The Essential Beachcomber

The day breaks revealing a busy morning of shelling at Blind Pass on Sanibel/Captiva. Can you remember being a kid and playing a game of  hide & go seek?  The best hiding place was always a closet.  As you sat in the closet being quiet and trying not to be found did you ever try to see your hand in front of your face?  That is dark.  If you are at Blind Pass on Sanibel/Captiva at 5am it's called "pitch black".  The 5:45am lowest minus tide of 2013 coincided with a new moon which means no moon - no light at all except for the hundred's of thousands of incandescent stars glowing across the sky.  As we stood in the empty parking lot of Turner Beach g earing up for our shelling expedition on the beach below our eyes slow ly became accustomed to the early morning pre-dawn sky and the outlines of shell pil es started coming into view .   My strategy for being the first one on the early morning  beach is to do a quick scan the...

Our hearts are with you. Take a moment to pray for peace, comfort, healing & restoration for the 46 families that lost loved ones &  the millions affected by Hurricane Sandy. Early morning full moon over Blind Pass on 10.29.12 Jackets - check. Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches - check. 230 lumen's LED flashlight - check. My alarm went off (well cathedral bells went bong - bong - bong - bong from my iPhone) at 3am crazy early Monday morning.  The truck had been packed the night before so it was just a matter of brushing my teeth, grabbing a coffee for the road and pointing the truck south for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Sanibel.  Winds from the storm, a full moon  & a 6 am low tide were too much to resist.  The Weather Channel had forecast the winds to die down overnight from 25-30 mph to 10-15 mph.  That weatherman was a tad too optimistic. As Pookie & I drove across the Sanibel Causeway we were awestruck at t...

My poor shell bucket has been empty.  Shelling on the SWFL coast has been sort of flat the last few months. Good shelling requires a combination of things.  Tides, winds, moon phase all play a part. The biggest factor is location, location, location.  Sanibel is the shelling epicenter on the west coast of Florida with the best seismic shelling waves extending to Cayo Costa on the north and  south to Bonita Beach, Naples, & Marco Island. The really sweet shelling spots can only be reached by boat.  That's why I practically jumped for joy when shelling guide Capt. Brian Holaway of Captiva/Sanibel Island  invited me out for a shelling excursion next week.  Heading out in the month of May (his favorite month).  Capt. Brian likes the warmer temps & the clearer waters.He says "the water seems more alive with stingrays & tarpons cruising by, the sea grass is floating on the surface of the water, & the days are longer." (Credit: Capt. ...