| A little about me & how i got hooked... |
After moving to Alaska from the midwest, I found myself seeing these glass ball
things hanging in stores & at people's houses. After deciding to ask about them, I
was told how they had once been used in Japanese fishing nets & ended up traveling
hundreds, & possibly thousands, of miles in the ocean currents until they were tossed
ashore on Alaskan beaches. I was instantly fascinated & my goal was to one day, go
beachcombing for these unique treasures! I never bought a float & kept waiting until
I had my chance. Well about 7 years later, my dear husband had heard the same
thing over & over many, many times...."So, do you think you can take me to find those
glass floats???". Fortunately for me, we happen to have an airplane & my husband
did know where he could take me to find the floats. We flew down to a friends
hunting lodge towards Cold Bay, Alaska in June 2005. We flew to the beach & began
our search. It was like an Easter egg hunt! It was so exciting & before I knew it, I
was finding them everywhere. I found some buried in the sand, some lying in the
beach grass, 2 were in the middle of an old tire, & a few were just sitting on the
beach like they had just been waiting for me!!!Unfortunately, the weather began to
look dreary so we were only able to stay for about 45 minutes. We were able to find
about 20 floats & I thought it was the greatest thing ever! I mean, how cool is it to
find something that has been at sea for who knows how long??? Needless to say, I
begged my husband to take me back this past July & we had a serious "Easter egg"
hunt! In a matter of a few hours, we found about 200 floats! It was fantastic!!
There were so many more but we had to leave them behind because they wouldn't fit
in our airplane!! I know where to find them now!!
things hanging in stores & at people's houses. After deciding to ask about them, I
was told how they had once been used in Japanese fishing nets & ended up traveling
hundreds, & possibly thousands, of miles in the ocean currents until they were tossed
ashore on Alaskan beaches. I was instantly fascinated & my goal was to one day, go
beachcombing for these unique treasures! I never bought a float & kept waiting until
I had my chance. Well about 7 years later, my dear husband had heard the same
thing over & over many, many times...."So, do you think you can take me to find those
glass floats???". Fortunately for me, we happen to have an airplane & my husband
did know where he could take me to find the floats. We flew down to a friends
hunting lodge towards Cold Bay, Alaska in June 2005. We flew to the beach & began
our search. It was like an Easter egg hunt! It was so exciting & before I knew it, I
was finding them everywhere. I found some buried in the sand, some lying in the
beach grass, 2 were in the middle of an old tire, & a few were just sitting on the
beach like they had just been waiting for me!!!Unfortunately, the weather began to
look dreary so we were only able to stay for about 45 minutes. We were able to find
about 20 floats & I thought it was the greatest thing ever! I mean, how cool is it to
find something that has been at sea for who knows how long??? Needless to say, I
begged my husband to take me back this past July & we had a serious "Easter egg"
hunt! In a matter of a few hours, we found about 200 floats! It was fantastic!!
There were so many more but we had to leave them behind because they wouldn't fit
in our airplane!! I know where to find them now!!
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| Beachcombing for Glass Floats November 4th-6th, 2006 |
| Mt. Augustine in Alaska. Active since Spring 2006. |
| Floats scattering the beach with our airplane on the right. |
| Recent Brown Bear tracks with floats on the beach! |
| Me with over 100 floats that were tossed above the beach into the grass!! |
| The first beach we found covered with floats!! |
| Floats hiding in the grass above the beach. |
| Floats found in the frozen grass & heavily frosted ground. |
My husband had told me a few months ago that he would take me beachcombing for glass floats one last time before winter.
The weather hadn't been cooperating for quite some time & finally, on November 3rd, he said it was clear enough to fly our
plane down to King Salmon for a couple of days. The next morning we gathered all of our COLD weather gear & took off in
our Cessna 180 for a 2 hour journey to King Salmon. It was crystal clear outside & the scenery was breathtaking. We were
able to fly near Mt. Iliamna, an active volcano that happened to be steaming. Another volcano that has been active since the
spring, Mt. Augustine, was also steaming a lot. I've included a picture of it below. We decided to fly to the beach & do some
float hunting before we went to King Salmon, which is where we stayed. The first area we landed, we found several floats &
many were already frozen in the sand. We had to use screwdrivers to pry them out! I might add that the temperature was
about 20 degrees & there was hardly any wind. The 2nd beach we landed at was even better & we probably walked 1/2 mile &
ended up with 200 floats the first day. Darkness was quickly approaching so we had to head to King Salmon. It was getting
dark around 5:30 p.m.
The next day it was about 10 degrees outside & windy. We flew farther the 2nd day & worked our way back to King Salmon.
This time we hit the motherlode!!!! We always fly the beach & when we see some floats, we land. There just happened to be
hundreds of them in our first spot. There is a picture below, along with the floats in the grass which were found above the
same beach. We estimated that we picked up 300 floats from this area. We had to use screwdrivers here as well because
the floats were frozen in the sand!!
The 2nd location we flew to was another jackpot! There is a picture below with our airplane. The sun was hitting the floats
& they just shimmered in the sunlight!! We must have picked up at lease 300 floats just from this beach. We could have
found hundreds more but it was getting very cold & windy & dark!! I was worn out from picking so many up!
Needless to say, our 2 days of beachcombing was very productive & my estimate is that we found around 700 floats. So far,
I've gone through about 250 & there are many more to go!! I did find a beautiful Russian star float that is green with amber
swirls. Unfortunately, it has some cracks. We also found some great swirled floats. We are already planning our next trip
for May 2007!!
The weather hadn't been cooperating for quite some time & finally, on November 3rd, he said it was clear enough to fly our
plane down to King Salmon for a couple of days. The next morning we gathered all of our COLD weather gear & took off in
our Cessna 180 for a 2 hour journey to King Salmon. It was crystal clear outside & the scenery was breathtaking. We were
able to fly near Mt. Iliamna, an active volcano that happened to be steaming. Another volcano that has been active since the
spring, Mt. Augustine, was also steaming a lot. I've included a picture of it below. We decided to fly to the beach & do some
float hunting before we went to King Salmon, which is where we stayed. The first area we landed, we found several floats &
many were already frozen in the sand. We had to use screwdrivers to pry them out! I might add that the temperature was
about 20 degrees & there was hardly any wind. The 2nd beach we landed at was even better & we probably walked 1/2 mile &
ended up with 200 floats the first day. Darkness was quickly approaching so we had to head to King Salmon. It was getting
dark around 5:30 p.m.
The next day it was about 10 degrees outside & windy. We flew farther the 2nd day & worked our way back to King Salmon.
This time we hit the motherlode!!!! We always fly the beach & when we see some floats, we land. There just happened to be
hundreds of them in our first spot. There is a picture below, along with the floats in the grass which were found above the
same beach. We estimated that we picked up 300 floats from this area. We had to use screwdrivers here as well because
the floats were frozen in the sand!!
The 2nd location we flew to was another jackpot! There is a picture below with our airplane. The sun was hitting the floats
& they just shimmered in the sunlight!! We must have picked up at lease 300 floats just from this beach. We could have
found hundreds more but it was getting very cold & windy & dark!! I was worn out from picking so many up!
Needless to say, our 2 days of beachcombing was very productive & my estimate is that we found around 700 floats. So far,
I've gone through about 250 & there are many more to go!! I did find a beautiful Russian star float that is green with amber
swirls. Unfortunately, it has some cracks. We also found some great swirled floats. We are already planning our next trip
for May 2007!!
| Russian star float I found on the beach. It has a crack in it though. :( |
| 2 floats as I found them on the beach!! |
| Me with my first float of our beachcombing journey!! |
| An 8" diameter float my husband found on the beach!! |
| BEACHCOMBING TRIP ON FEB. 6TH, 2007 |
On February 6th, we headed down towards the Aleutian's to help a friend with repairs to his lodge. It
sustained 130 knot winds recently & had some damage. Of course, we had to stop at the beach & do a little
float hunting. It was a beautiful day with a temperature of 38 degrees & no wind.....excellent conditions!!
The floats were, once again, plentiful from winter storms & in just a short period of time, my husband & I
were able to pick up about 400 new floats!!! At the lodge, while the guys did the repairs, I was able to sit
enough to find some beautiful floats to add to my collection. I hope you enjoy the new pictures!! For
individual pictures of floats I found, see the "MY FLOAT PICS" page!!
sustained 130 knot winds recently & had some damage. Of course, we had to stop at the beach & do a little
float hunting. It was a beautiful day with a temperature of 38 degrees & no wind.....excellent conditions!!
The floats were, once again, plentiful from winter storms & in just a short period of time, my husband & I
were able to pick up about 400 new floats!!! At the lodge, while the guys did the repairs, I was able to sit
enough to find some beautiful floats to add to my collection. I hope you enjoy the new pictures!! For
individual pictures of floats I found, see the "MY FLOAT PICS" page!!
| Plane on beach with floats |
| Just as they were found |
| A float which was sitting on a recent low tide lin.e |
| Plane on beach with floats |
| The lodge we stayed at. It was built in 1967!! |
| A Bald Eagle perched on a weir. |
| Plane on beach with floats |
| The beautiful backdrop & scenery at the lodge. |
| Puppy Bella loves her first beachcoming trip!! |
| Beach with floats & some frost!! |