Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
Here are the poll results for those responding to
If you detected T. C. beaches during the last 2 weeks of November, what did you find?
3 (8%)
|
5 (13%)
|
4 (10%)
|
25 (67%)
|
The most recent poll has concluded and the results are in.
November was a good month for detecting shipwreck items on the Treasure Coast. I don't believe we've had better opportunities in quite a while - maybe a couple of years. The opportunities, though, depended upon where you hunted. Most beaches produced nothing in the way of shipwreck treasure, while a few were very productive.
According to the poll results, more people reported finding artifacts than cobs or treasure coins. About 23 percent of those who hunted a Treasure Coast beach during the last two weeks of November found at least one artifact of some sort. That was determined by adding the number of respondents selecting response number two to the number of respondents selecting response number three.
Some of the artifacts were very nice. I showed an old button that was found during that time period, as on example. I also know of musket balls, spikes and shards that were found. Those are some of the types of artifacts that were found.
I know of a a good number of musket balls that were found by one detectorist already in December too.
Fewer people found a cob or treasure coin than an artifact. About 18 percent (number of respondents selecting response number one and number three) of the responding sample reported finding at least one cob or treasure coin. That isn't bad. In fact it is very good for what I called level "2" beach detecting conditions. To put it another way, close to one out of every five of those responding to the poll as having detected the Treasure Coast during the last two weeks of November actually were successful in finding a cob or treasure coin.
The poll doesn't tell how many coins were found, just the number of people who found cobs or treasure coins.
As I've consistently found from previous blog polls, if you find one cob or treasure coin, there is a very good chance that you will find more than one. I'll have to look that up to get the numbers, but I know that is true from past polls. About ten percent of this sample, reported finding both an artifact and cob or treasure coin.
To look at it another way, almost two thirds of those who reported detecting on the Treasure Coast during the last two weeks of November did not find either a cob, treasure coin or artifact. That isn't bad at all, especially considering the fact that only a few beaches were actually producing, and if you were not one of the better beaches, your chances were slim.
No matter how good you are at detecting, you still have to be at the right place at the right time and put your coil directly over that one or two square inches that holds a good item.
One thing I have to report about these poll results is that the number of respondents was unusually small. Some of my previous polls had nearly twice the number of respondents. I'm not sure exactly why that is or what it means. It could be that fewer people actually detected the Treasure Coast beaches during the last two weeks of November than detected during the periods covered by previous polls. The last two weeks of November was the Thanksgiving holiday when people are doing other things, but I would think more people would also have some time off to detect then too, so I'm not sure why the sample size was so small this time. It did seem to me that I was seeing the same guys on the beaches. It seemed that a lot of the hard core guys were out. The blog had plenty of readers while the poll was running, so I can't attribute it to that.
Overall, I have to conclude that despite the relatively low beach detecting conditions rating (level 2) and the small number of detectorists responding to the poll, a very good amount of treasure was found.
A lot of the hard core guys read the blog daily, and they are sure to get out and find the right beaches when conditions do improve. If a higher percentage of those who detected during the last two weeks of November were the hard core detectorists, that could also explain the good amount of success reported by the relatively small sample.
I am convinced by the poll results that my upgrade in the beach conditions rating for that time period was very accurate, and if anything, a little conservative.
The poll numbers helps me evaluate and improve my conditions ratings. It also helps me continue to learn what is going on around the Treasure Coast. In the future I'll compare the last two weeks of November with some previous periods for which I have poll data.
The poll numbers helps me evaluate and improve my conditions ratings. It also helps me continue to learn what is going on around the Treasure Coast. In the future I'll compare the last two weeks of November with some previous periods for which I have poll data.
Thanks much for your participation.
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For the third day in a row I had obligations that prevented me from being able to detect where and when I wanted. I did very little detecting today, but took a look at a very out-of-the-way beach that looked promising. Unfortunately I could only go at high tide when I needed to be there close to low tide.
The surf looked higher than what I expected from the predictions. Still pretty rough. There was however some new erosion at one location.
There were Ramen Noodles all over the beach for several miles. Evidently a cargo ship dropped some of its shipment.
I was thinking how convenient that would be if you were stranded, doing a Survival TV show, or shipwrecked on a deserted island. Most of the packages were still sealed.
The other thing I was thinking was how far the noodles floated. I saw the packages at two beaches which are at least six miles apart. Items that float could be found many miles from a shipwreck. In the old days that might include wood or closed containers and probably some other things. And this was nothing compared to a hurricane.
I'm sticking with my "2" beach conditions rating for another day.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
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For the third day in a row I had obligations that prevented me from being able to detect where and when I wanted. I did very little detecting today, but took a look at a very out-of-the-way beach that looked promising. Unfortunately I could only go at high tide when I needed to be there close to low tide.
The surf looked higher than what I expected from the predictions. Still pretty rough. There was however some new erosion at one location.
There were Ramen Noodles all over the beach for several miles. Evidently a cargo ship dropped some of its shipment.
I was thinking how convenient that would be if you were stranded, doing a Survival TV show, or shipwrecked on a deserted island. Most of the packages were still sealed.
The other thing I was thinking was how far the noodles floated. I saw the packages at two beaches which are at least six miles apart. Items that float could be found many miles from a shipwreck. In the old days that might include wood or closed containers and probably some other things. And this was nothing compared to a hurricane.
I'm sticking with my "2" beach conditions rating for another day.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
