The high tides on June 22, 23 and 24 were the turning point. Instead of taking away sand as many feared, they actually brought sand onto the Dewees front beach.

It’s a process. There are ebbs and flows. Some parts of the beach grow while others erode. But there definitely seems to be a trend. The beach is growing again, especially in the area around Osprey Walk. People are no longer wondering if the last line of dunes just north of Osprey Walk will give out any instant. They’ve held their line for more than a month and are growing ever so slightly — growing both vertically and horizontally. Planks are no longer being ripped off the ends of the beach walkways. That’s a big change from May when chunks of the beach access paths were disappearing every 24 hours.

Hopefully, the island can make it through hurricane season without any major incidents. If that happens, the sand from the sandbar north of Osprey may continue to weld onto the front beach. Welding is good; it causes the beach to grow.