Glass Floats

[@joanieruppel1564]

I love the look in your eyes when you were telling about finding the float while in clothes.

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

Retelling this story always makes me kinda misty. Finding that float, that day, alone on a beach in the pouring rain, was truly a turning point in my grief and somehow started me on the road to healing...

[@fluffyspit]

I now realise because of this video and then going searching online that I have a rare fosters glass fishing net float, made in Lancashire England, which has RGC on one end and made in England on the other...it’s been sat in a bowl of much smaller floats and glass and china balls that I’ve collected over the years. I have no memory of where I got it now...either from a car boot sale or maybe my dad gave it to me, my parents lived all their lives in a small fishing/market town called Blyth (not far from Seaham) and dad was always at the beach or on the pier fishing for cod. Thanks for educating me.

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

how cool is this?! Yes many of us find some really precious things on the beach that we have no clue to. I’m always amused when I see people who have huge old Fishing Floats displayed in their front yard which, these days, are worth anywhere from $300-$1000 or more, esp. if they’re rare. So I’m glad you are keyed in now to the rarity and preciousness of some of your veach treasures. Cool!

[@maggiesliker6510]

I’m seeing your videos on my google news feed almost daily. I remember you giving me a brief float tutorial in you Bay Ridge home studio. Such a treat!!!!

[@gingerelver70]

I just love your videos!! Very interresting.

[@drjekyll40]

Maravilloso

[@eternalsun.3400]

Love your passion as well as the floats

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

thx! me, too!

[@hr1959]

Thank you for another informative video. I appreciate your enthusiasm, and very much enjoyed your book.

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

So glad you like both! I appreciate you taking the time to view these videos AND also read A Beachcomber’s Odyssey.

[@justinsalaskanadventures]

Thank you so much! We just started flying to far away beaches here in Alaska and finding them by the 100’s, it very fun and addicting, thanks for teaching me about how to tell from the different designers

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

well I know who to contact when I finally get up that way - let’s rent a plane together and go float combing!

[@rngd3441]

Thank you for the great information, really appreciate people like yourself who take the time to share your knowledge and experience. I came here because my brother just found a big, 14" diameter glass float while fishing east of Oahu. Waiting for all of the growth to dry up before trying to decipher it's origin. Too interesting!

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

oh so very cool! and such a hard find these days on Hawai’i shorelines!

[@lisascenic]

I think of these as almost magical objects, even though (or maybe BECAUSE) I’ve never seen one in person.

[@lluisasastre]

Nice🤩!

[@ryanmiller3020]

Very interesting. Because even being totally blind, I’ve always found these floats interesting to touch. Back in the early 1990s, I had a kindergarten teacher who kept one of those floats on her desk, and she showed it to me. They actually make replicas of these floats, for people who like sea-themed decore. What I found particularly amazing is that some of these floats were made of glass that is surprisingly sick. I would’ve expected the glass to be much thinner. But I forgot that they were full of air. I saw something similar in my doctors office around Christmas, but that turned out just to be a giant Christmas tree bobble.

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

Yes fishing floats are working floats and tend to be on the thickewr side so they hold up better in heavy seas. Being blind, I think the floats you'd probably really enjoy are those that are half-filled with water, either purposefully or via a crack around the blob seal so that water could seep in. They are a sensory experience all on their own. But are hard to come by.

[@ryanmiller3020]

@@dr.beachcomb4221 i’ve never seen one of those, but I have read about them. The one that was on my teachers desk was not filled with water. the one that I have on my door is a replica, and it’s about the size of a basketball. There is a net made of jute wrapped around it, and there’s a loop that makes it easy to hang it. Being a replica, though, I didn’t expect it to actually float, but of course it did when I filled the sink full of water to test it.

[@pinball4532]

This was so lovely. Thank you!

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Bane-l7h]

I just found a rolling pin style, 5", with kanji for 'kawaguchi' on it, which I believe is from Hokkaido? Not sure though. Lincoln City gets them from a place in Alaska and put them out last weekend as part of an event.

[@thomasjones9399]

Thank you for your video. Not sure I will ever see any of those smaller glass floats here in Australia. I only least of their existence earlier today when I happened to watch a KZbin video of some collecting 100's of them off an Alaskan beach. What caught my eye in your video is the Crocodile or pukpuk carvings on your desk. They are beautiful. Where are they from? I have never seen one like the larger one before.

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

You have a great eye - its an old crocodile canoe prow from the middle Sepik River area - probably Iatmul. He's my fella and desk buddy.

[@japhyryder66]

What is the title of your book and where can I purchase it? Love your videos!

[@maxw5156]

I just found my first Japanese one!!!’

[@dr.beachcomb4221]

score!

[@alladenareola3152]

Hello ma'am I have 6 PCs collection regular size & big size😊😊