[quote="Sam"]Thanks Thor...Here are the photos..comment to follow.
Would seem to me that something has been done to remove sand from the beach front. When we were there in Nov '09 (at about 11am, close to high tide), you can see the beach wall after the cut in is only about 2 feet high at one point, my wife had no trouble sitting on it and reading her book.
Now people have raised valid points about this being possible naturally. Absolutely, but we're talking years - not a matter of 8 months, or as Thor has mentioned - a few weeks between his visits. Whether it was Anderson or not again is subject to debate, but someone seems to have done it.
Sad to see, glad we got in while it was still there.
I was there 2 weeks ago and after showing my wife the photos above and getting a second opinion from her, we think the pool looked something between those 2 photos above.
The hop up to sit on the wall was quite high, higher than I remember it from 18 months prior. Higher than it looks in photo 2. However, the volcanic rocks you can see running along the base of the wall in the first photo were not there when we were there.
There were a few local outs there using the pool and the water was still deep enough to fully swim underwater in. There was also a small dinghy moored in there.
All I know was the beach was fine in early June and the same as it had been for the 20 years that I have been going there and the photos taken were on Sunday the 11th of July...that's all I know
Kolchak wrote:
However, the volcanic rocks you can see running along the base of the wall in the first photo were not there when we were there.
Rocks weren't there for us either (as the photo shows), however I supposed in theory they could have been there under the extra 4 feet of sand. Only rocks I remember were further away closer to the Shriners property that we had to walk over to get to the estate beach.
On first impression, I had thought the rocks were under the existing sand and exposed by erosion. If the area had been dredged by machines wouldn't the underlying rocks have been scooped up also?
Wow! Lots of replies on this thread. I just want to throw this in.....Lanikai Beach, just down the road, has been losing sand for a number of years now. Ten or so years ago, there was ample beach in front of many homes as you proceed from Kailua/Lanikai area down the road to Waimanolo towards Diamond Head. Now Lanakai is disappearing and these homes have breakwaters instead of beach. I believe the lose of sand is attributed largely to the construction of the small boat harbors at Hawaii Kai, between Diamond Head and Waimanolo and perhaps the Kanehoe, just up from Kailua.
The same thing happens on the mainland, too, when small boat owners petition the political powers to construct harbors replete with slips (and slip fees), restaurants, shops, etc. The harbors are built and money flows to the government. Then Mother Nature takes over; the flow of sand is interrupted and beaches disappear. Those who have ocean-front properties start losing their beaches and the process begins anew. There just isn't much profit in letting the shore and beaches stay in an undeveloped format. Follow the money. The beaches suffer. Perhaps this is just another Army Corps of Engineers debacle?
Anyone familiar with Hawaiian politics knows that the politicians tend to look the other way when someone with money wants to do something illegal regarding what he considers "his beach." Kauai has alot of this stuff happening, too. Reminds me of the Joni Mitchell song...."They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot."
Google "Lanakai Beach erosion" and you'll find many articles.
Jaybird, whilst erosion is obviously a problem in Hawaii and elsewhere - can you really see erosion causing a 6 foot drop in the space of a few weeks/months?
Just did some searching and discovered that there was indeed discussion of the beach erosion in this thread after Henry Lewis posted some recent photos.
I collected some photos posted here in the forum and some from the web and put this compilation together. Things I noticed was the remarkable washout in 2002 (probably from the drainage pipe that is visible in those photos). Also, it is more clear with them all together that something rather dramatic indeed happened prior to the photos posted by Thorfinn.
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."
Seeing the photos chronologically like that shows how dramatic the change can be. After studying the photos for a while, a few thoughts come to mind. The first 2002 photo shows a huge amount of sand loss, but only near the gate. The other end seems fine. Styles, you are probably right about the drain causing the problem. Note also the rocks by the base of the wall exposed by that loss of sand are in the same general area as those in Thorfinn's photos. In later photos (January 2006) the sand looks to be even higher than during Magnum filming as sand is piled up near the gate.
Perhaps most importantly, I took notice of the fact that the entry to the gate has concrete steps leading to it. Why would the builders way back in 1933 bother to put those steps there unless they expected them to be exposed periodically by changes in sand level? This kind of design is typical of beach front property here in SoCal. A set of concrete steps is placed in the sand with wood steps continuing to the deck-level of the house. Sometimes the concrete steps are exposed sometimes sand covers them completely and even some of the wood steps. Mother nature can cause some dramatic changes in just a matter of days or weeks.
Wow, thanks Styles - I'm quite surprised by those 2002 photos as well!
So basically in 2002 the level was the same as it is now in Thorfinn's pics, except the low level carries on the whole way along the wall instead of just near the gate/drainage pipe.
In case you want to see more of those early photos, the guy's 2002 photos are here, and the 2006 photos are here. This is actually the site I used to find my way to Robin's Nest on my trip to Oahu. That was long before I'd ever heard of Magnum Mania, Rubber Chicken or any of you Magheads!
"How fiendishly deceptive of you Magnum. I could have sworn I was hearing the emasculation of a large rodent."
I'd expect crop circles to pop up soon. Obviously, someone managed to sneak a dredging barge into the tidal pool and, under cover of night, when nobody could notice, managed to scoop up tons of sand and deposit it.........uh, somewhere. Where could it be? Most likely this was done because the owners of the estate did not like MPI fans sneaking in and taking pictures. Best bet is that the Anderson estate had a deal going on with aliens who used an electromagnetic cloaking device to mask their evil plan. Where are Scully and Mulder when we need them? This could be the theme of a new Magnum P.I. episode. Find the sand. You'll find the culprit! It's quite simple.
