug. 25, the Atlantic City gauge on the Steel Pier read 84.7!

Two things to note here: Atlantic City tends to have noticeably warmer water than LBI. When temps were dipping back in July, we had readings that were colder due to our tendency for greater upwelling. So, our water was not that tropical, but we certainly had our warmest ocean temps of the year.

The second thing to note is that it may have been a bad reading. Some scientist in Mount Holly saw that AC’s ocean temps were warmer than Jamaica’s and set off the alarm. NOAA recognized the abnormality, and the gauge was pulled. It has been offline all week. The previous days, the gauge registered 83.3, which broke a record set in 2016. So, these readings are not unheard of. Either way, AC likely hit 80, and we know LBI was pushing into the high 70s. I don’t see anything in the forecast but warm water as we head into Labor Day weekend. We should also see a break, midweek, from the humidity that has been brutal.

The Atlantic Ocean is finally showing sings of life. The orange ‘1’ could be our next tropical wave maker. (Image courtesy NOAA)

AND NOW ON TO THE TROPICS: In science terms, it’s highly unusual that we may not have some kind of hurricane-related swell for Labor Day weekend. In surf terms, it’s a drag that there’s no hurricane swells, brah. Same difference.

Unless one of the disorganized or semi-organized tropical systems in the Atlantic Basin quickly became a tropical storm since the writing of Liquid Lines, it looks like we will go the entire month of August without a named storm. Actually, it’s been about seven weeks since we had a named storm, but the slow August is the fact to be examined here, as that has happened only twice since these records were first kept in 1950. And it’s been 25 years since it happened last.

As I have been reporting for weeks, some of the elements needed to cook up a ’cane are there, but others have been ruining the party. Most recently, it’s dry Saharan air that has been tamping things down.

There are four areas that meteorologists are looking at in the Atlantic. While nothing can be ruled out, only one seems to have intensification in its future. That system is Invest 91 L, which has come across the Atlantic from Africa, fighting dry air the whole time. Whether this system intensifies significantly (it would be Tropical Storm Danielle) or not, it does look to be headed to our swell window, and long-range models suggest a curve northward. The system is heading into warm water and less wind shear. So at the very least, we should see a small bump in swell after Labor Day weekend and possibly something more.

Any of this could change and change radically. And we could certainly see an average September/October or even an active late season if things fall into place. I know I am not the only one keeping my fingers crossed for some warm water and juicy surf.

CHOWDERMESSED: Anyone in the mood for local commentary?

I don’t have time for television in the summer. I don’t think I’ve turned on the TV twice since May. But even if you had the time, there is no greater entertainment that listening to local conversations regarding things like local prices, Chowderfest and the former CVS in The SandPaper letters and local social media groups. It’s drama with a hint of comedy.

I’ll start by admitting that I don’t frequent arcades, and I went to Chowderfest once in my life. I’m Switzerland on both. As for prices, if U.S. inflation goes up 8.5%, it’s going to be more in a wealthy resort area. LBI has always been more expensive. Businesses are paying employees huge money just to keep any kind of staff right now (there’s no housing), and even that’s not enough for a lot of places to stay open seven days a week.  If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go there.

If you haven’t kept up, the Southern Ocean County Chamber of Commerce has changed Chowderfest from the traditional Merchants Mart and Chowder Cook-Off weekend to just a one-day affair. It’s not only very good for businesses in the shoulder season, but the Chowder Trail aspect gives a great view of who is coming to our area from where in order to direct future marketing. There are many additional factors, but the chamber’s projects are obviously successful as LBI is doing very well in attracting old and new visitors.

So, instead of buying a ticket for unlimited chowder, the event is free and you pay for food from the vendors, some of whom served chowder, or whatever else they want.

And this, to some folks, is the end of the world.

The truth is that the restaurants used to spend a week making vats of chowder, which would now probably cost 15% more, and by October, the crew they have is thin and overworked. Making the chowder, setting up and entertaining the soup-hungry masses would borderline on cruelty. Labor costs would be far more than they ever were. That all-you-can-eat Chowderfest ticket would probably be $100.

And then those same voices would publicly complain about the price.

As for the old CVS, after two years of weird debates and lawsuits, Ship Bottom granted Wainwright Amusements a green light in opening a new family-style entertainment center on the Boulevard and Seventh Street. I’m not sure why this was an issue as Brian Wainwright has given endlessly to the Island and Beach Haven since he took over Fantasy Island. Rising tides tend to lift all ships.

What was amusing, however, was to read all the complaints directed at the town as to why they are opening an arcade and not a grocery store. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have a supermarket there and not have to drive 18 miles round trip for an onion after September. But the town is not opening either one. Though the council had to grant approval, Ship Bottom can’t tell Wainwright what to open on the property he bought.

And if there were a supermarket there, those same voices would publicly complain about the prices. Can we just be happy it’s not being torn down for more homes that all look the same?

LAST HURRAH: While most of the world calls it Labor Day, many around here call it the start of Local Summer, aka the first hurrah. Here’s a cold Gatorade for those who will work double shifts on a holiday to celebrate labor. And this summer, the local work force, which has put in more overtime hours in return for less customer appreciation, is really looking forward to September – although they will be even more short staffed.

After being postponed from the previous week, Ship Bottom Beach Patrol hosted the Barnegat Bay Challenge Race on Monday in near perfect conditions with only a slight south wind. It was very well attended and a good time for all. Nick Delfico won the SUP division and Henry Yater aced the Prone. For the full story see Dave Biggy.

Generally, from here until the holidays (which are already here, according to Costco) is just a damn fine time to be around our area. For those still standing, Monday night The Danksters will usher out summer and usher in local summer simultaneously at Bird & Betty’s for another Surf Night, starting at 9.

Things quiet down after. The beach fire pits, weekly concerts and kids programs on the bay are mostly done. The next event is the Jetty Clam Jam Selection Night next Thursday, Sept. 8. The Clam Jam will run on the first day of significant swell starting Sept. 10. Then we get into the fall festival season. The 40th annual Old Time Barnegat Bay Decoy and Gunning Show is Sept. 24 and 25, and the very controversial 34th annual Chowderfest is Oct. 1.

So, live it up this weekend. Next week will have a much different feel.

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