Float Hunting

As I've mentioned, I'm trying to check things off my Japan bucket list. One that I've really been committed to is finding an antique glass fishing float. People collect them around here. What's a float, you ask? Basically it's a glass buoy that fishermen attach to the tops of their deep sea nets. The nets have weights on the bottom which cause them to sink to the ocean floor, and the floats hold the net taught, straight up and down. Then the fishermen drag the nets along the bottom to catch fish. They are really thick and hearty since they have to withstand the pressure at those depths. So the floats that broke off back in the day and floated away often survive and eventually float back up on shore. It's easy to buy them at a bazaar or from an antique vendor, but somehow I felt bad paying for one when so many people find them washed up on the beach. They come in many different sizes and colors, and each has a story. A lot of times they're covered in barnacles and are all goey and gross - but they clean up beautifully.

A guy I work with collects them and claims to always have success along a certain stretch of beach north of us on the Pacific shore. But you have to get up really early to go look so you beat any other float hunters from the base. Winter was approaching and I wasn't sure how much time I had left to go searching for floats, so I decided to commit to an extreme float hunting experience. We got up eeeearly (3:45 am), met up and caravanned up to the beach, and walked for 3 hours up and down the sand combing for treasures. It was cold and raining and I was tired and hungry... But I knew it would be worth it if I could find just one little turquoise glass orb.

sunrise over the Pacific

Since I'd never been float-hunting before, Corey told me to train my brain to look for light bulbs since they're about the same size and both translucent. Turns out that was a cruel joke because the beach is LITTERED with lightbulbs of all different sizes and colors. At first it was funny. But as the morning wore on and we hadn't found any real floats yet, every lightbulb became a frustration. We'd get excited when we spotted them from a distance and then our hearts would sink when we drew nearer and saw the silvery back end signifying its true shape. Ugh. There were also a couple times I got really excited because I was sure I'd spotted one. It was something perfectly round and the right color... But when we got closer, I realized it was just a blue plastic fishing float. So close, and yet not worth picking up.

 I had almost given up and was getting ready to turn back to the car when my friend looked at me pointedly and nodded his head toward the line of debris a little further up the beach. Immediately I took of running and, sure enough, there was one tiny little float sitting on the sand. I was so excited! It may be tiny and I may have had a little help finding it, but it didn't come from a store and I was the one to pick it up so... it counts in my book. Mission: accomplished!

I also came home with some other treasures. I picked up an assortment of bright green glass bottles that I can use as flower vases, as well as some sea shells and sand dollars. Over all, I would say it was a productive trip.

I would have liked to find a big fishing float before we move, but those are harder to find because they are more sought after. I really don't think I'll make any more trips out to Shipwreck Beach during our time here to go look for them. (It gets really cold and miserable up there in the winter.) So my friend gave me one from the dozens that he's collected. It was a mighty gift, since one this size would cost anywhere from $70-85 dollars! I'm not really into collecting knick-nacks but I think my modest grouping of pretty translucent fishing floats is a good memento from our time in Japan.