Business & Tech

Sandy's Impact on Boating and Fishing in Lacey

Uncertainty about the quality and safety of the water remains following Hurricane Sandy

Right now, Frank Przemielewski figures there’s a perception problem.

The boat business has been slow since Hurricane Sandy, the owner of Ted & Son’s Forked River Marina said Thursday. Typically, early spring is the time that people haul their boats down to the marina for service, or rent a slip, as they get ready for a season on the water. But, his customers just aren’t sure if they’re even going in the water this year.

In the five months since Sandy struck, cleanup and restoration along New Jersey’s coast has been ongoing, but there are concerns that the back bays and tributaries have been left unattended. Lose debris, beach sand, sunken ships have all been talked about. What really lurks underneath, Przemielewski can’t say, but there’s worry enough to keep boaters away, at least now.

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“It’s mostly the pleasure boaters,” he said. “What they’ve been reading and seeing has got them scared.”

What they’re seeing, or have seen, is the damage caused by Sandy to beaches and properties up and down the shore. Sand from barrier island beaches was pushed by surging ocean water into the nearby bays. Buildings were knocked off their foundations and carried into the water, some of them, too, might have found their way into bays and tidal waterways.

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What they’re reading is that tide levels on those same waterways are higher than they’ve been in years, and when it rains, the flooding that would only happen during significant storms, is becoming a regular occurrence.

Przemielewski said he thinks it could just be the sand that’s caused water levels to rise. If that’s the case then it’s safe for boaters to get back in the water. He hasn’t seen that much debris – a few days after the storm he did find a sunken ship while out on the water, but that’s been removed since – but it couldn’t say for sure if it isn’t there.

The problem might not be a local one, he said. Forked River seemed to fair well during Sandy, at least it doesn’t seem to have attracted a lot of debris, but northern parts of Ocean County still have a problem.

“One of my customers is trapped in his lagoon in Toms River,” he said. “The top of a house (in the water) is blocking him in.”

Dredging efforts, in some places, have been scheduled. The Department of Environmental Protection is slated to dredge parts of upper Barnegat Bay, but larger debris, including homes that washed into the bay, need to be removed before work can begin. Considering how much debris remains in the water, dredging that section of the bay might not start until June.

Water condition might scare off pleasure boaters, but there’s less concern coming from fishermen, at least according to Dan Tholen, who helps run the nearby Lacey Discount Marine.

With a month and a half of the later fishing season lost to Sandy – Tholen said some of the best fishing takes place into December – anglers are excited to dip their lures into the water again. He said the shop has even seen an uptick in business recently when compared to past spring seasons.

“I think it’s going to be a very good year,” he said. “Everyone wants to get back in the water.”

Tholen attributes some of the excitement to post-Sandy recovery. People have been working hard to get back to normal, they’ve been rebuilding, or at least, feeling a bit of the effects of cabin fever after having been cooped up so long.

Fishing, he said, provides a bit of relief to those problems.

Pleasure boaters and fishermen might have a different perspective of the upcoming boating season, but they might not be too far apart. While some of Przemielewski’s customers say they’re not going in the water at all this year, he’s a bit skeptical.

“Once you see 80-degree weather days, you’re probably going to see some people have a short-term memory problem,” he said.


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