Monday, February 16, 2009

Sea Glass Beach



Across a big green golf course, down a sandy path, around the bushes, and finally down to the shore, we reach a beautiful secluded beach. We are two of only three people within a mile stretch of sand, accompanied by one other local old fisherman. Storm clouds in the hills contrast with the blue sunny sky shining over the ocean and David and I decide to go on an adventure to comb the beach and see what treasures this new land might hold.




Large slabs of aged dark black lava flow divide the sand from the waterline. Tidepools filled with purple coral and tiny fish are speckled throughout the valleys of the lava formations and small waterfalls flow as the small shorebreak washes in refilling the tidepools like Niagra. The sand is smooth with no footprints giving away the signs of others having been there. Grabbing a stick I dig the big letters, "Sea Babe," in the sand, figuring I had to seize the opportunity. As we make our way along the shore, we start to notice a few pieces of seaglass mixed in with the debris, and soon enough we're finding piece after piece of beautiful sea glass. Dark greens, brown, white, and my favorite, light blue pop out from the beige sandy shore and even hide just inside the waterline. We spend the next couple hours scouring the beach and even wading through the water for pieces we could possibly use in some jewelry and leave with great additions to our current collection. We've been back a few other times and call this spot our secret seaglass beach, for which we feel very blessed to have found.









After finding our seaglass, I wanted to get a little more informed so I checked out the North American Sea Glass Association online. I learned about the specific differences between
Genuine Sea Glass vs. Artificially Tumbled craft glass. Genuine Sea Glass originates from discarded bottles and tableware or glass from shipwrecks and household items lost in natural disasters. Here in Hawaii, the seaglass is mostly from beer bottles tossed in the water by fishermen. I found a ton of dark green seaglass and people do drink a lot of Heinekens here. Haha!

The rarest colors of seaglass are orange, red, yellow, cobalt blue, purple, turquoise, "black," and vaseline.

Genuine seaglass may have "C" shaped patterns on the surface.

7 comments:

Michelle said...

beautiful... the glass the beach the story.. thank you for sharing :) I think your name on the beach is sort of like having it "up in lights" :):)

purplecat said...

I loved reading this and seeing "your"beach!

Unknown said...

What beautiful pictures... makes me so homesick for the ocean. That sea glass is really lovely!

Valerie Shultz said...

What a wonderful post. And I loved learning about the seaglass. Thank you. :)

kadler said...

That glass is beautiful!

Looks like a wonderful day. Love the Sea Babe sign.

Unknown said...

Guard that beach with you life. Sea glass is getting more scarce and the collectors more abundant.With the advent of plastic bottles, things can only get worse

Pink Dandy Chatter said...

Wow, this post is amazing! It makes me want to take a trip back to Hawaii =) Thanks for sharing!!