Posted on July 10, 2026
Weeks after dredging equipment was placed in Double Creek Channel in Barnegat Bay, boaters are left with answers they didn’t expect and questions that still don’t have a clear path forward with recreational boating season officially underway.
“NJDOT (N.J. Department of Transportation) does not have dredging operations in Double Creek taking place at this time, and there are no future operations scheduled in Double Creek,” Elizabeth Galamba, an agency spokesperson, said last week.
Boaters and their dog take a walk on a sandbar in Barnegat Bay near Double Creek channel, highlighting the extreme discrepancy in water depth.
Double Creek is under the jurisdiction of the DOT. Galamba’s comments were in response to an inquiry about the dredging equipment after a boat tour June 25 through Double Creek channel, where the water depth varied from just above a foot to 11 feet in some areas. The channel is not officially marked, but a floating device does warn of danger due to shoaling.
Sea Tow Central Jersey Capt. Walt Bohn said earlier this week he noticed July 5 the dredge equipment had been removed from the area where it had been photographed just 10 days prior.
While on the water late last month, he said the core problem is that conditions keep changing.
“The bay is a living beast. It’s constantly changing,” Bohn said, explaining this year’s channel does not have the same navigable lanes as it did last summer.
In May, Bohn spread the word on social media about Double Creek being an unmarked channel after responding to several boaters who ran aground while attempting to follow last years “tracks.” —G.G.S.
