Storms claim Chatham’s last North Beach cottage
Wind, rain, and high tides churned up by Sunday’s storm claimed the last of the North Beach cottages on Chatham’s barrier beach between Pleasant Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
The cottage, which stood on makeshift stilts made of steel beams and wood, was damaged during storms on Friday and Saturday and was swept into the water on Sunday, owner William Hammatt, 66, said yesterday during a telephone interview from his home in North Chatham.
Hammatt, who named the cottage “Hammatt’s Hangar,’’ said he spent almost every summer weekend at the cottage since he began renting it in 1976. He bought the 400-square-foot house for $85,000 in 1992.
Four North Beach cottages were destroyed during a northeaster in June, leaving Hammatt’s the last standing and making the loss of his cottage inevitable, Hammatt said.
“You’re on a barrier beach that’s been eroding for 5,000 years,’’ he said. “I didn’t think it was going to stop.’’
The cottage floated west from its perch on the outer part of the beach and settled in a channel, where Hammatt said he hopes it will remain until he acquires permits that will allow him to remove it.
The storm swallowed up 20 to 25 feet of dunes and 60 feet of shore sand along the outer part of the 7 1/2-mile barrier beach, which can be accessed only through Orleans, said Orleans Beach and Parks Superintendent Paul Fulcher.
The beach will remain closed to vehicles for at least a few days, but is expected to reopen when the sandy ledges that make up the vehicle corridors that run the length of the beach build up again, Fulcher said.
“It’s amazing on the beach how much sand travels,’’ he said. “As soon as the wind changes direction, the sand will.’’
