The Vineyard Gazette Media Group

Stonewall Beach to Squibnocket

This could be Natalie Conroy’s last summer in her small cottage above Stonewall Beach.

Today the cottage is perched literally at the edge of a cliff, the stringers beneath the front porch exposed and clinging to the edge for dear life.

In the past 15 years, Mrs. Conroy has lost 45 feet of cliff in front of her summer home due to coastal erosion. Severe hurricanes and winter storms in the past two years alone have caused nearly 30 feet of embankment to fall to the beach below. The house was moved once before, along with a small bunkhouse on the property.

Two Cottages Near Stonewall Beach Become Cliffhangers After Tropical Storm Irene; Emergency Move Approved

The Chilmark Conservation Commission issued an emergency work certificate this week for two perilously-perched cottages on the cliffs of Stonewall Beach, fearing if they are not moved back from the edge they will fall into the ocean. Natalie Conroy’s two small cottages on her property off State Road in Chilmark must be moved after tropical storm Irene stripped off 10 feet of cliff where the structures stand.

Left Teetering on Edge, Stonewall Beach Home Is Demolished

A small cottage perilously close to the edge at Stonewall Beach in Chilmark has been demolished to prevent it from falling over the cliff, town building inspector Leonard Jason Jr. said Tuesday. The demolition of the structure, which contains a bedroom, began Monday, Mr. Jason said. By Tuesday afternoon the demolition on Greenhouse Lane was complete. The debris was trucked off to the Edgartown landfill.

Severe Coastal Erosion Collapses Cliff, Creating Hazards at Lucy Vincent

As the Atlantic Ocean continues its assault on the south-facing shoreline of the Vineyard, Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark has been turned into a hazard zone, its once-broad sweep of sand now chewed away by ocean waves and littered with pieces of collapsed cliff. “The conditions are extremely dangerous, even for an experienced person like myself,” said Chilmark beach superintendent Martina Mastromonaco yesterday. “I think my biggest concern right now is keeping people away from the area.”

South Shore Erosion Divides Lucy Vincent Beach in Two

Coastal erosion has split Lucy Vincent Beach, temporarily cutting off a portion frequented by nude bathers at the point of a fossil-encrusted cliff, stretching the beach patrol and putting swimmers at risk. In a highly unusual scenario, the tide is extending all the way up to the cliff face at high tide and bringing part of the cliff with it as it recedes.