SEATON SANDS 31 MARCH 2019.

Beach Buoy took a while getting ready for the beach and if the bad leg situation continues much longer he is thinking of having his ankles tattooed to save trying to put his socks on.
Stubborn Dog had sensed it was a beach day and was busy  impatiently padding Beach Buoy with a front paw as Beach Buoy had a sock fight.
This helped greatly...... NOT!
Beach Buoy made a coffee and placed it in the van with the intention of drinking it with a sea view.

They set off 
6am the van clock stated.
That'll be Beach Buoy searching for the instruction booklet  later on how to put the clock forward an hour in the van as it was 7am BST now.
They pulled into a car park with only one car in, one car right were Beach Buoy usually parks so he headed to the opposite side and parked up.
Out at sea, a lemon sandwich  was spread out on the horizon, the columns of the turbines looked like the lamp posts that were illuminating the lemon horizon itself, whilst the blades were up in the grey sky and bases buried deep in a grey sea.. 
The blades looked like a squadron of world war two fighter planes heading east.
Beach Buoy's Father had told him of the day he sat and watched a dog fight take place out at sea towards Staithes during the war. 

Beach Buoy sat in the van and drank the coffee.
The little dog sighed in frustration in his van dog bed, realising it wasn't a quick  take off.
The spits of rain turned into spots, splashing on the highly polished van roof. 
An old friend had bought Beach Buoy the little yellow camper van toy when Beach Buoy would go on and on and on about how one day he would get one.
Well.. he got one and now the slightly battered yellow van will go where the big van goes.
Beach Buoy sat waiting for the rain to ease.
He doesn't mind the wet at all but Stubborn Dog doesn't do wet very well, opting as he does for the drowned rat look.

The 7 am club were no lightweights weather-wise, they must have remembered to put their clocks forward; as they headed south.
From the van the Beach Buoy wondered when the sky was grey, the horizon lemon and the sea grey too that
perhaps rain on days like this could be called lemon drizzle?

A flock of Starlings appeared on the promenade and performed a balancing act on the wet curved signposts.
A lady walked South with her three- legged dog, the dog must be a canny age Beach Buoy has seen it for years.
She touched the end of the Promenade, turned , headed north as far as the ramp and disappeared down the ramp to the beach.
Beach Buoy thought that it's now or never so off they went and as if by magic, the rain stopped.
Good decision for once.

They headed down to the water's edge.
The tide was well beyond the Seaton Carew wreck but was heading in.
A sea coal truck in the distance was just leaving the beach with some stock.
A line of sea coal had been drawn along the beach.
A man with a panting dog had followed  Beach Buoy down the ramp to the beach.
Beach Buoy was happier with that  scenario....what if it had been a panting man with a dog!
Beach Buoy watched as another sea coal truck with its orange light flashing light slowly made its way to exit the beach. It would drive slowly along the seafront with sea water draining from it as it travelled along. 

Out at sea a jack-up rig looked like scaffolding on a building site.
Beach Buoy imagined apartments out at sea............

The three legged dog headed  back north with its Parka-clad owner.
The cloud lifted a little.
One Oyster Catcher went north followed by two more.
The 7 am club were heading back and an unsure Mari the friendly large poodle padded over towards Beach Buoy. Once she was sure it was Beach Buoy she ran over to greet him.

Before too long the 7 am club were a distant memory.

They reached the grey rocks.
The wind had picked up a little and changed direction. The wind turbine blades had turned well over  90 degrees to face this fresher wind from a more northerly direction.
Beach Buoy headed to the shingle at the grey rocks.
The Skylarks sang high above the dunes.
SMASHING.

A Northerly wind now.....

Beach Buoy laid out some recent finds for others to keep.
He kept a couple of  them for himself.

8-22am they climbed upon the concrete spill onto North Gare pier.

The end of the North Gare Pier.

Across the mouth of the River Tees towards South Gare.
North Gare beach was deserted.

DANGER!

This is the beach that Beach Buoy blogs most.
Seaton Sands in Hartlepool Bay.

It looked like a balloon but was in  fact a plastic football; it's colour and design washed off by the sea;
It was burst and beach cleaned.

Up in the dunes a weight from temporary fencing system, stood proud like an Easter Island statue.
In the dunes the sea's roar became muffled and the song of the skylark more clear.
It reminded Beach Buoy of Stereo on early BEATLES records where you go from speaker to speaker and maybe just get guitar and drums one side and  change to the other speaker for the vocals and keyboards. 

The lemon had gone.
the sky and horizon  were light grey whereas the sea was a perfect shade of battleship grey.

Another beach ball beach cleaned.

The beach was becoming busier.
Beach Buoy had already negotiated the slalom of owners and dogs seen in the photgraph. 

More sea pottery.
To the North another truck load of sea coal was heading off to the depot with yet more stock. The supply would be cut off soon by the incoming tide.

Today is the last day of free parking at Seaton Carew for a number of months,
The local motor sports club were making use of this last free day by holding an auto test.
Some contestants cycled the course to help memorise it, hopefully they had brought a car too?
Beach Buoy started the engine of the van.
The clock showed8-48 BST ... Bus Stuck Time..
 at least until Beach Buoy figured out how to change it.

It was in fact 9-48 am BST British Summer Time.

As they pulled out of the Car Park the Clock tower showed
1-52 BST...... Bus Station Tower!

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS , HARTLEPOOL 30 MARCH 2019.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at 6-30am.
The sun was bright and there was a slight chilly breeze.
A man shuffled back to his car, walk done.
He reminded Beach Buoy of his own current walk.
There was  6 men and their dogs scattered randomly around the beach.
 A dog- less jogger ran as if delivering messages from one dog walker to another.

Beach Buoy wandered down to the water's edge to take some photographs.

It was a hazy morning.
The wet sand reflected the pale light.
 whilst the Wind Turbines almost faded into it.

Beach Buoy pulled his hat down over his ears and continued south. It was sunny  but chilly.

There was lots of shingle deposits on a glorious morning.
Another jogger ran north.
He had a woollen hat on with a  bright red bobble on that looked like a large apple.
He looked as if he was doing a runner from a William Tell tribute show.

A Lone Oyster Catcher swam angled but close to the sea.
It' curved wings made it look like a backwards number 3.

A seal had headed back for the safety of the sea, after spending some time up near the dunes.

7-15 am they had their first of three sit and think moments.
The 7 am club were on the beach to the north. Later they would catch up the dawdling duo and Beach Buoy would be greeted by Mari the large friendly poodle, for a warm hello, neck scratch , ear rub and a sniff of Stubborn Dog.

Most comfy rock of the day award goes to this chap.
It was used for the second sit and think rest.

A faded crab pot marker flag from North Shields was collected as part of the Beach clean items.
It  was marked SN the code for North Shields.

So goodbye south .. see you soon.

They headed back as a brightly coloured jogger came snd went.
A seal popped up and headed for the river mouth.
too quick for Beach Buoy to photograph.

Almost two hours on a sun-kissed beach
and not even 8-30 am......

Third sit and think became sit and sunbathe stop!

"Did you just take my picture?"

Back in the van
He had a plan.
Beach Buoy made notes for later.

Cakes and tablets
That's breakfast sorted.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 28 MARCH 2019.

It was a two dog day.
Work done and dusted, so off to the beach they went.
They reached the car park at 4-35pm.
A drinks can rolled in the car park breeze, Beach Buoy scooped it up and placed it into the nearby bin.
They headed to the beach and the sea beyond.
The breeze was strong enough to shift some dry sand.

Once again there was a lovely light illuminating the bay.
A gent with a metal detector wandered up near the strand line.
His female companion wandered behind.

A monochrome clad jogger headed south in complete comparison to the normal bright attire usually worn by the sporty with the odd lumberjack costume thrown in to the mix.
The jogger paused, faced the sea, ran sideways whilst throwing punches at the horizon. He then turned 180 degrees and picked a fight with the dunes;BIFF! THWACK!
BAM! ZOK! KAPOW!
Next salute he was walking with his hands on his head like a captured soldier, before making a run for it once again.

The shingle truck had made a delivery or two.

There was more shingle scattered in and around the grey rocks.
They walked as far as the Pier then had a sit and think.
The Skylark whistled a tune called Spring into Summer.
Out at sea the serpent basked in the late afternoon sun.
He must have finally found a supplier of waterproof sun cream, in extra large tubs?

As he walked  Beach Buoy placed  his beach-clean items into his canvas beach bag.
They headed back.
The beach was very quiet.
A lone Oyster Catcher stood at the water's edge.
From a distance the slightly plump bird resembled a 1970's plastic football; the ones that would never ever go in a straight line when kicked.

Heading back north.
The beach would become busier.
Dogs, their Owners and excited children took the beach baton.

Stubborn Dog helps with blog... in his dreams

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS HARTLEPOOL. 27 MARCH 2019.

It was 5-45 pm.
Up on the promenade, a large Husky dragged a sled-less man along to the North.
Beach Buoy and his two beach buddies landed on the sand.
"One small step for man.......etc.
It was a mild evening.
The tide was around 50/50.
The light was unusual but glorious; worth coming out for.

They reached the water's edge.
They looked North.. then went on to head South.

The clouds guided the eyes to the distant horizon.

A man went by with a young lad and two dogs.
The lad looked a little like a young Harpo Marx.
"If only the two dogs were called Chico and Groucho."
thought Beach Buoy.
It was lovely evening.

There was a fair amount of shingle around this evening, but alas no finds of any note.

Out over the Bay, Hartlepool's Headland had a lovely glow.
The pier looked like a giant's arm stretching towards the south; the giant in question was wearing a post box red jumper.

A crack appeared in the cloud over up above the dunes.
It reminded Beach Buoy of car headlights on full beam as it travelled down a dark and narrow country lane.
The beam spread across the bay.
It gave an awesome glow to the large white wind turbines that turned out at sea.

They headed up into the dunes to see just how light the light was.
A tumble of March Midges danced in the air as if orchestrated by a child with a bonfire night sparkler.

Dunes or photobombed by camel?

BEACH BUOY.