Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
If you only read to see when something has been found, you will sometimes be a little late. But if you read this blog on a daily basis, you should seldom be caught off-guard. I spend a lot of time watching developments and predictions and tell you when things might happen before they actually do. Of course the predicting game isn't perfect. The meteoroligists are often wrong. Just look at how Irma developed. They didn't know where it was going to go until the last few days when the predictions finally firmed up. It isn't easy. And it is often wrong. Yet you should be prepared and ready as well as possible if you keep watching.
I am watching Maria very closely. She isn't expected to make landfall in Florida, but that is not the important thing when it comes to metal detecting. Some of the most legendary treasure detecting occurred when there was no hurricane at all. It only takes a storm that sits off the coast and churns waves for days.
I've gone over this before, but it is a good time to go over it again. You might be wondering what it is going to take. We just had a hurricane go right up through the state, and still it didn't do a whole lot for the Treasure Coast. The best illustration I know of is the Thanksgiving Storm of 1984, which is legendary in Treasure Coast treasure lore.
The following data presented in a NOAA publication with the title The Florida East Coast Thanksgiving Holiday Storm of 1984 by Raymond Biedinger, Clifford Brock, Federico Gonzales, and Burt Sylvern.
I'll present some of the NOAA report below and point out by bolding and underlining some of the statements that I think are most noteworthy. Here goes.
Another factor was that these strong onshore winds continued for many days. Winds of near gale force (about 40 miles an hour) began blowing along the north Florida coast the evening of the 20th. They did not subside until late on the 24th. Therefore, much of Florida experienced strong onshore winds for about 4 whole days. These winds were frequently between 30 and 40 miles an hour. The direction of the winds was from the north northeast which is probably the best angle of incidence for beach erosion along the coast from Fernandina Beach to Palm Beach. The coastline south of Palm Beach was spared from most of the adverse effects of the storm because the wind was actually blowing offshore throughout much of the storm. However, this northwest wind caused significant damage to the coastlines of the western Bahama Islands Friday and Saturday. This was all due to the position of the storm center remaining over Grand Bahama Island from early Thursday morning through early Saturday...
As noted earlier, the time of the month that the storm occurred was coincident with the highest astronomical tides of the month and nearly the highest spring tide of the year. Tide tables indicated that the highest predicted tides for the month of November fell on the mornings of the 22nd and the 23rd, exactly during the time of the highest storm tide. Reports from the storm survey teams of the Florida Department of Natural Resources indicate that the storm tide was over 6 feet above low mean water. Tide gauge readings at Mayport were 7.5 feet above mean low water or 5.2 feet above mean sea level. The one factor of the storm episode which magnified the entire situation was the nearly stationary nature of the storm for 3 days. This lack of movement produced the prolonged onshore winds which resulted in at least 4 days of heavy surf pounding the shore. Portions of the coastline experienced 9 high tides during this period, with each succeeding high tide higher than the previous one, thus making the erosion of sand greater with each tide. These are the reasons for the extensive damage that resulted from this particular storm....
...The meteorological conditions just described produced one of the most damaging storms to affect the eastern coastal sections of Florida during the past several decades. Much of the damage from Fernandina Beach southward to North Miami Beach, nearly 400 miles, was caused by the easterly winds of gale force with gusts as high as 60 miles an hour blowing for nearly four days. This action of the wind over the ocean produced shoreward moving swells of around 20 feet which pounded the Florida east coast and produced the most severe beach erosion in recent years in many areas. An example of the destruction was the reduction of the newly completed l100 foot pier at St. Augustine to 300 feet. Sand dunes were obliterated leaving barrier islands void of any natural protection against the next onslaught of a coastal storm in the future. To add to the destructiveness, the highest monthly astronomical tide period coincided with the highest period of storm tides which occurred on the morning of Thursday and Friday, the 22nd and 23rd. All of this produced tides 4 to 6 feet above mean yea level (MSL} at times of high tide. In some places, this was the highest tide in the last 30 years. Alt Mayport, Florida, just north of Jacksonville, the tide of 5.2 feet above MSL was the third highest tide of record. Much of state road A1A, the famous coastal highway, was closed in Indian River County between Vero Beach and Sebastian Inlet because of high water. In this area several beach front buildings collapsed, and 600 to 1,000 people were ordered to evacuate their homes. In Palm Beach County, five blocks of A1A were seriously damaged by the high tides and heavy surf. Bridges were closed because of flooded approaches which caused some barrier islands including the large Hutchinson Island to become isolated for periods of time around the time of high tide. In the storm's aftermath, severe coastal beach erosion stretched from Jacksonville to Palm Beach. ...
At the West Palm Beach weather office, a new station rainfall record was set on Thanksgiving Day for the greatest amount in a calendar day, 7.41 inches....
There were high winds that blew for three or four days and we were having high tides at the same time. That is in strong contrast to Irma.
At the West Palm Beach weather office, a new station rainfall record was set on Thanksgiving Day for the greatest amount in a calendar day, 7.41 inches....
Here is the link to the entire report. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/images/mlb/pdfs/Nov_1984_storm.pdf
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Yesterday Joe D.told me, Bonsteel to past Rio Mar, all sanded in still!!
Darrel S. said,
State Park announced 33 parks are still closed. I assume the ones inland more then the coastline, unless Keys or First Coast.
Most of the beaches near St. Augustine were telling people not to walk on the beaches until further notice. I know that area really got slammed!
I have not heard from any dectorists, so cannot give any info on finds or if they are able to detect.
I would bet inland areas where trees are uprooted would be good searching. Especially, around old towns, water holes, etc.
Bet some good bottles and arrowheads could be found.
Under more normal circumstances I would have talked more about some of the other areas around the state. One person asked about shipwrecks in the Naples area, for example. Treasure cons are found over there. That is about all I had time to tell him at the time.
There are certainly other areas that will be producing treasure - perhaps more than the Treasure Coast right now. The Treasure Coast is now pretty much sanded in.
Thanks to Joe and Darrel for submitted their observations. I hadn't been up to Bonsteel and wondered about that.
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There are now some beautiful shells on some of the beaches, including Frederick Douglas beach. Some are big and colorful. When you pick up one of those shells, please check to see if it is inhabited by a crab or some other creature. Many of the nicest will be inhabited. The inhabitant might be very difficult to see. When you pick up an inhabited shell, the creature will withdraw into the shell as deeply as they can. It might be very difficult to see. If you mistakenly take a pretty shell home believing it to be abandoned when it is not, you'll notice a strong smell when the creature dies.
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| Hermit Crab In Seashell. Source: Wikipedia |
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Below is what I'm watching now. MagicSeaWeed is predicting up to a 13 foot surf for Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be smaller, but that isn't the only factor. We'll have to watch the wind direction and tides too.
Some detecting opportunities are short-lived - lasting only a matter of hours, while others last days or more.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
Below is what I'm watching now. MagicSeaWeed is predicting up to a 13 foot surf for Sunday. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be smaller, but that isn't the only factor. We'll have to watch the wind direction and tides too.
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| Source: MagicSeaWeed.com |
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
