BEACHCOMBING THE PACIFIC

A somewhat faded text enlivened with many black-and-white illustrations about how, where and when to beachcomb on Baja, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Hawaii and other shores north of the equator. Serious beachcombing requires mental effort. Since the north Pacific is both more peopled and turbulent it has a richer shore harvest. The best beachcombing is after the big storms where onshore winds deposit drift at any tide -- offshore winds aren't worth a hoot. The most popular item these days is the Japanese glass float (handblown with small bubbles) used in fishing industries. But there's everything from Chinese junks to 100-pound sacks of flour (still quite edible even after years of submersion), crab pots, bottles with and without messages, spermaceti and ambergris (very valuable), and numberless mysterious objects no one will ever identify (such as round metal balls). Wood tells how to read the ""Indian signs"": winds, tides, birds, jellyfish, coastal weather signs, ocean currents; what equipment you need; the prime areas, and so on. This book is not written for loafers and the possibilities are intriguing -- but watch out for those sneaky tsunami waves.