Funny Thing on the Beach

Hampton

Hampton

Air Defense Dept
TECHNICAL Contributor
Nov 26, 2006
7,628
Panama City, Fl
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2008 44 Sedan Bridge
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Cummins QSC-500's
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My wife and I were walking on the post-storm beach which was pristine after Ida cleaned off everything that we had missed during the previous months (we always pick up trash). Up on a dune, there was a can of Pepsi sitting upright. There were no footprints around anywhere.

141.jpg


Upon further investigation, it was full and in good shape. The storm had layed it up there for me. This is the second "Good" can of soda I have found within 1/4 of a mile. The first one was a fresh can of 7up in the surf. I had been kitesurfing for hours, beginning 5 miles away and making my way up wind when I found it. It matched my green kite and green board. I downed it quickly as I was dehydrated and lacking energy. That can is on the top of my desk now.

I threw the Pepsi on ice and enjoyed it at the dock before heading off to work yesterday afternoon.

152.jpg


If you haven't seen my sunrise and morning slide show from yesterday, please look here:
http://s403.photobucket.com/albums/pp120/TheHamptons1/Shell Island Nov 09/?albumview=slideshow

The tracks leading down the beach are deer tracks. (The ones up closer to the dunes that wander left and right.)
 
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Nice pictures John.
 
John
What's the story behind that house on stilts?
 
rondds said:
John
What's the story behind that house on stilts?
Click to expand...

I talked to the owner yesterday for the first time ever. It was built 45 years ago. There is no water, electric, or sewage, but they do have a genny and some plumbing from rain water or a well or something. They may have a septic system, but I doubt it. They are no longer legal out there. There are a few lots for private ownership in that area. To the West, it is a State Park. To the East, it has been adopted by Tyndall AFB as the sand fills in and creates new land.

When the house was built, it was up in the dunes 200 feet from the water. The sand is always shifting, but since the house was built, that side of the island has been eroding. I think it goes back to the time when the barrier island was a series of islands and the shipping lane was just East of this location. The main inlet (only inlet, now) that we currently use was man-made across the West end of the island, or the SE end of Panama City Beach. They cut a channel directly from the Gulf to down town in an area where a lake existed on the peninsula/barrier island.

Before that, as the tide went out, sand was carried out of the Bay/Sound and probably helped build up the outside of the barrier islands. Since the new pass was cut in the late 30's, the series of islands have been joining together and the East end (East Pass) finally closed off about a decade ago. It was dredged once, but no jetties were constructed, so it closed back off after a year or so.

Now that the flow of the water has been artificially altered, it seems that our barrier island is not building up and out, but is moving back toward Tyndall AFB. This is evidenced in many of my photos where all of the pilings we anchor around are on the island. Five years ago they were in the water and people docked at them. Also, five years ago, the house on stilts was safe from the Gulf. It survived Hurricane Opal which was the worst one in our area for quite some time.
 
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wish2fish said:
he, he, he

I pee'd in that can and sealed it back up. Left it there prior to the storm knowing the my footprints would be washed away. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Funny.

Nothing left before the storm was still there - not even a can.
 
What kind of camera did you use to take those pics? Just curious, I've been contemplating taking the dive into dlsr. I get frustrated with my point and shoots, as nice as they are. I'm leaning towards a Canon D50. I like Canon's, I've got an AE-1 from way back in the late 70's, that is still awesome for pics. and of course, the point and shoots I've had are the elph's 550, 880 and now the 890. I like the look/feel of the Canons, and the picture quality is what I'm familiar with after using them all these years. I'm also trying to figure out what lens I'd get, the 18-200 usm IS looks nice, a friend of mine has the D40 with the 28-135. I also have checked out the Tamron 18-270 superzoom, but I'll start with the the base unit.
 
Canon Elf - a couple of years old. Top of the line elf from then, no special lens. About $300, I think.

It has something like 7.X MPix.
 
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Wow, very nice results for that camera. Sounds like the 800. I had one of those, it was a great camera, had an excellent wide-angle lens on it, and IS. (Until I put my thumb thru the screen on the back while holding it, and moving off my boat) The 550 was good, but didn't have IS, what a difference that makes. We lost many pics on our cruise due to camera movements causing out of focus/fuzzy pics. That one(the 550) was dropped by her sister onto a concrete sidewalk. She bought her a new 880 IS to replace it.

My 890 IS's not quite as good as the 800, tho it has 10MP lens, it's missing the wide-angle lens which was a great lens.

My ex-gf's got the 880, but it was dropped also, and it sometimes sings to you from the gears internally when they are trying to autofocus and the pic may or may not come out clear. We took it in to repair it, but it wasn't repairable, without spending more than a new one.

20/20 Word to the wise, USE the wrist strap on the camera! And don't climb over things while holding the camera. Canon's done well by us for replacement cameras.

-VtSeaRay
 
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I really like the Canon Elf's. This is our second. We had one of the originals for years, and it is still our back up camera. In between, I bought an Olympus - it SUCKS. That was a waste of $350. It's still in our kitchen drawer. It's not a backup for anything, except maybe propping open a door when the stop gets lost.

One of my daughters was shopping for a new digital last month. She wanted my help in choosing one based on reviews, features, cost.... I told her, "Just go buy an Elf." My younger daughter is compiling birthday and Christmas money for a digital SLR. That's too complicated for me, especially when this pocket-sized elf delivers the results you see.

Someday, when we spend a lot more relaxed time cruising, I'll probably get a little more sophisticated for those really great island shots, but by then, that'll probably come in a pocket-sized camera anyway.
 
The point and shoot digital cameras do a great job if you have enough light. When you move to the DSLRs you get a lot of flexability with aperture and shutter speed plus you can swap lenses around quickly to do certain things.

My wife and I were at the beach one night and I got this shot with my Nikon D80 with a 18-200 VR zoom....no tripod or flash.

20090111_1030.jpg


We had a very bright full moon. When I go out and think I might get something special I take the D80 and a Nikon cool Pix point and shoot digital.:thumbsup:

If you go DSLR choose either Nikon or Canon and syick to it. The money is not in the camera body but in the lenses. The lenses don't cross brands as far as mounts go.

Most National Geographic shots are done with Nikon...Canon has a slight advantage in their large aperture long range lenses for Sports Action...pricey though...some of those big lenses run up to $10K!!! Quality is about the same.

The military has a lot of both.:thumbsup:
 
Have to check the picture when I get home. Sounds awesome.
 
VTSeaRay said:
What kind of camera did you use to take those pics? Just curious, I've been contemplating taking the dive into dlsr. I get frustrated with my point and shoots, as nice as they are. I'm leaning towards a Canon D50. I like Canon's, I've got an AE-1 from way back in the late 70's, that is still awesome for pics. and of course, the point and shoots I've had are the elph's 550, 880 and now the 890. I like the look/feel of the Canons, and the picture quality is what I'm familiar with after using them all these years. I'm also trying to figure out what lens I'd get, the 18-200 usm IS looks nice, a friend of mine has the D40 with the 28-135. I also have checked out the Tamron 18-270 superzoom, but I'll start with the the base unit.
Click to expand...

Got my Nikon D60 last year in a package sale. Should be able to get the D80's at a fair price this year.
 
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Hampton said:
My wife and I were walking on the post-storm beach which was pristine after Ida cleaned off everything that we had missed during the previous months (we always pick up trash). Up on a dune, there was a can of Pepsi sitting upright. There were no footprints around anywhere.

141.jpg


Upon further investigation, it was full and in good shape. The storm had layed it up there for me. This is the second "Good" can of soda I have found within 1/4 of a mile. The first one was a fresh can of 7up in the surf. I had been kitesurfing for hours, beginning 5 miles away and making my way up wind when I found it. It matched my green kite and green board. I downed it quickly as I was dehydrated and lacking energy. That can is on the top of my desk now.

I threw the Pepsi on ice and enjoyed it at the dock before heading off to work yesterday afternoon.

152.jpg


If you haven't seen my sunrise and morning slide show from yesterday, please look here:
http://s403.photobucket.com/albums/pp120/TheHamptons1/Shell Island Nov 09/?albumview=slideshow

The tracks leading down the beach are deer tracks. (The ones up closer to the dunes that wander left and right.)
Click to expand...

Found 2 bud lights floating by in a cold mountain lake in mid July on a day we had decided to go out without beer. Born on date...unexpired. 10 mins on ice and they were good! Coulda made a commercial! ha
 
someone in the Keys is looking for there cooler...
Sweet Dreams said:
Found 2 bud lights floating by in a cold mountain lake in mid July on a day we had decided to go out without beer. Born on date...unexpired. 10 mins on ice and they were good! Coulda made a commercial! ha
Click to expand...
 
Sweet Dreams said:
Found 2 bud lights floating by in a cold mountain lake in mid July on a day we had decided to go out without beer. Born on date...unexpired. 10 mins on ice and they were good! Coulda made a commercial! ha
Click to expand...

NICE!, but it sounds more like a Coors commercial ; )
 
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