The wind died down slightly overnight, although the surf continued, due to the fact that the wave action along this coast is mostly from swells, rather than being generated by local winds.

After lunch, we headed back down to Long Beach to walk its length. As soon as we walked out on the beach we could see that there was a temperature inversion that gave the sand the appearance of steaming.

Temperature inversions are not uncommon; in fact, that’s what normally causes fog. It’s the result of the inverse of the normal situation where the air nearest the earth’s surface is warmest. In a temperature inversion, cooler air is trapped by a higher layer of warm air, causing the moisture in the surface air to condense as the dew point rises above the surface air temperature. At least that’s how I remember it from the meteorology class I took way back in college. In case you’re wondering, both the surface air and ocean water temperatures were about 52°F this afternoon.

We walked the entire length of Long Beach, 2.5 miles, from Incinerator Rock to the rock outcropping at Green Point where someone had built a shelter out of driftwood:

We scrambled around on the rocks, discovering that 60-year-old knees aren’t as flexible as 30-year-old knees, then turned around for the hike back up the beach.

Along the way, we passed several more driftwood shelters.

In fact, the beach was littered with them:

On the way to Green Point we had noticed that a couple of these shelters had been occupied by resting surfers; however, they were all empty on our return. But this enterprising guy was still swinging in his hammock, just like he had been when we passed him two hours earlier:

Tomorrow, we pack up early and drive to the east coast of the island where we’re expecting (hoping) that it will be a little warmer.