Then, walking along a beautiful sandy beach, there appeared a cast up mop handle. Once I had sanded off a few globs of tar, it became the best walking staff ever, and served for subsequent treks on SMI for years after.
You can find amazing things on beaches (just to hijack the thread a bit) - edible food, unopened soft drinks, working flashlights (waterproof, of course), hard hats, marine charts, unexpended phosphorus flares (that was exciting) and messages in a bottle (several). No mermaids, though.....
ah yes, the venerable mop/broom handle. i used one from the school trash for several years. i'd still be using it if i hadn't broken it across a tree trying to fend off a hornet.