10/3/19 Report - Sword Fragments Found. Lead Sheathing on Shipwrecks. A Lead Find. Beaches.

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

Archaeologists have discovered fragments of about a hundred Viking swords, the largest find of Viking swords in Estonia to date, in northern Estonia.

Here is the link for more about that.

https://news.err.ee/986495/fragments-of-100-viking-swords-unearthed-in-north-estonia

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Lead Showing Cloth Pattern Found Very Recently.

Find and photo by JD.

JD didn't know what it might be but thought of lead seals.  I sent him the following link about lead sheathing on the Santa Margarita, of which there were thousands of small pieces recovered.

https://www.academia.edu/4351205/Lead_Hull-Sheathing_of_the_1622_Galleon_Santa_Margarita?auto=download

I think you'll enjoy the Santa Margarita article along with some of the other related articles that are linked at the site.

Here is a brief excerpt starting with a list of some shipwrecks having similar lead sheathing.

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I looked at the beach yesterday afternoon before low tide.  Despite the high surf Tuesday, which was evident by the high tide line, the beach barely changed.

Here is John Brooks as it looked then.

John Brooks Beach Yesterday Afternoon.

John Brooks South Yesterday Afternoon.

I also looked a mile or two north of that.

North of John Brooks Yesterday Afternoon.

I don't know if the water was high enough to get into the dunes up in the Vero/Sebastian area or what happened up there.

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It looks like there won't be much change to the beaches for the next several days.  If nothing happened Tuesday, I'm not expecting anything much new for a while.

Have you noticed that as you get more TV channels how they have to come up with more crap to fill the air time.  The population of ghosts, spirits, Big Foots, UFOs  seems to be growing exponentially, and that isn't to mention the worst of the lot.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/18/19 Report - Hurricanes Humberto and Jerry. Erosion in Jupiter Area. Silver Find From Vero Area. And More.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Look at that!  Humberto hasn't completely left yet, and it looks like there will be a Hurricane Jerry headed in this general direction.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

That could send us even more surf.

I haven't been out and around much yet, but hope to get out this afternoon and should be able to give you a beach conditions rating later today.

With Jerry following Humberto, we might get continued higher surf.

Eroded Beach in Jupiter Area

Photo by Jerry P.

Jerry said he used Ventusky.com, which you'll find on my first blog page, to find an area where conditions might be good, and he found this nicely eroded area.\

Thanks for sharing Jerry.  Very good use of Ventusky to find a good detecting site!

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Here is one nice find from the Vero area.

John E. said, I’m stumped on this one.... exact size of a dime , registers a 21 on equinox 800..... found in about 14 in deep wet sand on treasure beach in vero, can anyone identify?

John E

Find and photo by John E.

He said the words above the star are FRIAY LIBER.

Other Side of Same Coin

Photo by John E.

I'm pretty sure it is a centavo from Cuba and can almost make out a date below the star.  I'd also guess it is silver.  Looks like it to me.   A little research should provide the denomination.

Thanks John.  Nice find!

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Here is an interesting email message I received from Southern Digger concerning a link I posted yesterday.


Hello TG 

Been awhile corresponding but still following up. Archeological site locations on Hutchinson Island and elsewhere along the beaches is no big secret. I recall an old beach mound near the now closed Indian River inlet. I believe some of it has since been washed away. Years ago, a friend and I hiked to a hammock Island near Round Island Park, long before this hammock was developed. We used machetes to cut in to the center, finding old metal rods with eyelet ends which appeared to be from old sailing ship mast supports. Why they ended up way back of the beach we never could determine, unless a camp was made thereon by some 1800's shipwreck survivors.  Also, prehistoric evidence was everywhere. Thought it was interesting and a possible site to return to, we never did, that is until major changes took place thereon. Since then, the under-story was cleared and Univ. of Maryland (I believe) did an archeo survey on the hammock. I was invited to return after that, and did so--still seeing prehistoric evidence in abundance scattered everywhere. This was my last visit when construction began thereon for some type of structure. Another archeo site way to the south exists behind the beach at the water plant. I was asked to direct the Archeo. survey via an Env. firm I worked for at the time--but turned it down and recommend someone else because the end of the survey results and how the report should read were told to me before the project even started. In effect, regardless or not if there are burials. the site would be dozed and built upon. I turned it down even though I would be hired to direct the project because, at the time, I was being trusted on several other volunteer archeo. projects to the south which did not involve the Env. firm; and, I did not want a reputation of being a sellout for the $$$$ and destroy possible burials. That is a strict policy I adhere to to this day because I have seen way to much archaeological and historical sites destroyed and developed in which I had no control over or the power to prevent it from occurring. That is the nature of land development and the destruction of Old Florida. 

Thanks Ken.

--

I hope to get out this afternoon. I expect to be able to post a beach conditions rating after that - maybe later today.

At this point I am expecting a few reales to be found this week.

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PM Update.

I looked at a few beaches in the Vero/Sebastian area and saw nothing encouraging at all.   I'm expecting fewer finds now than what I just said above.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/2/18 Report - Rough Surf Continues But Bigger Surf Expected Soon for Treasure Coast. Artifacts Found on HMS Erebus.

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

John Brooks Beach Tuesday Morning.

The Treasure Coast beaches haven't changed much in the last couple of days, but they are slightly more deeply scalloped.  I've found a few cobs on scalloped beaches that did not look much different than these, so it is possible.  Those were found between peaks, but not always in the deepest part of the dips.  There was not so much seaweed then though.

John Brooks Beach Tuesday Morning.

I didn't have the time to detect these beaches today.

Rough Surf This Morning.

The surf was rough this morning, but not as rough as is expect the next couple of days.  Leslie continues to send swells our way.  Too bad she isn't closer so we'd get some north swells.

Frederick Douglass Beach Tuesday Morning.

Frederick Douglas beach looked very much like John Brooks.

Sand Piled In Front of Seaweed Line.

As you can see, there was about a foot of new sand piled right in front of the seaweed line at Frederick Douglass Beach.

Blind Creek Beach.

Blind Creek Beach is getting more narrow.  There is a flat bottom near the water line and then a dip in the water.

The water did not get as high last night, but a bigger surf is coming.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

It would be nice if the high surf would come along during a good high tide and we'd get some north swells.

Anyhow, this is interesting enough to watch.  Might be a good idea to check some good spots.  I'm sure there are some places out there around rocks or whatever that will cut.

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Underwater archaeologists have finished their latest research trip to the wreck of the HMS Erebus, a ship abandoned in the Canadian Arctic 170 years ago during the ill-fated Franklin expedition.

Harsh weather conditions hampered this month's mission. Divers could not enter Sir John Franklin's cabin, where they had hoped to find documents or the ship's logs preserved in icy water that might explain the tragic fate of the ship.

The archaeologists did, however, bring nine more artifacts to the surface for conservation, including a ceramic pitcher and an artificial horizon used for navigation from an officer's cabin on the lower deck...

Here is the link for the rest of the article and the photos.

https://www.livescience.com/63704-franklin-expedition-artifacts-recovered.html

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I was surprised to see that the post about fossil shells with calcite crystals has nearly 2000 views now.  I didn't realize it did so well.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/1/18 Report - Treasure Beach Reports. Another Kind of Treasure. High Surf Coming.

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

Ambersands Beach Yesterday Afternoon.

Alberto S. sent some beach photos that he took yesterday afternoon.  You'll notice that the beaches look very much like the pictures I posted from South Hutchinson Island yesterday morning.

The beaches seem to look very similar from South Hutchinson Island up to Sebastian.  There are a few small scallops but no cuts to speak of.   There is also a lot of sea weed at the top of the sloping sand beaches.

Wabasso Beach Yesterday Afternoon.

Turtle Trail Yesterday Afternoon.

Alberto said Seagrape looked the same as the other beaches.

Thanks for the photos Alberto!

The waves have been hitting from the east for quite a while without any nice angles.

I was ready to go out this morning but had a low tire to tend to.

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Every once in a while one of my old posts is discovered and read by tons of people.  The one that was being heavily accessed the past couple days is the one about Treasure Coast sea shells with calcite crystals.

https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2015/05/52815-report-unique-beach-treasures.html

I assume a link to that post was posted somewhere else.  Even more rare and interesting in my experience is the fossilized bone containing calcite crystals.

Fossilized Bone Containing Calcite Crystals.

That goes right along with what I've been saying about being a complete beach hunter - not just a detectorists.

There all kinds of treasures to be found on the beaches.  They can be millions of years old and very rare and interesting.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

As you can see, we're going to have more high surf.  Hopefully we'll get some good angles or the water will hit the dunes somewhere.

Tropical Storm or Hurricane Leslie is still hanging around out there.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/5/17 Report - What Was Found During September 2017. Beach Conditions. Another Hurricane.

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

Little Erosion to Back Dunes As Seen Yesterday Afternoon.

 The water has been getting pretty high on the beaches.  Note the new erosion to the base of the dunes.  Also notice that this is renourishment sand with planted sea oats.  There were a few spots where the newly exposed sand was not the newest, but also not real old.  That older sand was also dumped there, but contained some old objects, unlike the most recent layer of renourishment sand.

John Brooks Beach Yesterday Afternoon

Waves Hitting Beach Yesterday Afternoon.

Notice the flat area in front of the beach.  The sand bar seems to go out maybe twenty yards.  That is protecting the beach to some extent and also covering anything is the shallow water.

The slope was mushy, especially in the middle.

The water was hitting the beach straight on instead of a slicing angle.  That is one thing we've been missing since Irma hit us.

I used to always say it take more than a big surf.  I don't think I really have to say that anymore.  I think it has become common knowledge.

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Thursday Surf, Swells and Wind for the Fort Pierce Area.
Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Notice that the surf starts to decrease a little today.  It will continue decreasing for a couple of days.

Another Hurricane.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Can you believe it?  Another hurricane.  It looks like it is headed towards the Mobile/Tallahassee area.  Being to the right side of the storm, the wind direction probably won't be much good for beach erosion on the Treasure Coast.

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Well, the most recent blog poll has just concluded.

Poll Results.
Source: TreasureBeachesReport.blogspot.com

This has been an unusual period of time with three hurricanes affecting us to some extent or another during the month of September.  All three send us a good high surf, yet none of them really ripped the beaches.  There was some moving of sand, but it was not the kind of movement that leaves big cuts and the back dunes weren't hit hard despite all the high surf.  I believe that was due two to factors: first the large amount of renourishment sand in front of and on the beaches, and secondly, the poor angle of the swells.  Most of the waves were hitting from the east.  We didn't get those nice slicing northeast winds and waves.

Anyhow, there were some things found.  Some of the beaches reminded me a bit of Sandy, which produced some beach cobs - more than these hurricanes produced.

The total number of votes was 71 and the total number of respondents was 63.  (People were allowed to select more than one response.)  That is a good sample size.  Thanks to all who responded and helped us all learn a little something.

Only three of the 63 respondents reported finding treasure coins.  That was a lot of storm and surf compared to the number of finds.

I should have specified "beach" finds, but I suppose most finds reported were from the beach.  There were a couple other refinements I should have made to the poll, but didn't think to do it at the beginning.

So what we see is that a few treasure coins were found.  Not many though.  It wasn't anything deserving more than a 2 rating on my 5-point Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Scale.  I didn't issue many numerical ratings due to the fact that I wasn't able to get out to observe the beaches enough to issue precise numerical ratings.  Hopefully moving forward, I'll be able to get back to doing that more.

I didn't get any pictures of the precious metal find - coin or artifacts.  Somebody said they were hoping to see pictures of those.  I know that one person who reported finding a precious metal treasure coin also reported finding a precious metal artifact.

I did get a lot of pictures, which I posted, of many of the other metallic finds, including the many musket ball and lead finds.  I'm sure you saw those.  I commented on those in previous posts.

I also posted pictures of some wood finds.  I suppose there were also some shards found, but I didn't get any pictures of those to post.

There were ten reported finds of silver U. S. coins.  As you might suspect, and as is supported by the poll results, they will often surface first.

Almost half of the reported responses (not finds) were some kind of shipwreck related find.  So even though conditions evidently weren't great for finding cobs, they weren't bad for coming up with some kind of shipwreck related find.

21 of the 63 respondents found some sort of shipwreck related find.  That isn't bad.

As usual, if you found one shipwreck related item, the chances are that you found more than one.  Previous polls have verified that.  If you find one cob, you have a very good chance of finding more than one  I know that at least one respondent reported finding both a precious metal coin and a precious metal artifact.

I previously posted pictures of many of the lead finds and some of the wood finds, I'd be pleased to post pictures of some of the other finds if you would send them.

Overall, I'm sure everybody was disappointed with the relatively small amount of treasure relative to the number and size of the storms.  Perhaps there were more finds in other parts of the state that experienced more beach erosion.

It sure was better than the hunting we had on the beaches all summer.  The storms did us some good.  And it isn't over yet.

I'm encouraged by the result.  I think the results generally supported my observations, even though there were many times when it seemed things might turn out better than they did.  We got the surf, but not the angles.  And there was all of that renourishment sand still out there protecting the dunes and front beach.  Still a good number of interesting things were found.

I'm sure a few more will be found this month.

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More polls to come.

Also I'll be talking about detecting in renourishment sand.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/3/17 Report - Vegas Shooter and Treasure Coast. More Irma Finds. High Surf This Week. PM Update.

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

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PM UPDATE.

Frederick Douglass Near Low Tide Tuesday Afternoon.

I got out to take a look at John Brooks and Frederick Douglass beaches.  It looked very much like expected.  The surf was high, and the surf had been high up on the beach and over the berm.  Still, because of the direction of the waves, the slope was mushy and there were no cuts.

In the photo above you can see a dip:  the darker brown area.

The waves were crashing out in front of the beach where sand has accumulated.

I'd be interested to see how far back the water will get when the tide gets high again.

I'd rate this as a 2 (transitional) on m 1 - 5 point beach detecting conditions rating scale.  The water is getting high and I would be very surprised if there are no more artifacts found this week.  In my opinion, the productive spots are likely to be small and few though.  So far it is very much like what we've seen in the past few weeks.  I am just going on the basis of the internet predictions and the few beaches I have been able to visit so far, and am hoping to get reports from others.

===

Lead Irma Finds.
Finds and photo by Steve L.

These are new Irma finds from Steve L.  I previously posted musket ball and lead finds that different people found after Irma.  There were a lot of those found.  I called it a munitions cache.  Go back a week or two and you'll see those.

I also showed some wood and spike finds from Irma.

Congratulations to Steve L on the finds.  And thanks for sharing Steve!

I really need some help with beach reports this week.  Why is it every time I have an appointment or am out of town or something that keeps me from getting out to the beaches, it is always when I most want to get out?

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Surf As Predicted on MagicSeaWeed.com.

That is a good week of high surf.  Some things will be found.

I woke up this morning to rain and some good wind.  The wind is supposed to be up to 30 mph today on the Treasure Coast.  The swells are pretty much from the east though.  That won't help.  Theyll switch around from time to time and I feel certain some old things will pop up.  Maybe more musket balls and spikes and wood, and maybe some coins.

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The Treasure Coast has another mass-shooting connection.  The Pulse nightclub shooter had connections to Fort Pierce.  The Las Vegas shooter lived in Melborne Florida and once worked at Martin Marietta.
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Just a one day remaining to enter your responses to  the blog poll.  Thanks!

That is all for now.

I might be back later with more.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/1/17 Report - Pelican of Piety. Two Finds. Effect of Changing Shoreline and Shifting Sand. High Surf This Week.

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

Source: usedchurchitems.com

Some of the greatest and most meaningful 1715 Fleet finds have been religious items. I found the web site of a company that they are "devoted to preserving Catholic 'Traditional Latin Mass' church items, and invite you to experience the passion and quality of liturgical antiquities from our past."
Here is that link.

http://www.usedchurchitems.com/

One of the items I saw pictured on their web site was the lectern shown at the top of this post.  Look familiar?  It looks very much like the gold pelican of piety found by Bonnie Schubert on the Nieves site.

If you aren't familiar with the pelican of piety you should take a look at my  11/4/12 post in which researcher and author Laura Strolia described the significance of the item.

http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Wabasso/forecasts/latest/six_day

See also the following article describing the original find.

http://archive.tcpalm.com/news/vero-beach-mother-daughter-team-find-solid-gold-bird-statue-from-1715-treasure-fleet-off-fort-pierc--345668992.html

And here is a link that will give you more about the meaning of the pelican in heraldry.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/lcr/fsca/fsca41.htm

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Civil War Bullet and 18K Ring
Find and photo by Duane C.

Duane C. sent the above picture of two finds that he found on the same recent hunt.  That is quite an unusual combination of finds.

Congratulations Duane!

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Brian B. send this link to a good site that gives good surfing and weather information.  Take a look.

http://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Wabasso/forecasts/latest/six_day

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I've been talking a lot about the changing shoreline in recent posts.  The movement of sand and other items is something that I've talked about a lot in the past.  It is one of  the most important things for a beach hunter to understand.

As the shoreline changes items will be brought into metal detector range or covered and put out of detector range.  There are some places where you have a more-or-less progressive loss of sand or a progressive accumulation of sand.  Where there is a long-term progressive erosion, you'll have a good shot at finding older items.  These days they do so much beach renourishment that it is not easy to find areas that are continually eroding and uncovering newer materials.

When you get erosion of the back dunes, old items can easily wash out and down onto the beach.  That mostly happens on the narrow beaches with cliffs on the face of the back dunes.

Sometimes coins and things wash up and onto the beach.  I've described how that happens in the past.  However before items can wash up onto the beach, they have to be uncovered.  That might sound obvious enough, but it is important.  As long as items are covered by sand, they aren't going to wash up.  Therefore, when the shoreline is moving east (on the East Coast), more items are being more deeply covered.  That covering of sand will have to be moved before those items can wash up.

One of the things I see on many of the Treasure Coast beaches now is a lot of sand in front of the beach in the shallow water.  Not only does that sand cut the force of the waves before they hit the beach, but it also covers and protects buried items.  If sand is eroded from a beach, it can end up directly in front of the beach and more deeply cover old items there.  You can therefore see a beach that is eroded but find no old coins on the beach because they are deeply buried in the shallow water and also not being washed out of the dunes.  Those are the two main sources of old coins on a beach: those washed up from in front of the beach, and those washed out from the dunes.  A third source includes old coins that were originally deposited when the beach was eroded or previously washed up onto the beach and then subsequently got uncovered before either being dragged out into the water again or getting covered again.

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Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

This should be an interesting week.  If the predictions are correct, the surf starts to build Sunday then stays high for a few days.  Even if we don't get favorable winds or swells, the surf might be high enough to do some good.

Please add your response to the blog poll.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/12/16 Report - More High Water and High Surf Coming This Week.

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

John Brooks Beach Yesterday Morning

Yesterday we had a nice stiff wind from the east/northeast on the Treasure Coast.  The water got pretty high on the beach, as you can see in the photo above.

Yesterday Morning Near Low Tide

If you look closely at the picture above you can see where the roots of the clumps of grass were exposed.  That was about the only place you could see cuts on beaches like this.

Yesterday Morning Near Low Tide

You can see a similar thing in this photo.  

There was a good bit of erosion at the big bend.  It is not cut though.  Despite this erosion, the beach is not eroded back nearly as far as it was some years ago.  The erosion then was back to the pine trees, which were back about where the condos are now.

Matthew affected the beach nothing like Jeanne and Francis.  It was a bit more like Sandy, which caused high water but little in the way of cuts.

The next few days we're going to have more high surf.

Source: MagicSeaweed,

As you can see from the above chart, we're going to have several days of high surf.  That will be something to watch.  At any time it might create a productive spot or two.

We can have a northeast waves that hit our beaches directly at a 90 degree angle because the Treasure Coast runs at an angle, not directly north to south in a straight line.  You'll often notice erosion around bends in the beach where the angle changes.  

Keep watching.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/1/16 Report (Part I) - Hurricane Matthew Hit Category 5 Strength. High Surf Predicted for Treasure Coast.

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

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

This is one strong hurricane.  It was for a while a category 5 but fell back to a level 4 last night.

Below is an excerpt form Wikepedia explaining what a category five hurricane is.

The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS), formerly the Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale (SSHS), classifies hurricanes – Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms  – into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds. To be classified as a hurricane, a tropical cyclone must have maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph (33 m/s; 64 kn; 119 km/h) (Category 1). The highest classification in the scale, Category 5 is reserved for storms with winds exceeding 156 mph (70 m/s; 136 kn; 251 km/h).

The list of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes encompasses 31 tropical cyclones that reached Category 5 strength on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale within the Atlantic Ocean (north of the equator), Carribean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Hurricanes of such intensity are somewhat infrequent in the Atlantic basin, occurring only once every three years on average.

Of course the track isn't certain.  It could vary from what is now predicted.  I'm hoping it stays well out in the Atlantic.  I don't want to have to deal with that thing hitting us.  If it does stay on track, we still could get some real big surf.  Below is the surf predication from Magic Seaweed.

Very High Surf Predicted For Treasure Coast Thursday.

That is way bigger than anything we've had for quite a while.  Of course those predictions could change too.

We'll just have to keep watching and hoping we don't have to shutter everything up and tie everything down.

I think I'll have a two part post today.  I have some other things to post but don't want to mix it in with all of this hurricane news.  I might have more for you later today.

For now,

Happy hunting.

TreasureGuide@comcast.net