11-20-2016 Sunday Beach Walk & Erosion Check

Sunday we did our usual beach walk. Not sure what this ground covering plant is, but it's pretty
and makes for a nice photo.

We ventured north of Driftwood Beach Bar & Pizza Shack to check on the current status of the beach erosion. Along the way
we passed the ruins of the former North Beach Bar. It was before our time in Hopkins, so we've just watched it crumble and
fall, and eventually everything got scavenged and/or cleaned up.

We went up to Hopkins Bay Resort, which has been blamed for some beach erosion issues in Hopkins. In an effort to maintain
their beach, at the south end of their property they had built a groin wall (like a jetty wall) sticking out into the sea. Of course,
this just caused scouring right behind the wall, eating away at the beach south of the resort. Now the groin wall is mostly
gone, but the effects are not.

South of the resort, having already lost a lot of beach, and hoping to not lose more (or they will lose cabanas), Kismet Inn
decided to build a seawall for protection. When they built the seawall it was right at the edge of the beach, but waves were
not breaking on it.

Now, looking north to the Kismet Inn seawall from the property directly south of it, you can see that more beach has been lost
because waves are breaking on the seawall. In addition, the existence of the seawall has caused scouring and more loss of
beach to the property south of it, which is a bar/restaurant/cabana rentals called Weiga (pronounced way-guh). We spoke with
the owner at length about the beach erosion issue, and how each individual effort simply passes the problem down the line,
and how there needs to be an organized effort from everyone on the beach to remedy the issue.

We had a drink and a snack at the newly opened Weiga, then we hung out up in the little
"crow's nest" at the very top of the palapa.

Looking down from the top - it doesn't look all that high, but we're basically up on the third
story of the building at this point.

The view from the "crow's nest" (our term - not sure what they called it).