The "square slab" in the tidal pool

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Lily · #31 Post by **Lily** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 5:02 pm

Now that is gross!!

Icepick · #32 Post by **Icepick** » Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:48 pm

Steve wrote:
Lily wrote:Icepick...

Just a thought, but it could be sewer/septic tank related, as all properties along that beach, at one time might not have been on the water/sewer set up which they are on today? Just one concrete piece which wasnt hauled away? Ah, all these ideas!
Gross......I also keep hoping it doesn't turn out to be some kind of slaughtering platform for the turtles!!!!

Hey Steve...that's you in that photo on the slab right, the one that's your avatar? Did you get any other photos close-up of it? When I was there I forgot to take photos of it but if you have some other ones I'd love to see what the metal bits are.

Or anyone else for that matter.

Steve · #33 Post by **Steve** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:17 pm

Icepick wrote:
Steve wrote:
Lily wrote:Icepick...

Just a thought, but it could be sewer/septic tank related, as all properties along that beach, at one time might not have been on the water/sewer set up which they are on today? Just one concrete piece which wasnt hauled away? Ah, all these ideas!
Gross......I also keep hoping it doesn't turn out to be some kind of slaughtering platform for the turtles!!!!
Hey Steve...that's you in that photo on the slab right, the one that's your avatar? Did you get any other photos close-up of it? When I was there I forgot to take photos of it but if you have some other ones I'd love to see what the metal bits are.

Or anyone else for that matter.

That is my son and I, I do have other photos, such as of my wife and son sitting on the slab (sorry,water perch) and shots going the other way down the beach, plus of course shots of the front gate, the guest house from the beach and what I could get of the main house, but unfortuantely, nothing close up of the slab.......Here are a couple of them.....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/airord/set ... 439989424/

Waltstasz · #34 Post by **Waltstasz** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:25 am

I always assumed it was some sort of anchor for mooring boats or something. I don't know why, but that's what I always thought.

Icepick · #35 Post by **Icepick** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:26 pm

^Yup....this is definitely what I'm gearing for now. From looking at various shallow water anchors around the internet this might be the most logical reason.

Thanks Steve for the pics! It's amazing how a quite ordinary piece of cement can be such a popular attraction...lol. Your photos are helpful as they do show the lines from cement casting. There seems to be a deteriorated metal bar across one edge. A further key piece of info is that it has openings on 3 sides(presumably 4) leading through to the centre.

Steve, can you remember if the centre of the block was just an indentation or was it a hole going straight through?

I would know all this if I was smart enough to investigate it when I was there...doh!

#36 Post by **Doc Ibold** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:41 pm

Icepick wrote:^Yup....this is definitely what I'm gearing for now. From looking at various shallow water anchors around the internet this might be the most logical reason.

Thanks Steve for the pics! It's amazing how a quite ordinary piece of cement can be such a popular attraction...lol. Your photos are helpful as they do show the lines from cement casting. There seems to be a deteriorated metal bar across one edge. A further key piece of info is that it has openings on 3 sides(presumably 4) leading through to the centre.

Steve, can you remember if the centre of the block was just an indentation or was it a hole going straight through?

I would know all this if I was smart enough to investigate it when I was there...doh!

Hole going straight through.....

Sam · #37 Post by **Sam** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:47 pm

Icepick......Doc is correct..Here is a pic from one of our members trip to the estate.

http://www.pbase.com/goislands/2002_10_02_mpi_estate

Icepick · #38 Post by **Icepick** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:07 pm

Thanks! I was trying to find those Thomas pics.

I kick myself for stupidly not checking it out when I was there. I guess I was just too excited to think straight:)

So perhaps it is then, just a rudimentary anchor where you can rope off your boat around the open bits.

MPS · #39 Post by **MPS** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:46 pm

Icepick wrote:

So perhaps it is then, just a rudimentary anchor where you can rope off your boat around the open bits.

My initial thought, when seeing that the holes go all the way through was the slab could be an anchor of sorts, as Icepick just mentioned.

There are a couple of problems with this. If you anchor a boat in open water, not tied to a dock, it needs to be kept out of range of the other boats, since it will rotate round the anchor line. This means only one boat at a time tied up at the slab. (And it could still collide with the platform, if on a long line.) If there is more than one boat, the boats had to be tied alongside, leading to problem number two

Tying up to concrete without any sort of protection for the boat is kind of a bad idea. I suppose there might have been wood and cloth around the slab at one time to provide a bumper. These would have decayed by now, but maybe the remains of bolts are there. Also, any boat tying up would have had fenders of some sort.

If those little issues were addressed, it seems to work as an anchoring or docking spot.

Lily · #40 Post by **Lily** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:48 am

Sorry guys, but I just cant go along with the theory of the slab being used for mooring boats. We have already ascertained there was a dock further down at the beach park, which was replaced in the late 90's and one has to wonder if perhaps it could be something left over from that structure? How likely is it that something this size in the ocean, over time, could have moved to its present location?

Any thoughts that it could perhaps have been part of one of the properties old retaining wall along the beach?

Icepick · #41 Post by **Icepick** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:49 pm

I got an email back from the Shriners!

I do not have any knowledge on the question you raised. However, I have forwarded your message to our property manager who has been there 28 years, and should have some info. He will contact you directly, and if he does not, I will do so.

Great eh?! So hopefully we'll know something very soon. I might add, it was quite decent of them to reply back.

Steve · #42 Post by **Steve** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:15 pm

Very nice, Icepick.........Perhaps we need to come up with an award for whomever came the closest to guessing correct........

wwmd · #43 Post by **wwmd** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:17 pm

The person with the closest guess should be given the title of Majordomo!

--Sammy

Icepick · #44 Post by **Icepick** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:35 pm

MPS · #45 Post by **MPS** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:02 am

Has there been any further word about the cement slab in the tidal pool?
I was hoping to see the mystery solved.