Welcome to St. AUGUSTINE BEACH!

Well, this is what it seemed like Tuesday morning as I arrived for what normally would be a fast-paced walk down our famous stretch of packed sand. Instead, the St. Johns County beach renewal at the end of 16th St has transformed a beach walk into a Saharan-like slog. An endless stretch of sand yawns before you. Locating the water almost requires need of a drone.

Where did it go?

With apologies to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner

“Water, water, everywhere” suddenly became “Sand, sand, everywhere”.

The county is spending millions of dollars to “re-sand” the beach this summer. Now, it seems odd, because at this writing we are nearing the peak of hurricane season. Maybe it isn’t a good time to be doing this. More on that in a bit, but first, the lay of the sand, as it were …

The beach has expanded eastward significantly, requiring a nomadic march across its soft surface in search of the Atlantic. Even baby turtles, their homing instincts at peak performance, might have a tough time hitting water.

Let’s leave the distance issue aside for a moment to describe the scene. A rusted coral colored pipeline running north/south bisects the beach. Through this pipeline, work teams are pumping tons and tons of new sand to displace the encroaching Atlantic as they work their way southward. I initially headed south too, my usual route, but then ran into those signs you see above telling me to “keep out”.

On my reverse course north, I found myself tailed by a grader and a second work vehicle. A polite gentleman in a hard hat ran up and asked me to step out of the grader’s path. I started wondering if there was a safe spot anywhere on this newly expanded beach.

Perhaps the best illustration of the change in the beach topography is to remind yourself what the SJC Pier used to look like, and what it looked like on this Tuesday morning:

Before: a pier with water

After: A beached pier

While I was bemoaning the change in our beach and the temporary loss of a fishing pier, I came across a sight that convinced me I was making this too much about my petty regrets. I spotted the lone figure below, chugging a load of chairs through the deep, soft sand, bringing them to the waters’ edge for the guests at the Embassy Suites. It is his job to take those chairs out each morning an plunk them down, and then each night to round them up and push them back to the hotel for overnight safekeeping. And I offered up a prayer for the poor guy. What should have taken this fellow 5 minutes to reach water took him over half an hour of hard, hard labor.

Out in the water this morning were some of the locals who probably know the beach best … the surfers. And as I stood by the dry end of the pier, one of them crossed my path and said, “It won’t be long … it’ll be back”, referring to the Atlantic waters.

And he is right, it won’t be long. Which begs the question: why do it now during Hurricane Season, when you may need to start over again in just a few months? I guess I can understand the need to prevent further erosion for the waterfront property owners. But really? Now? Why not at the end of the last hurricane season? We can only wonder.

Enjoy the beach. There’s now lots of it. And be patient trying to reach the water. And remember the surfer’s wisdom. The Atlantic will return.

Just waiting …