Searching for Sea Glass In October- Part 2

On Thursday, I arrive to a little different landscape. Some of the smaller walls were wiped out by what must have been a more extreme high tide. Tire tracks from the fisherman were a little bit closer to the ocean than a couple days earlier and much of the sand was covered in tire tracks... so the fisherman traffic was greater than what I found earlier in the week.

The shell bed areas were still prevalent and large gatherings appeared in areas that had none earlier in the week. Again, footprints in the sand let me know I was once again, late for the party. The trip north up the beach, examining the high tide leftovers, was nothing special. More under-cooked pieces and a few mediocre browns, greens and a white. I was a little disappointed that the area where the Coke bottle piece was located two days earlier, had nothing but a couple of undercooked pieces (this area had been the ONLY area where we had found anything worthwhile all summer) and I continued my trek north on the beach.

This day, the high tide was already turning into low tide as I arrived, so my walk back to my starting point, allowed me a bigger search area near the surf. As I approached my little "hot" area, I noticed footprints in the wet sand. Someone had been there, as I walked further up the beach?

The mystery person was nowhere to be found, as the beach was desolate, but the prints in the wet sand were there and they were fresh. I actually thought to myself, "oh well, if it was meant to be, it would be" and less than a minute later, right in front of the house that I use as my bookmark for my little "hot" spot, I saw something yellow, glimmering in the sand. Not more than 8 inches away from a footprint, was a piece of sea glass, laying by itself. In the sunlight, it was almost a golden color, a small nick in the bottom, but otherwise, nicely tumbled and it had the typical frosting of a NJ piece of sea glass.

Further down the beach, near the jetty and within a few feet from another footprint, was a brown piece of sea glass. Nice size, nice frosting, well tumbled and sparkling from the water. I love older pieces of brown sea glass because their colors are so much richer than the newer glass being used today. They frost differently...and this one was well-tumbled, it's edges were smooth and rounded.

I wondered to myself as I shared the story with my family...was the person on the beach walking a dog and maybe not looking for sea glass? The footprints stopped shortly after the jetty and headed up towards the dunes. Or could the ocean have popped these two pieces of sea glass on the beach just prior to me walking up on them? They both were still wet from a wave that could have gone over them...or brought them onto the sand.

Seaglassing, is a funny thing. The only thing we are in control of, is the time we arrive, which way we choose to walk and how long we plan on staying. The rest is up to the ocean. Has she pulled everything back, left a few gems up in different areas or plan on putting a few pieces onto the sand, for the sun to heat up, before she reclaims them. Are you in the right place at the right time?

On this day, for me, it was meant to be. Of course, the ocean may have thrown a couple reds and blues up on the sand right after I left. She can be that way...hahaha.

For those that search in the fall and winter, please take heed...many times you are out there searching all alone. The beaches are no longer tourist friendly. They are now back in the hands of Mother Nature. The 3-4 foot walls that the ocean has created, are difficult (if not impossible) to climb. So please, pay attention to the time, the tides and the waves. The conditions will only get more difficult from this point. Take care!!

'til next time...
R

Searching for Sea Glass In October - Part1

Last week, the weather was fairly mild for mid-October, so I hit the beach in the morning a couple of days, hoping to find a few treasures. You never know what to expect at this time of the year... high tides, usually mean you will encounter many surf fisherman (and women). Low tide usually means mostly empty beaches.

On Long Beach Island, where I do the bulk of my searching, it's quite apparent that the landscape of the beaches no longer resemble what you were used to in the spring and summer seasons. The towns do not have the funds to maintain the beaches and only the threat of extremely bad weather will bring crews to the beach in hopes of saving the dunes that protect personal property.

Tire tracks cover the high tide area, so much of those treasures are either buried and/or broken under the tracks. The ocean preserves the low tide area, as the pounding waves end up creating sand barriers that separate the high and low tide areas. These barriers are actually cuts in the beach, that create a wall in the sand, sometimes only 8-12 inches high, but in other areas, the wall is actually 3 or 4 feet high!

These are great areas to search for sea glass and other treasures that the ocean has left behind, as shells, seaweed, driftwood, etc all gather at the base of the wall, waiting for the next extreme high tide to reclaim them. Or for me and the other treasure hunters to search them.

So, different landscape, much less foot traffic and somewhat better conditions for finding a few ocean treasures

I made two trips last week, one at about 8am-ish on both Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday's trip was a little too early to have the opportunity to be there for low tide. I did have the "wall" areas to search, as some of these walls were able to contain the high tide that day. And there were plenty of shell beds to look through.
Unfortunately, there were also a few different footprints near the gatherings also, so I had been beaten to the spot.

Despite getting there 2nd or 3rd or whatever, I did find several pieces of sea glass, most of which "under-cooked" and needed more time in the ocean. These were left for the next tide to reclaim to allow the ocean to do her thing- continue to breakdown the shard and return it to the sand it originated from...or hopefully place it back on the beach in the future, for me to claim and recycle, repurpose, etc.

I did find a few nothing-special browns and a green and on my return trip to my car, I was able to walk closer to the surf and examine what was being left behind. It was there that I found a soft green piece of sea glass, somewhat small, but nice thickness. Most likely, it's a piece of an old Coke bottle, but still it's was good to see that LBI could still turn out something other than new beer bottle shards.

I don't have pictures of my findings from last week yet...I'm working on them, but I hope you enjoy a few images of some current creations and recent sea glass findings. Come back tomorrow for part 2 : )

'til tomorrow...
R