Bathtub Reef Beach's restoration continues, as deputies block MacArthur Boulevard

Waves crash violently against the exposed rocks, shooting ocean water into the sky at Stuart Rocks.

 

High tide will make the nine-foot waves even bigger. 

 

"It's battering the dunes," said Kathy FitzPatrick, Martin County coastal engineer. 

 

That worries Ted Brown. He was removing the bricks from his washed-out driveway this afternoon.

 

"We have no water, no sewer, no driveway, no access," he said.

 

Brown lives just north of Bathtub Reef Beach. He says he's been through four hurricanes since 1979. He says Sandy's waves are the biggest he's seen.

 

"It's the tides that were so much worse than before," said Brown.

 

Brown's dock is slanted, broken. Docks to the north are damaged too, including one at Stuart Rocks.

 

Debris is scattered on shore. Bathtub Reef Beach's parking lot is covered in sand and water. The sand restoration project there continues for the fifth day.

 

The peninsula's only road, MacArther Boulevard, is still closed as crews bring in sand. But it's not damaged.

 

"We've just had to keep adding to what we've had out here to maintain the dune," said FitzPatrick. 

 

The latest sand count surpasses 6,000 tons, according to FitzPatrick. The county says the $25,000 sand restoration project has grown to about $70,000.  County engineers say the waves have stayed unpredictably large.

 

Despite it all, Brown plans to stay put.

 

"I'm still here," he said, with a smile. Then, it was back to work.