- Kyle Davis served as a medic in the U.S. Army Infantry before deciding to embark on a voyage around the world.
- Always drawn to adventure, Kyle took up sailing and beachcombing for treasure after selling his farm.
- Through his travels, he developed an appreciation for sea glass and learned how much value it brings to his life.
A former U.S. Army infantry medic with a desire for adventure, he built a life beyond his dreams.
Kyle Davis was considering his next step after church service when he decided to put down roots in Hawaii.
“After I finished my enlistment, I decided to use my savings to buy land in Hawaii and start a farm.I wanted to build a cave on the property, so I bought a 6-acre vacant lot, 3 in length. Miles of Lava Tube. I spent four years there, turning the virgin land into a permaculture farm while also attending the University of Hawaii to study agriculture,” Kyle tells PEOPLE.
“I accept volunteers from all over the world to teach organic farming, and in return they help build farms. With their help, we build roads, houses, fences, and cultivated a vast collection of unique animals and thousands of plants.”
“I loved my farm and the freedom of living in my own little world, but I also longed to travel and experience the world. Owning a farm comes with a huge responsibility. , and with a mouth to feed and plants to water every day, there weren't many opportunities for adventure abroad.”
Kyle decided to change course in 2017. After graduating from university, he sold his farm to a travel company and decided to buy a yacht and sail the world.
“I used to travel around the world on my Semester at Sea for study abroad periods and loved the idea of the freedom that owning a boat gave me,” he explains. “With very little knowledge of sailing, I set off to Thailand for a 10-day sailing course and immediately started looking for the perfect boat.”
Many months passed before Kyle purchased a Tayana 50-foot monohull sailboat in Portland, Maine. He spent his 2018 summer getting the boat into shape. In his spare time, he enjoyed metal detecting in the Casco Islands.
“I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a treasure-hunting pirate, so the idea of sailing around the world in search of fortune was very appealing,” he says.
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Kyle didn't have a particular affinity for seagrass until he went on a short road trip to Maine with his mother.
“Once we got to the shore, she said she was just going to walk on the beach to look for seashells. During our walk, she found some seagrass, one of which was red. At the time, we knew almost nothing about sea glass, but it was over quickly.''After returning to the boat, a friend came to say hello and took his young son with him,'' he recalls. do.
“My mom showed him the red sea glass and he said he wanted it. I couldn't turn down a cute kid. Then we looked up red sea glass online and found it… It turned out to be absolutely one of the rarest colors, so she was a little heartbroken about letting it go. I told her, don't worry, I'll go back and look for another one. Told.”
Kyle didn't realize how difficult it would be when he made the appointment, but it took him months to visit “hundreds of beaches in the bay.” I collected a lot of other sea glass, but I couldn't find the red part.
Kyle continued his adventures and planned a trip to the Caribbean in November 2018. Nature had other plans.
“After two weeks of snow and heavy storms, we arrived in Florida, but within hours of arriving, our boat was struck by lightning. Instead of heading to the Caribbean as planned, I “We spent nine months replacing the mast, replacing the rigging, and all the electronics on board, which was a pretty big job,” he said.
“I came across a sea glass store in St. Augustine and learned that sea glass, which I thought was worthless, was actually being sold. This was an epiphany for me and I started looking for more sea glass. He bought me a book about it and I learned a lot about the different types, grades, colors, etc.”
Kyle attempted to head to the Caribbean again in July 2019, but his adventure was cut short by another storm.
“We lost a propeller shaft at sea and almost sank off the coast of Venezuela,” Kyle says. “We were able to save the ship and headed to the nearest refuge, the ABC Islands. We eventually reached Curaçao and pulled the ship out of the sea for repairs. It took several weeks to fix everything. But the repairs needed were extensive and ultimately took nearly two years.
While these repairs were being made, Kyle decided to explore Curaçao and set off with his crew, leaving only “his best friend and long-time Yorkshire terrier companion, Little Coconut (LC)” in the rubber boat. Sailed the islands.
“Luckily, the first beach we landed on was made entirely of seagrass,” he says. “I had only ever seen a few pieces of glass on beaches here and there, but I could never have imagined what I had just discovered. I immediately started beachcombing and within minutes I found the most unusual I found many different types of sea glass.'' Red, orange, marbles, bottle stoppers, figurines, etc. I read about it in a book. ”
Not only was Kyle finally able to obtain his mother's red sea glass, he also impressed her with his own “gold mine” discovery.
At the same time, Kyle's mother began sharing his story to the online seagrass community on Facebook. Enthusiasts were surprised by Kyle's discovery.
“Little did I know in the beginning that sea glass was important to so many people. There are sea glass books, sea glass museums, and even sea glass festivals.”
As Kyle dug deeper, he began to see the value of his discovery and decided to start a business called LC's Glass.
“I was so happy because not only did I find a way to earn money while traveling, but it was exactly what I had always dreamed of: treasure hunting. It didn’t take long and I was hooked!”
Kyle started offering tours and was also able to get his mom involved in his new business venture, which also started incorporating elements of social media. Kyle live-streamed his seagrass hunting, not only to legitimize himself as a seagrass enthusiast, but also to show people a beautiful area full of remote seagrass.
“During my time in Curacao, I launched a YouTube channel, The Bored Pirate, to promote my business and expand the reach of my content. During the coronavirus pandemic, I launched the YouTube channel The Bored Pirate, which connects two neighboring islands, Aruba and Bonaire. I decided to explore.”
He goes on to say, “We discovered an island made of glass, Sea Glass Island, on Aruba. We also discovered several other beaches that are essentially made of sea glass. On Bonaire, this is also amazing. I found an underwater cave full of glass gemstones. At this point, I became completely obsessed with sea glass hunting and made it my mission to sail around the world and discover undiscovered sea glass beaches everywhere I went. I decided that.”
Kyle also made it a point to give back to the community that has given so much to him. “I've been able to find some great people all over the place and let them lead the tour. I love helping people, so I thought the idea of giving people a good living in a place where there's not much opportunity was great. Since then, I've helped several people start a successful sea glass tour business where I found the glass beach, and I never received anything in return. I don't ask. ”
Once the boat was repaired, Kyle traveled the Caribbean, enjoying the seagrass beaches of St. Kitts, Nevis, Martinique, Panama, Colombia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Cayman Islands, posting his itinerary online. I shared it.
“I post beachcombing content every day and have been making good money from seagrass for the past few years. I have now taken hundreds of people seagrass hunting and I have completely embraced that passion myself. I have a new appreciation,” he says.
“It's so much fun! There aren't many activities that are equally enjoyable for all ages, but this is truly one of them. Children, teenagers, adults, and seniors will have a look of joy and excitement on their faces at that moment. “They realize that marble or unusually colored glass is exactly the same as the first time they've seen it.'' Not only that, it's great exercise, gets people outside, and often allows families to have fun together. I’ll spend it.”
Although sea glass has become a business, it is still very much a hobby.
“I don't sell everything I find. In fact, I keep the most unusual things at home in my personal collection. At first, they were mostly one-of-a-kind pieces. But I soon found myself with several pieces. I realized that it was so precious that I would never find anything like it again.
Kyle keeps his favorite finds at his parents' home, and his mom finds creative ways to display them.
“My mother sorted the small pieces into old printer trays on an antique printing desk. Some of my favorite keepers are made of glass made from radioactive uranium that glows under a black light. Others It's a sea coin, found at the bottom of an old bottle. “I've collected thousands of marbles and glass figurines of every color of the rainbow.''
And although he won an award for discovering sea glass, there are still a few more on Kyle's wish list.
“What I'd love to find is a glass eyeball or snow globe. I'd also like to break the world record for the largest sea glass found weighing over 200 pounds.”
Kyle also loves the exploration process, where he can add favorite places to find sea glass.
“I've found the most glass in the ABC Islands, St. Kitts, and Puerto Rico. But my favorite place will always be a place I've never been. Just around the next corner. Something is always calling to me, and I know life is so short that I can't go to every beach in the world, so I'd rather do something new every day than go back to what I already know. I like to explore the unknown.”
Seagrass hunting has brought Kyle joy to the community that shares this hobby. He calls them “the kindest, most caring people I've ever met.”
“Walking along the beach for hours on end, silently searching for lost trash that the ocean has magically recycled into gemstones, can be a very meditative respite from everyday life. It's good for the soul. “It brings people great peace and joy,” he said. KK.
Kyle is currently beachcombing with his mother on St. Kitts and plans to return to his boat in Panama in the spring.
“From there, we hope to get good weather and sail into the eastern Caribbean, continuing to explore as many islands as possible before hurricane season starts. After that, we'll head to Grenada or Trinidad or wherever the wind blows. You might even go there.'' And keep hunting wherever you end up. ”
As for the future, Kyle has two things on his mind. For one, he found a new sailing buddy after LC passed away last year.
“I'm saving money and doing fundraising to get my dog LC back. She passed away from a brain tumor last year. I miss her so much,” he said. “For the past few years I have been sailing alone with only her by my side. I feel a great loss without her and I feel lonely at sea right now. We have her genes frozen and once we have them we plan to clone her.''We hope to have Little Coconut on board soon!''
Another goal is to find a more permanent way to share his love for the treasures he finds on the beach.
“I also collect other things on the beach, like sea beans, pottery, jewelry, seashells, and other oddities. I even found ambergris once. I eventually built my own beachcombing museum. I would like to have one.”
