1993 as the spit straightened and gained sand. As of 1999, the width of the inlet
was 5,600 ft (1,707 m).
A northern ebb channel formed in early 1995 some 1,000 ft (305 m) north of
the original breach. That northern channel meandered to the north and as of 1999
was 800 ft (244 m) wide. With two ebb channels, and a complex system of shoals
at the mouth of the south ebb channel, the south ebb channel narrowed to approxi-
mately 500 ft (152 m) in July 1999. It is now positioned against the South Beach
shore and presumably will lose its dominance to the north channel. As a single
south ebb channel, it was approximately 600 ft (183 m) wide.
A plot of the channel center lines through time shows the southern migration
of the south ebb channel, with the position becoming fixed in 1994 after the South
Beach became permanently attached to the mainland (Figure 21). The north
channel meandered around after its formation in 1995, but has remained north of
the original breach. Chatham Inlet has evolved into a two-ebb channel system and
the channels have continued to change position within the inlet throat, with the
north channel now taking a more dominant role as the preferred channel.
Mainland Shoreline Segments
With the opening of the inlet, the mainland shoreline went from a low energy,
tidally dominated estuarine condition to an open ocean wave and tide dominated
system. These processes had a profound influence on the morphologic evolution
of the mainland shore, with the beach responding to both cross-shore and long-