How Far Are You From Salt Water?

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Currently, 90 miles.  However, with global warming in the next few hundred years, whomever "owns" my land will probably have beach-front property...  - Ron

with the new greenland info the latest news articles seem to discuss a 100-year time frame before oceans rise anywhere from 4-20 feet. computer projections show most of florida flooding not as much by the ocean but mostly up florida bay and the gulf side. i'm on the ocean side, currently about 6 feet above sea-level. i figure in about 50 years i'll set up the beach umbrella & sun-chair concessions. but by 65 years i really should consider selling.

 

[TromboneAl]

This is our situation, though we're still waiting to "get lucky."

 

[Dog]

We live in Puget Sound...just up the road from the ferry to Whidbey Island. Currently a buildign a waterfront home on Whidbey for ER. Criteria for location was 1) see the water, hear the water and smell the water. Just purchased a kayak and looking forward to lazy days paddling in the many coves and lagoons. We have had a cold, gray and wet winter....but, nothing beats a sunny summer day here. I also spent many summer days at Jones Beach in my youth....great memories. I was a Navy brat and the salt water is in my veins.

 

[TromboneAl]

In the interests of anonymity, I won't say which house is ours.  Three of the houses in this photo have been moved or destroyed.

[Photo gone]

 

[playaman]

I grew up in a beach town - Corpus Christi, Texas - and have missed the ocean every day since I left home to go to the University of Texas (40 years ago).

I've now lived in more than a dozen places since (only one of them -- D.C. -- near "serious" salt water), but I still love the beach and regularly add an extra day to my travel when I'm in areas with "good" beaches. A business trip to Biloxi, MS, scheduled for next week, for example, will begin with an extra day on the front end to go to Ship Island (pre-Katrina one of the "best" beaches in the country... don't know anymore).

I'm considering delaying my retirement untill summer 2008 to take a "fun" assignment on the West Coast, which will be near the ocean again.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Backyard is salt water creek, walk to dock at end of dirt road to the Sound. Couldn't live anywhere else! Deer, wild turkeys, and foxes to boot! Grew up on Sullivan's Island SC and never could leave Charleston....glad we don't have that horrible erosion problem like Al! Wow!
Sarah

 

[donheff]

The weekend place is on the tidal Potomac -- 7 miles wide.

 

[Dawg52]

I'm about 180 miles from the MS coast. I once thought I might retire around Gulf Shores, AL but the hurricanes have left a bad taste in my mouth. Probably just lease something for a few weeks during the off season. Gonna head in the opposite direction during August to escape the heat. Maybe Montana.  

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

In the interests of anonymity, I won't say which house is ours. Three of the houses in this photo have been moved or destroyed.

I see it...you zoom in and look for the one with the stack of pallets in the back yard.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

In the interests of anonymity, I won't say which house is ours.  Three of the houses in this photo have been moved or destroyed.

wow, that's really spooky. it doesn't look like someplace where yer supposed to build. what are those houses sitting on? is there no bedrock? that is just soil? what happens when the ocean takes the earth? are those houses able to be insured or do the owners just lose what they had?

looks like a great place for the view but a bad place to play frisbee with the dog.

 

[REWahoo]

In the interests of anonymity, I won't say which house is ours.

If I were a betting man, I'd wager you live on the eastern side of the road.
(You might want to get that oil leak repaired, your car is leaving a nasty spot on your driveway.)

 

[Zipper]

We are far far away from saltwater, but we are half an hour from nice beaches on Lake Erie and about 45 minutes from Lake Huron.

We did spend a glorious year on the coast of Australia. We lived about a 30 second walk from Bass Strait just south of Melbourne. There was a brilliant white sandy beach nearby that squeaked when you walked on it. And of course, it was called "Squeaky Beach".

 

[yelnad]

We are about 250 miles from the east coast.

In the yard we have a spring fed stream and I love the sound of the running water. We're less than a mile from a lake where there is fishing, boating, swimming, and yes, kayaking.

 

[cube_rat]

I see it...you zoom in and look for the one with the stack of pallets in the back yard.

Google Earth!

 

[SteveR]

We are about 18 miles from the Great Salt Lake. Not a great place for recreation unless you like marsh flies and the interesting aroma from the south end of the lake. I will stick to the mountains for recreation except for our ocean-related vacation time.

 

[justin]

About 100 miles as the crow flies to the atlantic coast. I do live on a small lake that is essentially in a valley. We get great breezes too. It really feels like the beach when the sun starts setting and the breeze blows in from the lake. The smell and feel is the same. Very relaxing sensation.

 

[TromboneAl]

wow, that's really spooky. it doesn't look like someplace where yer supposed to build. what are those houses sitting on? is there no bedrock? that is just soil?

That's right, pretty much -- no bedrock.  There was actually a new house built on the west side of the road last year!  Two new houses about to go in on the east side.

what happens when the ocean takes the earth?

Here's how it works: The sand gets washed away, and the beach is lowered.  That means that the water comes in further.  During winter storms, the waves hit the cliff, and big chunks of it fall off and wash away.  It may go for years with no changes, and then an El Nino year may come along, and it will erode 30 feet.  Average is 3 feet per year.  We figure we're good for about 100 years.

are those houses able to be insured or do the owners just lose what they had?

For some reason the government paid some of the landowners for the property that was lost.  I don't know the details.  Several homeowners had their houses picked up and moved across the street.  One neighbor bought his house only weeks before the storm came and forced him to need to move.

The two houses on the left of this more recent photo are for sale (on and off the market) prices around 800K.   The fifth house from the left used to be on the water side of the road.

 

[SLC Tortfeasor]

Like SteveR, I live close to the Great Salt Lake. I'm about 10-15 miles away. Can't say I get there that often though.

When I was growing up I spent a lot of time on beaches in Alaska as a commercial fisherman. What a wonderful lifestyle. I wouldn't mind getting back to that one day.