Should you warn your guests? A Margate beach etiquette guide

MARGATE, N.J. — Things have been kind of tense lately in Margate, where U.S. Army Corps of Engineer dune and beach replenishment work has deeply rattled locals and shoobies alike, and disrupted the one thing Margatians hold dear: their summer.

As the late, great writer and local Christopher Gilmore liked to tell people: "You only get so many summers."

On the other hand, anyone who lives down the Shore or owns a house there gets an infinite number of guests. And things can get tricky when the Army Corps of Engineers comes unannounced.

Here, then, is our guide to best etiquette while the Army Corps is at your front beach door:

Dear Amy: The Army Corps has arrived at my beach. There's beeping and heavy construction noise all night long. My guests are due to arrive this weekend. Should I warn them?

Tough call. The way the Army Corps has been working this summer, you never can tell where they will be. One night, they're working all night laying pipes, producing beeping and pounding noises worse than the dozens of people crammed onto the porch of the big old house that's turned into an Airbnb this summer. The next day, they've decamped to the next town over. So the mere possibility of keeping your guests awake all night is not enough, in my opinion, to derail the plans.

Shut the windows, turn on the air conditioner, as Ventnor Commissioner Lance Landgraf helpfully suggested early on. Or maybe just contract with a friend who lives farther from the beach as backup accommodations.

In Margate, the great issue of Lake Christie closing beaches and creating blocks and blocks of standing water from rainfall, slurry sand pumping, and a flawed idea of digging a basin down to the water table for drainage appears to have been at least temporarily dealt with (two lawsuits, innumerable angry Facebook posts, and a couple of beach protests later).

In any case, if there's rain in the forecast, Margate is again at risk of ponding. Then again, guests are likely not to want to actually show up if it's raining. Save your peach chutney for your neighbors.

Dear Amy: The Army Corps of Engineers has placed a pipe the length of the island basically and closed off my usual beach. At the next beach over, things are kind of tight, and I don't see my usual ice cream man. Is it OK to buy from another?

All bets are off when the beaches get rotated to accommodate the Army Corps. Hobie cats are landlocked, lifeguard stands are moved one block over, the pipe makes high tide the ultimate "meet your neighbor" sardine pack. No beachspreading is even possible under these conditions. (Or if you prefer, the New York Times version of the beachspreading story.)

The only thing a loyal Jersey beachgoer can count on is that the beach-tag checkers will seek you out wherever you end up staking your turf.

Dear Amy: I'm joining a beach protest this weekend. Should I ask my guests to join in?

Another tricky situation. I think it might be a fun activity to engage the guests in sign-making. Let them help you with context. Is that "Beach Lives Matter" sign really going to translate well on social media? Can the kids help with effective use of emoji? (See below, excellently sad face.) The best thing about a beach protest is you can come in your bathing suit and when it's over, head over the dune and continue your beach day on the section of the beach the Army Corps hasn't totally messed up: The oceanfront. Just watch for the steep shore break that often follows a beach replenishment. That you should warn your guests about.