How do you know?

When we first brought a boat to the Tropical Tip, I had a discussion about the shallow depths with a guy who sold boat stuff... no NOAA charts for the area to be found, but he offered this advice: "If your boat is shoal draft, watch the birds... if there is a long legged bird standing in the water, you might be able to go there... if there is a short legged bird standing in the water, you can't go there."

I thought he was a smartass, but it turned out to be reasonable advice in this shallow water place.

What?  No, we didn't get another boat, yet.  After being home-bound for a day, thanks to Mother Nature, we got out for lunch today; Pier 19 on SPI.  We got in there just before the drizzle and wind kicked up again.  The water was choppy; I was glad to be on land, instead of on the water.  Well, the restaurant is built on a pier out over the water, and there is some movement to the place, depending on wind and waves.

Lunch was good, and Mother Nature stopped with the wind and spitting by the time we were ready to leave.  Looking out across the water, I saw this...

Yeah, that is a long legged bird in the foreground.  There is a bit of its legs showing, so it may still be pretty shallow right there.  ;-)

We decided to drive through Isla Blance Park on the southern tip of the island to see how it fared all the rain the past week or so.  Quite a few RV sites covered in standing water, but the park is pretty unoccupied right now.  Heading towards the beach, we could see a few kite surfers playing.  By the time we got to the beach, we couldn't see the surfers - no, not fog; big dredge pipe and heavy equipment on the beach...

This is not an immediate response to the beach erosion that certainly happened this past week.  No, there is an on-going beach reclamation program: every couple of years, the ship channel gets dredged and the sand/mud from that goes up on the beach.  Then, it is spread around.

South Padre Island has a natural sand beach.  But, Mother Nature giveth and taketh away - storms tend to cause beach erosion.  The extreme high tides we had earlier this week had the water up to the dunes, also take sand off the beach as it recedes.  Every so often, (like when the ship channel needs to be dredged), man gives Mother Nature a hand with getting more sand up on the beach.  Without this "grooming," the beach might be narrower, or more rutted.  Especially in the developed part of the island (the last 4 to 5 miles), the beach is critical to bringing visitors (and their $$$) to the island.

This process generally takes a month or two to complete.  Best done during the shoulder season, when the summer visitors are gone, and the winter visitors have not yet arrived.  Not great for those who want to walk the beach now, but you can go further north and get away from the "construction."  Right now, this is happening in the southern tip of the island, in the county park area.  It will eventually work towards the north.

It is a great beach... just needs some assistance to stay that way, now and then.