A Couple Iron Spikes Dug Yesterday.The one on the right is in a more advanced state of deterioration. Much of the iron on the top has dissolved. The other one can probably be nicely cleaned.
I received some mail from people finding not much besides pull tabs. I suppose everybody picks up some pull tabs, but what I want you to know is that if you are digging a lot of pull tabs and not much else, you are in the wrong place. It really does matter where you hunt and how you hunt. It makes a big difference.
One of the main things I try to get across in this blog, is that beaches are not like land sites where things stay pretty much where they are lost. Beaches constantly change. The more the water hits the area, the more it will change.
Sand moves, but so does the other materials that are within detector range.
I'm not saying that you should never dig pull tabs. Pull tabs provide information and sometimes you'll want to check out an area. And sometimes you might be targeting light materials that will be found in with pull tabs.
Here is something that I'll say again and I want you to pay attention to it. The water sifts and sorts materials. Mostly, but not entirely, based upon density.
I know I've said this before, many times, but it is important and some people don't seem to be getting it.
Similar types of materials will generally be found together. If you are in a pull tab honey hole don't expect to dig a lot of gold there. They are completely different, and in time will become sifted, sorted and separated. Sometimes you will find a gold ring in with a bunch of pull tabs, but that is relatively rare and that is not the way to spend your time for most effective results.
I won't go on about this much more, but when you sample a beach adjust your hunting depending upon what you learn from what you dig. If you are in a pull tab zone, look for an area where there are heavier materials. Sample different areas until you start finding the type of materials you are looking for.
Yesterday for example, I went out looking for iron objects like shipwreck spikes. The first areas that I came to were too sandy so I had to walk a few hundred yards until I came to an area where the iron objects were. After I dug the first, I looked more closely around that area. Then I found another. They were on the front beach in the low tide zone in a line about five yards wide near the water's edge. There were quite a few there. They were spread in a line about a hundred yards long. Outside of that area, there weren't any.
When you get the first object that you are interested in, or similar to what you are interested in, slow down, detect the area more thoroughly and see if there are more in the area. Often there will be. When you find the second and third, you might start to be able to define the area where other will be found. Thoroughly hunt that area until you clean it out.
When you are hunting where the water has moved with force, always look for target distribution patterns.
The same thing applies weather you are hunting coins, gold, iron spikes, or whatever.
I feel like I was repeating what I've already said in the past, but thought it was necessary from some of the emails that I received. That is one reason a blog is better than a book. In the blog I can respond to the readers questions and comments and I can keep things up to date.
I noticed some interesting shipwreck items listed on ebay that you might want to take a look at. There are a variety of things in this one listing. The listing includes cargo hooks, grappling hooks, bar shot, cannon ball, pot shard, and more.
Here is the link if you want to take a look.
http://cgi.ebay.com/150613985380?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com%3A80%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dp5197.m570.l1313%26_nkw%3D150613985380%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1
I recently talked about hunting in high crime areas. It isn't any fun to return to your car and find a smashed window or broken lock. You can avoid that by carefully selecting your parking space.
If you park where there is a booth where they collect a fee, park close to the booth at the entrance. The thieves will generally work the less observed areas.
It is sometimes worth walking a distance when you can park in a safer location. Instead of parking in one lot where the thieves were very active, I often parked at another lot where there was a fire station and were the firemen parked their cars. They watched that area pretty well. I then walked back to the beach by the other parking lot.
You don't want to look like a tourist. Some of the thieves look for rental cars or cars with out of area licenses.
Look around the lot before you leave the car. You can often spot suspicious characters. And if you are in a parking lot that has a dozen car alarms going off, go somewhere else.
Another alternative is to drive a junker and leave the doors unlocked. They aren't going to steal a junker, and if they do get in, no problem, at least they didn't break your locks.
My favorite trick is to leave a pet rattlesnake in the car.
Unfortunately some of the best detecting beaches in the world are also high crime areas. Be alert.
Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.
Here is a video showing the beach and surf at the Nieves Site yesterday near low tide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmm0_0AY70k
The beach would be pretty much the same today. The wind is from the east and the sea is around two feet. Tomorrow it is expected to increase by about a foot.
The low pressure zone is still lingering down below Cuba.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net