Written by the Treasureguide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Erosion on Treasure Coast Submitted by Micahel E. |
This one was at Jensen Beach a couple a few days ago. And this one, like the other eroded spots that I've seen recently, are in renourishment sand. That is an important fact that makes a big difference.
It doesn't take much to erode renourishment sand. Often it isn't even the right texture to hold. But most importantly, it is out of place and will be taken quickly.
Not too long ago I showed you how to convert to a wood handled scoop. And then a short time after that I told you about foot fanning. Today I'll talk a little more about another way of using a scoop.
One alternative, and one that I very frequently use both on land and in the water, is to hoe. When I first mentioned that to an old timer many years ago, he said he didn't use it because it created currents. Actually the currents created by using a scoop like a hoe can be an advantage.
This technique will not work with all scoops. It works best with scoops that point out at roughly ninety degrees from the handle.
Below is a simple illustration. Simply turn the scoop down, as shown in the illustration below. Use your foot to push the scoop down and into the sand and then bring the scoop back towards you and up. This can be done with one hand on the handle of the scoop.
If you need to move a lot of material quickly, for example when waves are coming up over the hole, or when there are significant currents, let go of the deterctor, use two hands on the handle and hoe very vigorously, almost like fanning. When using two hands to hoe, you have to put your detector down or tether it. Not only will the scoop move a lot of sand, but if you are in water, the currents you create will also move sand.
You can easily detect the moved material to see if the target is in the moved sand since it is moved towards you.
As you probably know long and heavy gold chains tend to slide off of the front of the scoop in water. Using this technique makes it easier to retrieve chains.
Hoeing works very well when you detect a target in the loose sand or on the face of a small cliff of shell sand at the edge of the water.
If you use this or any technique such as foot fanning that moves a lot of sand, be sure to detect the lowest area where the sand was moved from as well as the slopes.
If you are hitting rocks or large shells that make penetration difficult, move the top of the handle in a circular motion, and try to feel where the large objects are, and try to get the lip of the scoop under one edge of the rock or shell or whatever. Then apply a lot of force to move the stubborn object. You need a strong handle for this. Once you manage to dislodge the large object, that will unpack the material to some extent, making it much easier to remove the remaining material.
Below is an illustration showing three targets buried in sand. After moving sand to recover target A, the hole is detected again revealing target B near the slope of the hole. It is now more easily detected because sand was moved to recover target A. Target B is pinpointed and removed, and the depression detected again, now revealing target C, which was lower than both A and B.
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| Gold Bracelet Find. |
One of the readers of this blog, Jim M., has the following Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II for sale.
On the Treasure Coast we're getting mostly east and southeast winds. The surf is a little rougher than it has been lately, around 2 - 3 feet. That might help the beach fronts a little.
Nothing special with the tides right now, and no storms brewing in the Atlantic.
Happy hunting,
TreaureGuide@comcast.net
