Friday, August 12, 2016

8/12/16 Report - South Hutchinson Island Beaches and Salvage Vessel Begins Day. Awl or Fid Artifact. More Storms Predicted.


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

Walton Rocks This Morning.
I looked at some beaches along South Hutchinson Island this morning.  Beach conditions remain poor.  There was a lot of mushy sand.  You'll see that in some of the pictures.

I also stopped at Blind Creek, but didn't take pictures.  There were a lot of nudists there already. They used to stay well south of the access, but now are up by the Blind Creek access.  It gives a new meaning to the name Blind Creek.

Beach South of Frederick Douglas Beach.
John Brooks Beach Looking North.
Treasure Slavage Vessel
Arriving At North End of Nieves Site.
Same Boat Getting Ready To Begin Day.
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Treasure Coast Shipwreck Beach Find.
What do you think this object is?  I wondered about it, but now feel more confident about the answer.  I feel about 80% confident now.

The reason I'm now fairly confident is that I saw a picture of another one having exactly the same shape, and it was described by an archaeologist as an awl.  Unfortunately I can't find that picture again right now.  That one was about an inch and a half longer than the one shown above, but they come in different sizes, and this one probably lost some material to corrosion.

I don't know how they determined that it was an awl, but I assume they had good reason. It looks like it could be a fid.  Maybe it had a dual function.  That could certainly be the case.  Awls and fibs would be used by the same type of person, and you would expect both to be present on a sailing ship.

A fid is conical pin or spike used in splicing rope.  Below are some fids.  They also come if various sizes.


The one awl shown below has a wood handle.  The one shown at the top of the post, if that is what it is, does not, and I do not believe it ever had a handle.  I don't think it would be pointed at the big end if it had a handle.

What I am very confident of now, is that it is either an awl, as the archaeologist said, or perhaps a fid.

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They revised projections for this hurricane season.  They think there will be more storms than originally predicted.


So far there have been five named storms and two hurricanes. The most active months of the season are just beginning.



Here is a link to that story.


http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/weather/weather-blog/bs-md-weatherpage-0812-20160811-story.html

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net