Beach Buoy and Another Dog sat in an illuminated van in a dark car park
at 6-13 a.m.
He hadn't brought the pan for "posh" milky coffee.
So today it was kettle and council coffee.
The kettle boiled in next to no time.
The shadows of a man and dog walked the length of the promenade under the promenade lights.
Steve McQueen drove the length of the sea front in a Ford Mustang, well...that's what it sounded like.
Beach Buoy usually parks in the same parking bay when it is available.
He slid open the side door of the van to put on his beach boots
He sandy footprints from yesterday were still visible, where he had slapped the boots on the car park surface to clear them of sand.
They headed for the beach.
Silhouettes headed north.
Beach Buoy knew it was the 7 a.m. club because he could see Mari's tail sticking up in the air like a dodgem connector arm
The 7 a.m. club continued north.
Beach Buoy and Another Dog went South.
They passed the Polar Bear Retriever man as they did so.
The briefest of chat about sand loss took place as they passed one another.
"Morning Mate."
Beach Buoy added five stones.
He patted
THE
stone.
Beach Buoy looked around.
The sun still wasn't up.
"See you mate."
They headed down to the beach and began to head south.
The tide was out enough to allow access to North Gare Pier.
Hugo, the big but friendly dog appeared for a neck scratch. He had ran a fair distance from the north to catch them up.
Beach Buoy obliged with the neck scratch.
You know that you are doing a good job when the dog looks up to look at you eye to eye.
The sky seemed full of aeroplane vapour trails.
They headed up the dunes , over to North Gare Beach.
They wandered along the Pier as far as the metal gates.
A caged Sun rose.
Beyond the gates.
Gulls hung in the sky above The Sea Serpent Marker.
Beach Buoy and Another Dog has a sit and think.
The sun was lovely.
They headed back to Seaton Sands.
There was a bit of commotion as they headed back.
Beach Buoy had never seen it before.
Each time a seal surfaced, sea birds flew around it.
Gulls and Cormorants were taking part
Maybe the seal was a messy eater?
Were they searching for scraps?
The seal seemed to be playful.
Usually they would just show their head, this seal dived and twisted showing it's tail and flippers as it rotated.
"Morning."
"Morning."
Two regulars passed with their Border Collie.
A scruffy, but friendly dog appeared.
It stared a while.
Beach Buoy managed to stroke it.
It trotted off to keep up with its owner.
Paths crossed.
Dog talk.
Another Orange coat.
The tide was heading out.
The light was crisp, shadows well defined.
Beach Buoy spotted an odd sight
It was like a negative of a plane's vapour trail.
He wasn't sure if it would show up on a photograph.
It did.
They followed some tracks.
They headed back to the van.
A line of horseboxes began to form a line in the car park.
An EGB Event was about to take place.
BEACH BUOY.
