A “Shore-Fire” Remedy for the Winter Blues: A Beachcombing Vacation of Sand, Sea Shells, Sea Glass and Glass Fishing Floats along America’s Treasure-filled Coves and Coastal Ways!

It’s that time of year up here in the northeastern quadrant of the USA when warm sea breezes and the soft splash of a royal tern taking a plunge brings back eco-memories of winter breaks in the Florida Keys. But this January, I am going to stay closer to home and renew myself by expanding my sand and sea shell collection to the shores of southern New England and Long Island. And If I am feeling sleuthy enough in a week or two, I shall then attend next month’s glass float scavenger hunt on Georgia’s Jekyll Island held every January and February since 2002 which allows visitors to hunt for colorful hand crafted glass treasures along the beach!

So let’s take a behind-the-scenes look at collectors of sand, sea shells, sea glass, and glass fishing floats and determine which beachcombing activities best suits your plans for a “Beat the Winter Blues” vacation!

-COLLECTING SAND

A collector of sand is called an “arenophile”. For most collectors sand is a tangible reminder of a special outing or exotic vacation – a unique bit of geology and geography encapsulated within its grains that comes in a variety of colors, textures, grain shapes, angularities, and elemental minerals that range from the green grains of olivine, to the clear grains of quartz, to the black grains of magnetite and to the pink grains of garnet. Some collectors look for gemstones in sand and others tiny fossils but for those collectors who are artistically inclined like myself – scooping up sand samples into a reusable plastic storage bag or empty film container is an easy and inexpensive way to bring home eco-memories for my next art project – a sand picture on canvas or a ship-shaped sand bottle. A good place to start meeting fellow sand collectors and swap samples is to join “The International Sand Collectors Society” based in North Haven, Connecticut – www.sandcollectors.org/All_About_Usx.html.

-COLLECTING SEA SHELLS

With over 50,000 types of shells in the world, there is no shortage of places to find a remarkably rich variety of shell shapes, patterns, and colors. However certain beaches in the USA stand out from the rest in their bounty of prize shell specimens. They are as follows:

1- CALIFORNIA – Stinson Beach, Silver Strand State Beach (Coronado Island) & Point Reyes National Seashore
2- FLORIDA – Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Marco Island & the Gulf Islands National Seashore off of Pensacola
3- GEORGIA – Cumberland Island National Seashore
4- HAWAII – Shipwreck Beach on Lanai, Tunnels Beach on Kauai & Waikiki Beach on Oahu
5- MARYLAND – Both Calvert Cliffs State Park & Flag Ponds Nature Park at Lusby
6- NEW YORK – the Great Peconic Bay and Shelter Island nestled at the eastern end of Long island
7- NORTH CAROLINA – Ocracoke Island on the Outer Banks
8- OREGON – Bandon in Coos County, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River
9- TEXAS – Galveston and San Jose Island
10- WASHINGTON – Point No Point Beach in Hansville on the northern tip of the Kitsap Peninsula – and – Point Roberts in Whatcom County bordered by Canada and the waters of Boundary Bay

For some of these special places, you might want to consider booking a “shelling tour” in advance if your time is limited such as “Capt. Mike Fuery’s Tours” based in Captiva Island, Florida – Check out www.islandinnsanibel.com/things-to-do-sanibel-island/tours/captain-mike-fuerys-tours. And for those of you with the ambitious itch to collect shells outside the continental USA, check out shell collector and guide, Peggy Williams, at www.shelltrips.com and be sure to check the web as well for regional Shell Club offerings. Once again, for those of you with artistic inclinations, sea shells offer limitless possibilities for sea shell craft projects – from sea shell wreaths to sea shell napkin rings – from sea shell Christmas tree ornaments to sea shell picture frames – from sea shell hair clips to sea shell candles and sea shell mobiles and even a sea shell sewn tote bag!

-COLLECTING SEA GLASS

The “Sea Glass Mecca” for collectors around the world is ‘Glass Beach’ located at the town’s edge of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County California. Founded as a military fort prior to the American Civil War, and used as the town dumping ground for discarded glass, appliances, and cars up until 1967, the beach is now covered with lovely smooth shards of sea glass after decades of pounding waves pulverized and polished broken clumps of glassy debris.

In addition to Fort Bragg, California, the top spots for collecting sea glass in the USA include the following:

1-CALIFORNIA – Seaside State Beach & Monterey State Beach in Monterey
2-HAWAII – Glass Beach on Kauai
3-MAINE – Bar Island in Bar Harbor
4-MASSACHUSETTS – Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor
5-*PUERTO RICO – Beaches along Old San Juan Bay & Beaches in Rincon i.e. Antonio’s Beach, River Mouth, Punta Beach
6-WASHINGTON – Rosario Beach on Fidalgo Island & Glass Beach at Port Townsend

*Established as a U.S. Commonwealth in 1952.

Sea glass collecting has grown tremendously within just the last decade as these beach treasures are perfect for jewelry, jar displays, mosaics and other creative projects. Consequently, there are a number of regional sea glass associations and sea glass festivals all across America but a good jumping-off point would be to check out the “North American Sea Glass Association” (www.seaglassassociation.org/) which organizes a yearly conference bringing together collectors, artisans, and retailers – (last year’s conference was held in Long Branch, New Jersey) – and issues a newsletter. Three other great reference guides are the online magazine, “The Sea Glass Journal” (www.seaglassjournal.com), Richard LaMotte’s book, “Pure Sea Glass”, and the “Sea Glass Hunter’s Handbook” by Carole S. Lambert.

-COLLECTING GLASS FISHING FLOATS

Most glass floats remaining in the ocean are drifting in a circular pattern of ocean currents in the North Pacific. These hollow glass balls, once used by fishermen in many parts of the world to keep their fishing nets and lines afloat – (the Norwegian and Japanese glass fishing floats being the most well known) have become so popular in recent years as a collectors’ item for both beachcombers and interior decorators alike that American glassblowers and glass artists are being asked to replicate these glass floats as a way to meet demand. And now Tourism Councils and Chambers of Commerce on both the East Coast and West Coast of the United States have caught onto the idea of enticing vacationers to their area by offering Glass Float Treasure Hunts!

But for those purists, the best places to find glass fishing floats in the USA are on the shores of Oregon at Astoria, Washington state at Long Beach, and at the Alaska Peninsula/Bristol Bay area – particularly after a winter storm during the months of February, March, and April. To learn more, check out “Glass Fishing Floats of the World: The Collector’s Price Guide and Identification Handbook” by Stu Farnsworth and Alan D. Rammer and “Beachcombers Guide to the Northwest” by Walt Pich.

Are you ready now to beat the “Winter Blues”?