Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.BlogSpot.com.
A mile or two away, I saw a beach that was different (Second photo.). The waves were about the same size, naturally, but they were breaking about 40 yards farther out.
On that beach the sand bar was farther out and there was a dip between the sand bar and the foot of the beach.
On the front of the second beach, the sand was even more course and the slope was covered by very course sand with shells and even small rocks next too the water. I wish I got a picture of how that course sand transitioned. There was a sharp division between the course material on the slope and more fine sand in the dip.
Notice the shells in this second picture, and also notice just above the center of the picture and a little to the left, how the water is piled up near the foot of the beach. Just below that you can see the flat water covering a dip.
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The other day when I talked about discrimination, I ended by mentioning that when I talked about what I called "working the washing machine" I dug only one trash item while digging a good number of good targets.
Some beaches are so busy that you can always find some recent drops, no matter how poor the conditions in that area might be. You can have a spot that is very mushy where anything good will sink quickly, but if the item was just dropped, you can still find it before it disappears. I don't generally spend my time in areas like that, though in some situations, if there might be high value targets and I don't have a lot of good alternatives or the time to travel, I might do that.
Normally I am always assessing the situation and trying to find areas where the good to bad target ratio is good, and I don't stick around in areas where I determine from any evidence that I can gather, that the area is not where I want to spend my time.
How do you know which is which? First you can tell a lot by how it looks.. That is the first level of analysis. Learn to read the beach, and also the water.
You can also tell a lot by checking. Do a little sampling. What are you digging? Aluminum junk or dense objects? That will tell you a lot. Where are the dense items? Maybe lead or coins? You won't get all the information if you are discriminating.
Not only is the type of item important, but also how deep it was found. What can you tell about layers?
This type of hunting works well in wet sand and shallow water, but is also applicable to other types of areas as well. What I focus on is finding a well defined area where I can really focus my efforts. That would be an area where I can quit prospecting and begin mining, as I sometimes put it. That would be an area where there are few trash items relative to the number of good targets.
There is more than one way that the distribution of items (good and bad) can be changed. In wet sand and shallow water, the water action and movement of sand and other materials has a lot to do with it.
In the dry sand or even on dry ground there are still many relevant factors that can affect how good an area might be. Inland, for example, besides the fact that there are still layers and the layers are occasionally changed by water, for example by rain or creeks, or falling leaves, or human events and activities, those areas can also be changed by other detectorists and how they hunt.
What I'm trying to say is that my focus is on learning how items are distributed, and finding those areas with concentrations of high value targets, and that junk as well as good targets provide good information about the area and which direction to go next.
Things are not distributed randomly, and I want to locate and spend my time working the most productive spots.
Not only does the type of item provide information, but how old it is and how deep it was, also provides good information. For example, how deep a pull tab was found is important, as is the age of the pull tab.
I'm always considering the type of item, depth, density, age and its history, and any other factors that might shed some light on if I should stay where I am or which direction I should move next.
I'm generally not going to spend my time in an area where the junk to good target ratio is poor. There are a few exceptions. For example, if I have reason to believe that a dip filled with course sand and aluminum also might contain a Rolex or other high value target, I might hunt that area. The point is that there is an analysis of all evidence and an intentional calculated decision about where to go next. It is not just a process of wondering around and hoping to hit something good.
As I said, when working the washing machine the other day, I was finding almost all coins or better items, and only one junk item. Under the circumstances I was going to stay in that general area. I was going to try to find any center point and return towards it if I started wander away from it. If I started to wander one way or another and started to get into an area where I was only finding aluminum, I would try to find the center of the good area again. It is better to spend a lot of time in a small area once a good area has been identified. If the good area was cleaned out, I would move on and try to find another good area.
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What is the most expensive gem stone? Here is a link that will show you several of the most expensive. I bet you haven't heard of some of them.
http://www.gemstonesadvisor.com/most-expensive-gemstones-in-the-world/
Red diamond will bring a million dollars per carat.
Mistaking your gemstones can cost you a lot of money. Don't assume or guess.
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Tomorrow the surf on the Treasure Coast will be down to one or two feet again.
There is an interesting disturbance down by Central America that might come our way.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net