By-The-Wind Sailors

The ocean beaches in Oregon and Washington have recently been covered in Velella velella, a small blue triangular jellyfish with a sail on top. I got very excited when I saw this on the news (click here for news video) and photos on Facebook from friends who live on the Oregon coast. When the Velella, also know as by-the-wind sailors, start showing up on the beaches it is a sure sign of great beachcombing and that glass floats are on their way!  These creatures float on top of the ocean in the same current that the glass floats do and are usually washed ashore in a strong westerly wind storm.

When I lived on the Oregon coast many years ago there was a huge storm that brought in so many Velella that were knee deep on the beach. I will never forget slogging my way through the stinky, slippery mess in search for glass floats. It turned out to be one of the best beachcoming days of my life and I found several glass floats, plus a bunch of other interesting things.

The color of the seaglass beads and the agate that I used in this basket reminded me of the color of the Valella and the great beachcombing experiences that I have had. I used natural brown Longleaf pine needles, sweetgrass, brown artificial sinew, two shades of blue round sea glass beads, blue sea glass sand dollar beads and a blue crystallized agate center base. Enjoy!

P.S. The book featured in the top photo above, Beachcombing for Japanese Glass Floats by Amos. L. Wood, was a Christmas gift from my mom in 1976 that I still cherish to this day. It is a great book for anyone interested in beachcombing. Also, thank you Karen French for letting me use your beach photos of the Velella!

Note: The sea glass beads that I used in this basket were purchased from Rebecca Brown. Click here to go to her Etsy shop named Seaside Jewelry 1.