The Essential Beachcomber

Looking across the Stump Pass channel towards Knight Island to the south.  The channel was dredged in 2010 to make the pass deeper.  The dredged sand was used to build up the south end of Stump Pass State Park. All it takes is one little tropical storm named Debby and 3.76 million dollars worth of sand gets shifted to the west. The sandbar has shifted to the west of it's previous location.  You can see the little spit of sand just past the stumps. The south end of Stump Pass State Park has easily tripled in width since Tropical Storm Debby last July. Prior to the storm the trees were on the edge of the water. Only a mile walk down from the main entrance to the park beachcombers reap the rewards of sharks teeth and shells for their efforts. Australian Pines stand tall against the sky.       (taken with my iPhone) Stump Pass is my happy place.  I walk out to the end a few times each month.  The changes o...

Oh my goodness ya'll!  I felt so guilty about going to Sanibel today without you - well I just had to get you something.   Okay, at least one person will get something.   The island is gearing up for one big shelling party - Shellabration 2012 honors the  75th anniversary of The Sanibel Shell Fair & Show.  From February 17th through March 4th the Island will be shellabrating from ding to dong (or Darling) If you would like to join in by wearing a Shellabration 2012 t-shirt here's all you have to do: -leave me a comment sharing which sea shell is your favorite. -for a 2nd entry, turn a friend on to TEB.  Have them leave a comment telling me you sent them over. I'll announce the winner of the Shellabration 2012 t-shirt on February 1, 2012. This is what Blind Pass on Sanibel looks like  before sunrise.  My partner-in-shelling-crime this morning (very early morning) is my cousin  Beach Babe.  She's a farm girl from ...

The Hubbs was installing speakers in the living room for a surround sound so I figured  it would be a good time to make myself busy (quickly) before I got appointed the designated Gofer.  You know - Honey, can you go fer the speaker wire I forgot?  Honey, can you go fer a special screw diver I need from Home Depot?  Honey, can you go fer a Band-Aid? All the sudden despite poor tides & cool winds, it is looking like a really good shelling day.   I started the day on Bonita Springs & ended it with the sunset on Sanibel - Blind Pass to be exact.  The sand bar is back on the Captiva side with lots of shells.  There was also a nice shell pile on the jetty.  I got hit straight-away with a huge wave which soaked the better part of my levis & sweatshirt (I saved the camera & iPhone though) Oh well.  I'm not going home till I know that speaker project is finished. Little Hickory 10-spot Blind Pass on the Captiva Side ...

This was the packet of shells that came when you paid admission to the shell show People give me a quizzical look when I tell them I am heading for the mothership.  My friends & family know that means I'm packing the truck up with my shelling gear & heading for Sanibel Island. On one of my first pre-dawn drives down as I was crossing the San Carlos overpass that leads to Sanibel the lights reminded me of the spaceship in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  I start laughing every time I cross that overpass thinking it's transporting me to close encounters of the shell kind.   I live 2 hours north of Sanibel travelling by Interstate. Now, if I had a boat Sanibel is just 30 miles south of me as the seagull flies. But alas no boat so I must drive.  I usually get on the road early - about 4am.  That puts me on the beach before sunrise. Early morning shelling is the best.  As the sun rises I get to  watch the beach wake up. ...

New moon, low tide - I'm there. Did I mention the low tide was at 6am? Those are the best. Even the most die-hard night owl can be convinced to forgo sleeping in and rise before the sun comes up once they experience the beauty of the beach as it wakes up.  I arrived at Blind Pass on Sanibel early Tuesday morning around 5am. It was pitch black because it was a new moon which means no moon. As I sat in my truck sipping my coffee and mentally preparing to get my shell on, my eyes gradually got used to the dark and the sky was full of stars. It was really dark because there is no enviromental lighting anywhere close.  It made the stars appear so near that I felt like I  could have reached out and touched one.  Then there was a shooting star that blasted across the sky. It reminded me of a chapter from my favorite book  "The Shack" where the main character Mac is laying on a dock on a lake at night watching the stars with Jesus. They were just hanging out and t...