Conference moira::naturism

  re .0 -

  The beach talked about in the previous note is Lucy Vincent beach, and
  if the title of this note has merit, ... it may get more crowded in the
  near future. 

  While I was at Solair this weekend, I heard that the tribal council voted
  last wednesday (or maybe this wed) on wether or not to ban the nudity on
  Gay Head beach (the indian owned portion, which is the CO side).

  Apparently the story is that a couple was caught having sex on the beach,
  so, the tribal council feels that banning nudity is an appropriate action
  to take.

  I personally find no connection between the nudity and having sex.  I suspect
  if it were a textile beach, and a couple was caught having sex, I don't
  think string bikini's would be banned.  

  Has anyone else heard of this.  Is it just a rumor?  I think it would be
  a terrible blow to Naturism.  Its one of the nicest beaches around, and
  I'm sure many people (like me) plan their vacations on Martha's Vinyard
  around spending time on Gay Head.

  I suspect that they would loose a great deal of money on the parking
  lot, if the CO folks stopped going to Gay Head!

  If it is banned, are there any other beaches besides Lucy Vincent on the
  island that allow nudity.  Places that anyone can go to!



  Paul
  who_has_his_house_on_the_vinyard_all_ready_and_could_be_bumming!

    Major Bummer!  I am going to the Vineyard a week from today, with a
    group from AMC.  I'll be staying at the girl scout camping area in
    Chilmark.  It isn't clear that I will be allowed access to the Chilmark
    town beach, however.  It is the only other CO beach that I am aware of
    on the island.
    
    I would be willing to bet that there WILL be CO use of Gayhead,
    however.  It is along tradition, and too many people go to the island
    with that idea in mind.  Let's keep our fingers crossed!
    
    Jack

    
    I heard the same rumor last night, while talking to my massage
    therapist, who recently spent a weekend on Nantucket.  She read an
    article about it in the MV newspaper.  I was hoping to get more details
    here.  

   With all the efforts, and regulations regarding protecting of the 
   cliffs at Gay Head, ... I was wondering how they fared during the
   Hurricaine.   

   It seems to me, that one storm of that magnitude could do so much
   more damage than people could ever do.  

   Has anyone been there since the storm, or heard if there was any
   major damage, or erosion to the cliffs.  This year when we were there,
   quite a big deal was made about staying away from the cliffs. 

   Police were on the beach in a police truck, driving or walking up and down
   keeping people away from the cliffs.  

   I forgot to bring my camera, .. which bummed me out, because I would
   have liked to have had a picture of me (or my girlfriend) in the nude
   talking with the police, or sitting on their truck!

   O well, .. there's always next year!

   It was weird to have the police walking around, while so many people
   were both nude, and drinking!  No problems there, .. just don't go
   near the cliffs!

   Hmmm, what a job those officers have, .. where do I join up!

   paul

	I was down to Gay Head Beach for the week of Labor Day (2 weeks
after the hurricane). This is my 4th year going down and was somewhat
disappointed. For one thing, the beach erosion was tremendous. At high
tide there was very little beach left to lay on. What beach was left 
was piled (in places) with softball sized rocks. This was also true
in the was, where once the ocean bottom was smooth and sandy.
	The base of the cliffs were strewn with alot of debris, wooden
planks, logs, and huge chunks of clay that fell off the cliffs. It appeared
at the height of the storm the waves must have pounded at least 10 ' above
the base of the cliffs.
	Upon walking on the beach for the first time this season, my first
reaction was shock because the beach was in such a shamble. As the week
went on I grew alittle more accustomed to it, but it isn't the same 
beautiful beach I has been used to. I will debate about going back next
year, although with a few good winter storms, all the debris that is there
now, could magically disappear by next spring. Nature has a way of healing
things.
 	Brian

   My boss just came back from the vinyard.  According to him, the rocks
  are still there, but the debris is being picked up ... slowly but surely.
  While he was there, there were quite a few people working on putting
  the debris in piles, and getting rid of it.
   
   As far as the rocks go ... they will probably disapear over the winter.

   The only thing that can not be reversed is the erosion.  I would say
  that "Bob" did more damage than all of the clay bathers have done 
  so far.


   paul


   p.s. -  I would have LOVED to have watched the storm from the observation
  post at the top of the hill.  (behind the lighthouse)  

    I have a friend who lives on the island.  She states that the
    Nor'easter of last week far surpassed Bob in damage to the Gay Head
    beach and cliffs.  I don't have any specifics.
    
    Tim
    

  That would be terrible ... if the beach is destroyed.

  I'd say it will probably look very different next time we go there.

  Its kind of funny, that all the money and trouble they go through to
  keep people from walking on the cliffs, when that does absolutely nothing
  compared to the damage from a good size storm.  

  ***

  I saw a real quick clip of a Martha's Vinyard beach, but I'm not sure which
  one it was.  If it was Gay Head, that there certainly was a lot of damage.
  What used to be dunes, or small cliffs were flattened, and sand was
  pushed back all the way to the road, about 50 or 60 feet back.

  paul

    Has anybody seen the car add that looks like it was filmed on M.V. @
    Gay Head?  I'd swear it was there.  I don't remember which car, but I
    know I've seen some of those rocks before and there was no mistaking
    the color of the cliffs.  How did they get the car down there?  Seems
    like the land bank has a double standard to me...
    
    Tim
    

  My girlfriend commented on that ad ... and I thought it might have been
  martha's vinyard also, however, after looking at it carefully, I don't
  think its martha's vinyard.
  
  It could be nantucket (sp?) .. which also has cliffs like that.  I have
  also seen a picture or two of beaches in california that look like that.
  
  I'm pretty sure it was NOT gay head.  But, you never know!

  paul

    Have the clay baths at Gay Head been rebuilt yet?

    I went there in June, and it was way too cold for anything.
    The beach was deserted, and there was nary a sign of the
    mudbaths.  There was still lots of debris from the no-name storm.
    
    I was at M.V. this weekend, and I overheard someone talking
    about going to play in the mud.  Unfortunatley, we didn't have
    enough time to bike out there.

    Anyone know if they mudbaths have been rebuilt?

I was there 3 weeks ago.  People rebuild them almost weekly, although due to
the erosion, there is little hope of creating one which will last very long.
As soon as someone gets one built, 10 people hop in and it caves in.

Gay Head does not have the money (yeah, right!) to police the beach this year,
so the erosion is particularly bad as the cops don't come down and ticket the
clay bathers.

Bottom line: Don't go expecting to find any.  If they aren't destroyed, they
are sandy and watery and contain very little clay.

Tim