Posted by admin | Posted in Eco Friendly Community | Posted on 28-06-2010
If you enjoy going to the beach near where you live, or perhaps where you go on holiday, you might consider doing some beachcombing. It is very fun to discover fascinating and possibly valuable trinkets in the sand. Perhaps you will find one or more things that are worth a lot of money. But even if you just want to prospect on the shore for personal amusement, a beach walk is an excellent way to get some fresh air and exercise.
In order to get the best results from your beachcombing excursion, try to time it so you will be there when the tides are low. This will increase your chances of spotting something that has just washed up, and grabbing it before anyone else does. You may also want to try to find a less popular beach, where there are fewer people also looking for treasures, to decrease the competition. But do not go anywhere on your own where there are no other people, for personal safety. Invite a friend along who also loves the ocean.
Do be sure to have some basic supplies with you to make the trip easier and more fun. Some plastic bags or rigid containers will be necessary to carry whatever items of interest you may find. If you prefer to have your hands protected from wet sand and whatever else you touch, some latex, vinyl or other waterproof gloves will be necessary. Because you will be trekking a lot of sand back to your vehicle, having a cordless handheld vacuum available will avoid grittiness on seats and floor mats. You will want to have towels as well as water or other drinks, and protection from the sun in the form of sunscreen or a hat. And if you wish to make the investment, a metal detector can be handy for finding coins and jewelry buried under the sand’s surface.
If you are lucky in your prospecting, you may find some beach glass. This is much sought after by collectors and also by jewelry makers, who fashion it into unique pieces such as pendants and rings. Beach glass is bits of broken bottles or other objects that have been worn smooth by being tumbled around in the ocean for long periods. This, as well as contact with sand and other materials, produces a frosted look and texture.
Another item much sought after by beachcombers is, of course, jewelry. People who go swimming and surfing sometimes lose jewelry of all sorts in the waves. Both ladies’ and men’s watches, finger rings and toe rings, and other such items can come off in the water and eventually be washed ashore. This is where a metal detector might be an advantage, but you may still find a lot of good things just by careful looking.
When you return from your beachcombing excursion, the fun begins of inspecting your treasures and perhaps finding something of financial value. First, though, you need to find an area where you can spread them out and work on them. If you have a garage with a work area, that is excellent, or else perhaps a computer workstation desk you are no longer using. These generally have several levels of shelves and storage spaces that are ideal for this purpose.
Now that your treasures are arrayed in your work area, you can polish them up and admire them more fully. Depending on the materials you are working with, you may want to investigate cleaners and solvents for removing grime, tarnish, and so forth. Also nice to have is a set of brushes for getting dirt and sand out of crevices. Old but clean makeup brushes can be good for this purpose. Finally, you can look online at collectibles websites to see if you have something of real value. But whether you sell your treasures or keep them to admire, you have had a fun time collecting them.
