Another Trip to Mashnee Island

Being the greedy little opportunistic beachcomber that I am, all I could think about during Hurricane Sandy was, 'Gee I sure hope the high tide and storm surge pushes more glass onto the beaches in Buzzards Bay.'  The day after the storm I jetted over to mom's to make sure she was situated OK, then came home and was so restless.  I didn't feel like doing anything.  It was warm and kinda humid too, raining off and on.  I checked the tide charts, and low tide was right before 3:00 p.m., so I hopped in the car and drove over to Mashnee Island.  

Lots of snailies today.

Rounded the point at the Canal entrance and was very disappointed to only find a couple pieces of white glass, some of which aren't even that worn.  I took a fairly fresh piece of cobalt blue even though it's not worn down and still sharp.

Stupid golf ball.  I am starting to see a lot of golf balls on the beaches these days.  I'm not sure why but Russell told me sometimes idiots hit them into the Canal.  I took this one with me.

The storm washed the soil away from this tree's roots.

There's an abandoned building at this beach that must have been some kind of clubhouse or restaurant at one time.

Looked like more rain was coming so I left at 3:45 and headed home.

This is the last of the foliage as of 10/30/12.

It's a Sickness, Really....

So it's fall and most of the tourists have returned to their lives elsewhere, except a few weekend people.  That means the crowds at the beaches will ease up, and therefore, more beach glass can be found without all the competition.  I cannot emphasize enough just how addicting looking for beach glass is.  And taking photos.  

Off I went one absolutely gorgeous late morning, to a small and unnamed beach over on the Cape side of Bourne.  Not really much to find in this cove, but I'm glad I stopped anyway.  It's always interesting to me to see this part of the Cape for some reason, this farthest western shore that abuts the Canal.

Couldn't resist making one.

Directly across the Canal from this beach is Mass Maritime.

Next I thought I'd take a stab at Mashnee Island again.  I figured if anyone else was parked there I'd just drive on by and then head out of the area, but luckily the place was deserted.  I parked and went out for a long walk.  

Tons and tons of shells and shellfish!

I found a few pieces of glass....not quite worn all the way but my rule of thumb is if it's not sharp enough to cut or stab me, then it's acceptable.  I tossed a lot of fresh glass back into the water.  But I also found a few pieces of worn glass, unusual bits and pieces, so my drive to continue hiking around the point, in front of private homes that face the western entrance of the Canal and Buzzards Bay, overtook my desire to not get caught trespassing on their beaches.  This area is an excellent place to search for glass because of the way it juts out into the Bay.

This is actually at the Bourne Rotary.  I've been meaning to take a picture of it for ages and finally pulled into their parking lot for a couple of quick snaps.

Never saw one of these in my 47 years and now I find a second operculum in less than a month!!

Yes this is a taillight piece but it was kicked into the sand from the parking lot and was scuffed up/worn, so I say it counts as finding red beach glass, the rarest of the rare. 

My haul from both beaches.  The operculum is the pearly thing on the left.  I also got that opaque pink piece too.

Epic Beachcombing at Mashnee Island, Bourne

Armed with my trusty Cape Cod Street Atlas and Canine Co-Pilots, I headed down to Mashnee Island in Bourne, to see if there was any beach access near the beautiful waterfront homes.  I was not disappointed.  It is clear that this is not a beach that I will be able to visit during the summer months, as it is private, and I didn't have a sticker or any right to be down there.  But I had the place to myself on a late morning in early March.  

I'd never been down here before and lucked out with low tide.

There was a small ramp at the end of the jetty and this gate at the end was swung open against the sky.

Slipper shell full of water and sand.

This beach was full of shells, mostly slipper, but lots of quahog, oyster and clam shells too.  I found some bright yellow and orange Anomiidae shells too, also known as jingle shells or mermaid's toenails.

I had a dream once, several years ago, that I was beachcombing around a point where jetties met two bodies of water.  In the dream, I believe it was located at the bottom of South Africa or South America because the water was way more ocean-like.  Still, when I turned around and saw this view, that dream came rushing back.

I was extremely surprised to find such large pieces of beach glass.  I was hoping that I'd find at least one piece down here, given it's location, sticking out into Buzzards Bay near the western entrance of the Canal, but the size of these was truly amazing.  The three aqua pieces are from Coke bottles and you can see the raised writing on them.  That one large white piece on the right isn't quite worn all the way, but I snagged it anyway.  And that blue piece is just the tiniest chip, but as I have said before, no piece is ever turned down.

Shell & rock scores!  I do wish I could find someone to help me to identify the different pieces of quartz-like rocks that I find, especially since they come in so many colours.

Not sure I'll get a chance to head down there again now that tourist season is rapidly approaching, so this was an epic win!