Broadkill gets more beach, more people, more trash

Truth be told, Broadkill Beach was discovered by tourists a few years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers created what is probably the biggest beach and dune system in Delaware.

It was one of those picture-perfect, chamber of commerce, midsummer beach days: sunny, hot, but not too hot, at the peak of the season, as Jim Bailey recalls. Dewey was full. So was Rehoboth. Cape Henlopen State Park filled next and then Lewes.

That day, Bailey remembers, there were so many people coming into Broadkill Beach that he was out at the corner of Bay Shore Drive and Del. 16 directing traffic. Cars were parked everywhere. If a firetruck or ambulance needed to get through there wouldn't have been room, he said.

It may not have been that exact same day, but Dawn Robinette, of old New Castle, and her family had a similar experience.

"We were going to go down to Cape Henlopen," she said. "It was just packed."

So as they headed north on Del. 1, she thought back to her childhood visits to Broadkill with her parents. They turned east on Del. 16 and drove until they reached the small parking lot and the Broadkill Store.

"It's kid friendly. It's pet friendly," she said. "It just much more peaceful here. . . The only con I have is parking."

Other, more popular beaches to the south, were far from full on Friday but Robinette and her family chose Broadkill.

There are days, said Bailey, who heads the Broadkill Beach Preservation Association, when he can walk out the door of his home, head up to the beach, stand at the dune crossing, look south and see nothing but a sea of people and umbrellas.

"There are days it looks like Rehoboth," he said. "Is that a bad thing? No. Is what they leave behind a bad thing? Yes."

Trash has become a new problem as Broadkill becomes a more popular destination.

Broadkill is different from Delaware's other beach resorts. It has no infrastructure to support a big influx of tourists. There are two portable toilets and just one commercial establishment: The Broadkill Store. There is one parking area, which holds 15 to 20 cars. There is no town, no town government and no tax base to pay for things like beach rakes that filter trash from the sand, trash pickup, lifeguards and parking lots or meters.

It is one of the last public beaches in Delaware where people can go where there is no fee at all.

It is, like Delaware State Parks, a carry in, carry out beach -- meaning that visitors should take any trash they have with them when they leave. Many people do, but some do not.

Bailey said they decided to remove an informational kiosk after people used it to dispose of soiled baby diapers. Also gone is a dumpster the community used to provide.

The problem, Bailey said, is "trash begets trash" and some people were coming to Broadkill to dispose of their household garbage rather than pay for trash collection.

For decades, especially in the days before air conditioning, Broadkill was the go-to beach for area farm families. Once the chores were done, the supper dishes washed and put away, everyone piled into the pickup truck, headed to Broadkill and cooled off in Delaware Bay.

Then, as other beaches to the south put limits on fishing, anglers started heading to Broadkill. They could cast a line in the water anytime. So few people swam there, there weren't conflicts. Want to toss a football around, launch a beach float or pop the lid on a cold one? No problem. Broadkill doesn't have the "No, No, No" signs that are common everywhere else.

Broadkill isn't for everyone. Locals joke that there are three seasons at the beach: "greenhead fly, black fly and winter."

It can be extremely buggy especially when the wind dies and the bugs rise off the adjacent marsh.

But the sand is lush, the beach is wide, the waves are gentle. There's no undertow, no rip currents and there is amazing wildlife from regular dolphin shows in the summer to the annual spawn of horseshoe crabs and shorebird migration each spring.

"The world stops at Petersfield Ditch," one of two waterways that visitors cross on their way to Broadkill, Bailey said. "You come here, it's a whole different world."

A thunderstorm rolled through on Thursday and it cleared the beach but Terry Shelbon, of Georgetown, waited the storm out in her car.

She couldn't believe her good fortune once the storm passed and the sun broke through the clouds.

"How wonderful," she said. "I've got the beach to myself . . . This is my getaway. . . I just love this."

STORY: Sand pumping starts at Broadkill Beach

STORY: Supersize: Broadkill Beach keeps growing

For two decades, Broadkill residents, led by Bailey and his late neighbor, Bob Conte, went to meeting after meeting. Their beach was washing away and homes were at risk. They were in line for a federal beach replenishment project similar to what was done in municipalities along the ocean coast. Residents suffered through tropical storms, hurricanes and nor'easters.

There were studies and plans but there was never funding for sand. Then, the Army Corps of Engineers, working with state officials, decided to combine two initiatives, deepening the lowest reach of the Delaware River main shipping channel from 40 to 45 feet and using the dredgings to restore the badly eroded and storm-damaged shoreline at Broadkill with 1.9 million cubic yards of sand from the channel.

Of the $63 million total cost, about $30 million was spent to pump sand and create what some describe as a "megabeach."

The project didn't cost Delaware or the Delaware bayfront community a penny, though the state will pay to create permanent dune crossings, put up sand fencing and plant the dune with beach grass – work that could cost as much as $1 million. That part of the project must still be completed.

But the beach did well in two key tests: a strong nor'easter in early October 2015 and an even stronger one in January.  Both the beach and dune held.

Bailey said the project has been a great success in protecting the homes and streets in the community.

"Broadkill Beach is so fortunate," he said. "We probably have close to the best beach in Sussex County."

Kari Anspach, who has a camper at Smith's Landing nearby, said she discovered Broadkill a few years ago. It was a great spot to bring her children because the waves weren't as harsh as the ocean.

"Since they redid it, I love it," she said. "You can tell a lot more people are coming."

Christine Morrison, of Colebrook, Pennsylvania, said she discovered Broadkill about three years ago and immediately loved the beach combing and the chance to find skate and whelk egg cases along the shoreline. Since the sand pumping there's been less of that, she said.

"It's a great family place," she said. "And, it's free."

Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.