Since early October of 2015, Duxbury Harbor has been home to a couple of pretty large barges known as dredgers.
After years of intense low tides, getting stuck in the mud, and challenging navigation, Duxbury Harbor has finally been dredged! This is particularly thrilling for Duxbury Bay Maritime School (DBMS) as our Executive Director, Chuck Leonard, has been fervently pushing for this since 2008.
Before the dredge, parts of Duxbury Harbor were considered virtually useless at low tide because of the high levels of sediment (mud). For nearly fours hours each day, DBMS students would not be able get on the water because the school’s boats would be stuck in the mud in the guzzle. Oyster nurseries were in danger of being rendered useless because of lack of water at low tide. Even the recreational boaters with coveted deep-water-moorings would find that still, the water was not deep enough for their boats because of the mud.
In a 2014 article from the Boston Globe, Project Manager for the Army Corps Craig Martin noted how important dredging is. “ Ideally, dredging would take place very ten years, and the last dredging [of Duxbury Harbor] was in 1997. The accumulation of sediment means more and more of the harbor is too shallow at low tide, and accidents are more likely to occur in shallower waters where boats hit ground.”
Now, over a year since the article was written, the federal and DBMS dredge has occurred. This is HUGE for the school because it will allow more flexibility for students to be on the bay between changing tides, and will create a safer maritime environment for students. To get a better idea of the dredge, check out this clip taken by Chuck of the DBMS guzzle: Dredging the DBMS Guzzle
Cheers to 2016 and to a deeper Duxbury Bay, now allowing us further continue our mission of making the bay accessible for all!
For more information about DBMS, program bookings, our outreach programs, or gift vouchers, please visit our website.
To read the complete article from The Boston Globe, click HERE