By Mike Busch

I took a late afternoon ride to the beach on New Year’s Day to check out the surf and get my dog some exercise.  Despite the winds it was a perfect day for  walk.  We headed west from Smith Point and just kept going all the way to Old Inlet, walking back in the dark.  There has been continued erosion of the dunes and several areas appear to have had recent wash-overs.  It is tough to tell from the ground how much the inlet has changed but the spit on the east side is huge, at least 300 yards wide.  There also appears to be another large spit on the west side.  Both of these are only a few feet above sea level and are probably under water at high tide or during storms.

The video and images on pages 1 and 2 were taken on the way to the inlet.  On pages 3 and 4 we have some video and images taken at the inlet and across the to the Bellport Pavilion.

If you aren’t familiar with Old Inlet, this was created when Hurricane Sandy blasted a hole through Fire Island across from Bellport.  Click here for extensive coverage of this beautiful and dynamic area.

Continued on Pages 2,3, and 4