12/8/16 Report - October 1715 Salvage. Listed Jewelry Finds From Rio Mar. GPS Coordinates For Wrecks, Obstacles and Dive Sites.

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

Here is an excerpt from a document referred to online as Exhibit 99.  The excerpt is a translation of a report written by Don Miguel de Lima y Melo on the 15th of October, 1715.

All of the cargos of the other ships were all lost, less a few leather bags off my ship, but this was little because by the day following the disaster the hold of my ship was completely full of water with over a codo and a half (27 inches) over the main hatchway. This was caused because we were unable to cut the rigging on the leeward side of the ship to dislodge the foremast. By the movements of the sea, caused by the mast still being erect, the bottom part of the ship opened and if this hadn’t happened I would have been able to recover all of the cargo on my ship.

However, for the first eleven hours following the ship wrecking, the ship was strong as it had been before the disaster which is the ultimate proof of its great strength.. I have been fortunate in bringing much of what was salvaged to the Havana, but the remainder is buried underground in my Real [camp] and I am hoping it could be picked up by the next schooners that arrive there. But sir, most of the cargo is badly damaged and wet due to the water entering my ship and in carrying the things from my wreck to the shore in a small boat… Only my small boat and another of the Capitana were the only launches which were left after the disaster...

There is some interesting and useful information.  What was salvaged was buried for safe keeping until it could be dispatched.  That would undoubtedly be back in the dunes.  And I'm sure that at least some small amount would be dropped or missed.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/85684/000102826906000019/ex99-2ahc8k.htm

Here is another excerpt that you might find interesting.

The Carmen carried a number of wealthy passengers on their way back to Spain. It is likely that these passengers carried items in their luggage not declared on the manifest (contraband). This is supported by the fact that several recovered items from the site are not listed on the manifest. For example items recovered include:

1) an emerald teardrop
2) a three-carat ruby stone
3) a gold finger ring with amethyst

4) 8 gold rings
5) 5 gold earrings
6) 2 gold brooches
7) 2 gold flower ornament holders
8) a gold hat pin
9) a gold hair piece
10) 2 gold crucifixes
11) 3 pairs of gold cuff-links
12) 3 gold pendants
13) 3 gold wire pieces
14) a gold grooming spoon
15) a silver candelabra

And a partridge in a pear tree.

As you probably know, the Carmen is thought to be the wreck at Rio Mar.

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You might also find this web site useful.  It gives GPS coordinates for shipwrecks and all kinds of submerged junk along St. Lucie County.   It is useful for diving or fishin but you might find it useful for identifying things you come across.

Here is the link

http://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/ce-reefs-st-lucie-county.html

Similar web sites give data for the other counties.

Here is the link or Indian River County.

http://www.floridagofishing.com/reefs/ce-reefs-indian-river-county.html

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Thursday and Friday the surf is supposed to be only one or two feet.   The surf is supposed to be two to four feet Saturday.  That could be interesting.  We'll have to see how it develops.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/2/14 Report - Detecting With GPS and Map Overlays, Silver Find, Beach Conditions Up North and Beach Predictions for the TC.

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

James F. submitted a hunt report and a very useful description of how he used GPS.

Here is what he said.

...  Been finding quite a few items lately with my nw Minelab E-Trac (which replaces my stolen-eight-months-ago Minelab Explorer SE Pro). A few weeks back, seems the sands of Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral were opened up for a bit and we just could not stop finding clad and jewelry along the shore! I actually got TIRED digging quarters there were just loads of em' just about 4 to 8 inches deep...same up in New Smryna Beach where a buddy of mine cleared over 600 coins and 4 gold rings in about 4-hours time!!! Now it seems the ocean has taken that away again and only a few coins here and there with a few junk rings. Anyway, I'm pleased as punch to have managed to get my new Magellan 110 Explorist handheld GPS working well, and take it with me to record my metal detecting trips and finds locations. I was determined to find some free programs for downloading and saving my GPS data for later analysis on target recovery locations and trip records. My favorite thus far is the google map visualizer, whereas you can download your GPS data into it and create a save-able map or jpeg of your tracks. This can be found at:

 http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/map_input?form=google

As an example, here is a google-map overlaid with one of my recent metal detecting hunts (the blue track sharp bends are where I stopped to dig something) jpeg photograph I can use analysing what I found where and when. Right now just having fun experimenting with it, but the possibilities are probably endless.
They had some good hunting up north.  600 coins in four hours!
  Thanks for the software information James.  Good report on the beaches too.

I'm glad to hear that James' health improved, and he is out on the beaches again.


A famous FDR bible disappeared after Bill Clinton conducted a ceremony to swear in Mayor de Blasio.

Here is the link on that story.

http://spiritdaily.com/A12missingbible.htm

Silver Saw Charm

This find is a little unusual.  It is a silver saw charm.

It has a lot of detail and looks like one of those nice vintage saws from decades ago.

Wonder who was wearing that?

It is about one inch long.


It is never too late to start a family tradition.  Christmas is a wonderful time to do that.  It might seem too late this year for a Christmas tradition, but it isn't too late to think about next year.  A nice tradition can last generations.

Whether it is a Christmas train layout, making Christmas tree ornaments, decorating the house a particular way, having a particular type of meal or what, it can add memories to your holiday.

I've mentioned before that my father bought me a big Lionel set when I was very young.  I now know it must have been a huge purchase for him - a really big part of his pay check when money was very scarce.  I've always liked trains and model trains ever since then and still put one around the Christmas tree.  It reminds me of him.

And my grandmother made Christmas tree ornaments.  They were different kinds and made of different things.  I still use my grandmothers ornaments on my own tree year after year.

You have nearly a year to give it some thought to what might be a meaningful tradition for your family.  Every tradition has to start somewhere.  I'm thankful for those that I've inherited.


On the Treasure Coast the wind today was from the south.  The surf was not very high.  That won't change much soon.

The 7 - 11 foot predicted surf for the ninth has disappeared from the predictions already.  Now it is more like five feet.  Too bad.  That doesn't give much hope.

We had another good low tide day.   That will open up some more area to detect.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

8/8/11 Report - More Beach Renourishment Projects & GPS Uses

New Wilderness GPS Model.

If you have never looked at a wilderness GPS system, you might find it interesting. They can be very useful, although not every beach hunter will need one. If you are not hardcore, it might be a waste of money.

This is not the brand or model that I use, but I do use one. If you are a beach hunter, you might want to get a waterproof unit.

You can mark a spot so you can easily return to it later. You can easily find locations given in latitude and longitude. And you can even map your scan pattern so you can tell exactly what area you covered by looking at the display screen. You can also mark spots (way points) along your path.

Overall hand held GPS units can be quite handy, but some are difficult to use. Some are not exactly what I would call intuitive.

You might or might not benefit from having one, but you might want to look into it.



It looks like the 2012 beach renourishment budgets are in place. Congratulations to Indian River County who won't get any additional money for drowning our beaches in sand.

Martin County's is getting $2.96 million to dump sand from the St. Lucie County border to Indian River Plantation.

$890,000 more will be dumped south of the Fort Pierce Inlet. We saw how well the last project lasted there. They created a nice eight foot cliff. And some people complain about six inch deep holes. The world is full of craziness.

A request for a project to dump sand on 3.6 miles of shoreline, stretching from the Florida Power & Light Co. nuclear plant south to the Martin County line was not funded. I'm really glad about that. It would have been a shame to cover the reefs and rocks where all the wild life is flourishing now.

If you want to read more about where sand will and won't be dumped, here is the link.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/jun/18/despite-162-million-set-aside-by-state-to-fight/?print=1



I said a few days ago that gold was headed to $1700 per ounce. That didn't take long. It has passed that already. It is amazing how quickly gold is rising. It is seen as one of the few safe havens in this time of high uncertainty and economic turmoil.

We'll see what the downgrade in credit rating is going to do the US dollar in a short while.

I'm afraid that if you are one of the many people that have a 401K or retirement program, that it might take a hit. Again, we'll see what the day brings.

When the people voted for change, it must have been in place of dollars - as in pennies and nickels.



Here are a few shipwreck and salvage definitions.

Flotsam are goods lost from a ship which has sunk or otherwise perished which are recoverable because they have floated.

Jetsam are goods cast overboard in order to lighten a vessel which is in danger of sinking.

Derelict is property which has been abandoned at sea by those who were in charge without any hope of recovering it. It includes both vessels and cargo.

Anything sunk in the sea, but attached to a buoy or the like so that it may be recovered.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.


There are no cyclones out there now. Emily disappeared again. And not much else stirring in the tropics right now. At least we got a little rain out of it.

The wind, what there is of it, is from the west. The seas are calm and predicted to remain that way for several days.

The rating on my Treasure Coast TBDCS is a 1 (poor).

The water should be calm enough for easy water hunting for the next few days. Look for dips or moving sand bars.

Some people on the Treaure Coast have been picking up a good bit of clad lately.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net