My European Invasion: Sand, Waves, and Studland Beach

November 29^th

Began my day with a 7am wake-up call to get ready for a 9am geochemistry class; no way was I going to be late for class! Preparing for gale force winds and rain on a Coastal and Estuarine fieldtrip to Studland Beach, I made sure to pack many layers and had the wellies that I borrowed by the door. Getting to geochem on time is kind of a big deal for me since I always end up missing my bus on Tuesday mornings, but this time I even was able to walk to the bus stop without my daily sprint for the U6C. Once I was on the bus I felt a big wave of relief; that is until I realized by the time the bus was at the second stop that I forgot one of the most important items to pack when going to the beach- the wellies!!! So with a quick dash off the bus and a run to my room I was able to catch the next bus, but it was a longer bus route that doomed me to tardiness. Oh well there is always next week.

By noon, my friends and I were geared up in rain gear ready to board two fancy buses (the buses had curtains) to Pool Bay. On our way to the beach I experienced my first ferry ride in the U.K. it was around a 5 minute ride and no one left the bus to walk around which kind of made since I guess since there wasn’t really anywhere to wander aboard.

Finally off the bus we took a trail on a wooden foot bridge to the sandy shores of Studland Beach. Reaching for my camera in my pocket I received a jolt of horror as my room key fell and landed in between two of the wooden boards. Luck would have it though that my key was situated on top of the support beam underneath the boards with half of it dangling over the marshy abyss.

Once on the beach we broke up into groups and observed types of sand ripples, current flow, grainsize, and the velocity of ripple migration. The wind was so strong, and with the assistance of the rain, I eventually gave up writing notes on my loose pieces of paper that were becoming deformed with the additional threat of being carried off to sea. As my group tried to find space along a stream to take our measurements and measure the currents by means of using Pooh sticks and a timer; two guys that were helping on the field trip kept interfering with our measurements by reforming the stream and forcing water through the track with shovels. Eventually we wrote down the information that was needed and we were able to wander about the sand and surf. Acting like seven year olds, Rachel and I were running towards and away from the waves as they came in, and then we tried jumping over the wave. Thanks to our wellies, despite all the fun play we still were able to maintain dry feet.