SEATON SANDS 30 OCT. 2019.

3-35pm
Straight to beach from work; after grabbing Stubborn Dog of course!
There was a wind from the south west.
The tide was fairly high.
A man in grey, sat on the promenade, having a sit and think on a bench.

There were only around half-a-dozen people on the beach.
Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed south.
The sea was a blue shade of grey.
Out at sea, the horizon was lemon, it was a perfect backlight to showcase the rain that was falling at various angles into the sea.

They headed for the grey rocks.
The sit and think man from the promenade was marching down the beach on his way to claim a tree trunk to sit and think on.
Beach Buoy placed two stones in the dune stack, then he headed slowly back. 

It was a slow meandering walk......

Later that night .....
it was tea and biscuits over at Hartlepool's headland.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, SEATON CAREW, HARTLEPOOL. 29 OCT. 2019.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived on the beach at around 4-05pm. 
They had missed the beach last night.
Beach Buoy had gone to pick up the replacement mirror for the van... of course it was the wrong one.
So back to the shop etc etc etc.
'Oh there is another I could order'
said the man.
He did.
Beach Buoy collected and fitted it tonight; sorted.

So in the already fading sunlight, off to the beach it was.
The light that was still hanging around lit up some of the clouds beautifully.
The tide was quite high.

They headed south whilst keeping an eye on rogue waves that tried to catch out the unwary beach-walker.

There were a few people down by the water's edge.
They were all heading north towards the car park.

Some of the golds turned to silver; there would be no bronze.
A driftwood surfer went for his own gold.

By now the beach was deserted.
Out at sea a large ship looked like it was carrying the Sun's gold away as cargo as the late afternoon light illuminated it briefly, in the blink of an eye it was 'just a ship' once more.

They continued south and eventually up to the dunes to add two more stones.
Someone had moved the stack around and smashed some of them up.
The kids are off School so its expected and cool.
The stack will grow; Beach Buoy will be at the beach more than they will.

They headed back.
The driftwood surfer was hanging on in there.
Beach Buoy chatted to a man on the way to the ramp, he had put his young pup on its lead when he had spotted Beach Buoy.

Thankfully the walk was finished in daylight.
There was a time a few years ago when Beach Buoy grabbed torches and marched up and down the beach in the dark night after; not wanting to let the dark nights win.

Maybe he was in a dark place anyway; a one a torch won't illuminate.


BEACH BUOY.

SEAHAM 27 OCT. 2019.

Seaham Slope Beach.
12-30 pm.
There was a fishing competition taking place.
It was bright but chilly.
Fishermen were spread out along the Pier like random posts on a broken fence.
It was cup of tea time in the Mobile Beach Hut aka Van.
They went for a walk.

The Famous Lifeboat.

It was a bright day.

They walked the Marina and Red Acre Beach.

Food time back in the van,
washed down with more tea.
It was warm in the van, an ideal spot to watch the fisherman brave the chilly wind.
The fishermen flitted back and forth to cars with raised boots.. ( The cars had raised boots, not the fisherman.)
that would be a funny walk.
BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, SEATON CAREW, AND NORTH GARE BEACH HARTLEPOOL 27 OCT 2019.

4-42 am, Beach Buoy was awake.
The clocks had been put back an hour and it messes Beach Buoy up a little.
Beach Buoy laid in the pitch black bedroom trying to work out that time the sunrise would be. He knew the night had been clear so a good sunrise was going to be a good bet.
Beach Buoy eventually made his way downstairs and made a milky coffee.
He collected the beach gear from yesterday that had been put up to dry; coats, leads boots and the like.
He picked up Stubborn Dog and off to the van it was.
6-57am the van showed, he tried to remember how to change the van clock to 5-57am.
He got there in the end putting the clock forward twenty-three hours rather than back one.😧
Shortly afterwards they were parked up in an empty car park.
The council hoover truck arrived with lights flashing, it worked it's way around the car park's dark and wet surface.
Beach Buoy sat in the back of the van a while and made some notes. He put the heating on even though the morning wasn't quite as chilly as it looked like it was going to be.
Time for beach.
As Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog reached the access ramp the council hoover truck headed north along the promenade; leaving a clean car park behind.

Beach Buoy was sporting a new hat, two hoods and gloves.
Yep, not as cold as he had thought.
The beach was theirs.
It was beautiful as the light changed.

Gulls cried out at the water's edge they must have been glad of the daylight; they have many long dark nights ahead of them.

It was around 6-15 am
The clear sky, low tide and wet sand were all a bonus.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog wandered around a little, looking for good spots for photographs.

The golden glow reflected on the houses that huddled around Seaton Carew Village Green.

The Golden beauty sometimes is only fleeting.
Things don't last forever.. do they?
Houses on Hartlepool's Headland had golden windows too.

A sand bank island appeared;
Beach Buoy Land.

After yesterday's goings on, there is a need to clarify that the Seaton Carew Sea Serpent tends to swim south of its marker; as it did this morning.

This time of year the sun rises from behind  The North Gare Pier.

They headed up the dunes to place today's stones on the stack.

A bad news siren echoed along the seafront.

They headed back down to the beach.

A couple headed along North Gare Pier towards the
 KEEP OUT
fencing.
The fencing looked as thought the sun was in prison.
Nearby the Grey rocks babbled as they drained like a babbling brook.

They headed over to the river and were met by some Geese.

North Gare Beach.
They only stayed a short while even though Stubborn Dog seemed to enjoy this beach and it's dunes a great deal.
Maybe it was the smell of Rabbits that interested him?
There are lots of droppings around.
7-40 am and they were back on Seaton Sands...
The 7 am club had an hours sleep in and were in sync with the new time.
'Mornings' were exchanged across the beach as they passed.
Mari the Poodle came to say her own hello.

There was some lovely driftwood around.

More driftwood beach art.

Sometimes a beach with no footprints is a perfect beach,
sometimes they are just fine.

They headed back and rested on the Promenade wall after binning the beach clean.
The church bells rang out eight times; also in Sync.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, 26 OCT. 2019.

A day off.
Beach Buoy had been awake for ages.
He laid in bed in the darkness of the bedroom.
He swung an arm into the direction of his mobile phone that  was on charge, on bedside cabinet.
6-15, glowed the phone.
There had been days in the summer when he would have already have been sat down with his mate Stubborn Dog at the Grey Rocks, having a sit and think at 6-15am.
It wasn't summer now.
Today was Dark Nights Eve.
😮😮😮😮😮


The clocks are put back one hour tomorrow at 2 am in the morning... and so it begins......

Beach Buoy trundled downstairs, the little dog by his side.
The Dog could tell it was a day off; he just knew it.
As Beach Buoy entered the kitchen, he could hear rainfall as it landed on the roof of the extension, at the rear of the house.
The Little Dog seemed keen to know what the plans were?
He was making constant eye contact with Beach Buoy; his paws were tap dancing on the kitchen's laminate flooring to the tune of Singing' in the Rain.
Beach Buoy didn't head for the kettle, choosing a glass of fresh orange juice as this morning's beach fuel instead.

He grabbed Stubborn Dog and placed him in the van and ...
SMASH!
The Mirrored Glass on the passenger door slid off its mounting like a wet fish sliding off  the deck of a listing boat.
It hit the ground.
To be more precise it hit the ground and shattered into many pieces.
Seven years bad luck?
Will be lucky to last seven more years.
Beach Buoy doesn't 'do' superstitions anymore.
Beach Buoy wandered about the drive, picking up as many pieces of it that he could see; pieces reflecting the nearby street light.
To be honest the warning signs had been there, as the mirror had developed a bit of a wobble in recent weeks.
Not a problem.
It is a sixteen-year-old van and 'stuff ' happens.
At time of writing, a replacement  is already ordered for collection on Monday.
Beach Buoy headed for the car park.
He then headed back for his Beach book, that had been left in the fuss of the broken mirror saga.

Then Beach Buoy headed for the beach once more.
He readied himself and Stubborn Dog for the pouring rain.
He also readied two fluffy towels for their return; Grey for the dog; blue and white stripes for Beach Buoy.
Then they hit the beach at 7-30 am as a figure headed Northwards on the water's edge. 

They headed South.
After a short while the 7 am club came into view.
They had already reached the Pier and were heading back.
Mari, the large Poodle came bounding over, sporting a green waterproof coat.
She was given a good neck scratch as her owner shouted across to Beach Buoy....
' She thinks the world of you!'
'It's Mutual' replied Beach Buoy.
Another of the club's dogs was desperate to come over.
A small brown, cute as you like dog.
He too had a coat and was wearing a green glowing collar that looked like a slipped halo.
Beach Buoy crouched down, called him over and gave him a stroke.
The little wet Dog seemed happy
They all went their separate ways; as you do.

Soon the 7 am club were distant dots.

The rain was making it difficult to make notes in his beach book.
The damp pages were stopping the pens from working.
The scribbles lookied more like morse code than writing.
So Beach Buoy made a mental note to put pencils in his beach bag for next time. 
Beach Buoy carried two stones up to the dunes for 'that' pile, then headed back down to the beach and the North Gare Pier beyond.
He thought he saw something out a sea..
A Seal?
A Dolphin?
A Whale?
or maybe just rocks?.....the tide was well out.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, SEATON CAREW, HARTLEPOOL. 24 OCT 2019.

4-15pm.
The Car Park was almost empty.
Four Cars were parked with massive gaps between them, all seemingly wanting their own space.
Four Cars in a car park with spaces for 200-300 and one of the four parks in Beach Buoys favourite spot.
Its even has M/C painted on the tarmac for
MY CAMPERVAN!
...although Motorcycles do park there too at times.

Beach Buoy parked miles from anybody; he wanted his own space too.
He watched as an elderly man left one of the distant cars with a large plastic sack in one hand.
'Beachclean?' thought Beach Buoy... wrong❌....
The man had a shovel in the other hand and was filling the sack up with sand!
He was stealing the beach!
Deep Breaths
Deep Breaths.....

Two white vehicles entered the car park.
They parked alongside one another but facing opposite directions.... sort of top and tail.
The drivers lowered their windows and presumably talked the talk?
Beach Buoy locked the van and walked the walk.

It was one of those afternoons were all of the colours were pale, the sea, the sky, the sand, in fact everything.
Two Beachcombers searched the shingle patches that were scattered randomly in lines across and unusually smooth and flat beach.
It must have been something to do with the sea condition?
The waves were rolling straight onto the beach and almost breaking as one as they reached the sand.
It is more often the case that many waves would hit the North Gare Pier first then run at an angle into the other shore bound waves, creating uneven but often dramatic waves, sometime rising high into the air as they collided.
There was a time when the beach was so flat you could land aeroplanes on it.
1914 Aeroplanes at Seaton Carew.



As Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed south, he did a shingle search too.
The finds, that were all left behind are below... for those interested.
He headed up to the Dunes and added two more stones to that pile.

It was around three hours to low tide.
Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog had sit and think down by the Grey Rocks.
His first thought was  'Why have I just sat on a wet rock?'
After fifteen minutes or so Wet Bum and Stubborn Dog headed North.

The whole beach was theirs for quite a while.

Longer would have been better.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, 23 OCT 2019.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at 4-22 pm.

A ginger-haired toddler, toddled on the promenade, gingerly.
 His Father followed closely behind with outstretched arms ready to catch, should he have fallen.

The Sun had been shinning for most of the day.
As they stepped onto the beach a large black cloud drifted across the sky and stopped in front of the Sun.

They headed South.
The tide was well out but seemed to be returning with a sense of urgency?

A happy dog with a happy family headed North.

Seaweed strung up on the driftwood to dry.

Beach Buoy added a couple of more stones to the dune pile.

It wasn't a busy beach by any stretch of the imagination.

For those interested, there were a few finds.
Beach Buoy just left those shown above.

Beach Buoy decided to keep this piece, the design may came in handy.
They headed back.
Beach Buoy binned the beach clean items.

BEACH BUOY