Saturday, September 20, 2014

9/20/14 Report - How To Metal Detect In Water During Big Waves. Importance of Wave Periods. New Billy the Kid Photo. Atocha Finds.



Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.BlogSpot.com.

Photo of Billy the Kid.
Source: See link.


This photo could be a newly found photo of Billy the Kid.

Here is the link to that story.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-photo-famous-gunslinger-billy-kid-n205731





I haven't talked much about the importance of wave periods, but the time between waves can be important, especially to water hunters.

Two days ago I'd say the wave period was 12 seconds or more.  What difference does that make?   A slow, or should I say long, wave period makes water hunting easy even when the waves are relatively big. 

Much smaller waves can be a real pain to work in if the time between them is short, which was the case about a week ago.  They just keep hitting you every second or two.

Here is a technique that I use to work in big waves.  This technique requires the water to be at least waist high.

When you get a signal, dig a hole immediately over the target.  The hole does not have to be accurate.  That first hole will serve as a marker.  If it is not right over the target, you'll quickly find that out.

Put your foot at the lip of the hole.  You can find it by feel.  I'm assuming that the water is rough and you can't see the hole. 

Then run your coil over the area again to get a better fix on the target.  Note the position of the target. Note if the target is under the hole or if the target is to the front, back, right or left of the hole. 

You will want to dig between swells.  The longer the wave period is, the more time you will have to dig between waves.

Sizable swells in fairly deep water will lift you and push you towards shore.  However, as the wave passes, it will also return you to where you started.  (See illustration below.)

That is the important part.  You need to realize that the water will move you one direction and then the next.  If you locate yourself over the hole during the low water between swells, when a wave comes it will move you towards shore but then return you back to the hole again.

I talked about this a little back in 2012.

Here is the link to that post.  http://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2012/05/52112-report-shallow-water-detecting-in.html


Movement of Object in Waves.
You will move the same way as the small circle shown in this illustration if you do not keep your feet on the ground.

The trick is to go with the water instead of fighting against it.  

As each wave passes, lift your feet and go with the flow.

You won't have to watch for waves.  You will learn to know by the feel when a wave is coming.  You will feel it suck you towards the wave before it hits you.  You will also learn when to pick up your feet.

You can use this technique in fairly shallow water (around waist deep).  If the water is that shallow, lift your feet and sort of sit down so you float with the swell.  The water will then take you and return you to the hole where you will be able to dig again.   Repeat this as many times as necessary.

You can see an animation of the above illustration at the following site.

http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/ocean/motion/waves1.htm

To sum it up, after making your first hole, when a wave comes, go with it and when it returns you to your spot, find your hole with your foot and dig again.  You'll be digging on each return cycle.

The longer the wave period, the more time you'll have between waves to dig.  When the wave period is as long as it was the other day, it can be done very leisurely.

There is no need to wear dive weights.  And there is no need to waste energy fighting against the water.

Just learn to go with the flow.

If the wave periods are very short and the waves are coming so rapidly that you don't have any time to operate during what I'm calling the return cycle, you can't use this technique.

You won't be able to use this technique in much less than  chest deep water unless you learn the sit down technique.   

This technique is difficult to describe.  I hope you get the idea.



The Fisher organization says,  The Dare and her crew had a productive week by finding a silver coin and many ballast stones in the deep mud just to the northwest of the Atocha Main Pile area. Recovering silver from the deep mud is very encouraging for two reasons. The first is that it gives us an indication that there probably is more in this area. The second is that these artifacts will generally be in very good condition due to the anaerobic environment the mud provides.

A couple more emeralds were found at Emerald City too.   (Received by email.)


If you want to see the shipwreck wood I described yesterday, it was south of Dollman beach and is probably still there.


The surf on the Treasure Coast is now down to around two feet again.  It will stay that way for a while.

The wave period is now about 10 seconds.  You can find that on the surfing web site.

Secondary swells can complicate things a little.

The tides are now pretty flat.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net