Low Tide Yesterday Afternoon.Yesterday the afternoon tide was much lower than normal, as predicted. The Super Moon was still exerting its affect. This morning, none of those coral structures that you see in the photo were visible at all.
There were a lot of people on the beach yesterday. For the Treasure Coast the crowds would be considered large, but compared to beaches in some other areas of the state, it really wasn't many people at all.
But not only were there a lot of beach-goers, there were also a lot of people detecting. It seemed that for every ten sun bathers there was at least one detectorist. It was a nice weekend so you couldn't blame anyone that wanted to be out.
I stopped to see what was going on at one location and saw four detectorists in the water. Trouble is, it was in a leased area.
What's Wrong With This Picture?
I know I was talking about water hunting yesterday, but if you detect in the water in areas that are leased by a salvage company you could get yourself into some trouble.
When I talk about water hunting I often, but not always, remind that you are not allowed to detect in the water in the leased areas. I know it is not always easy to know if a particular area is leased, but I've posted coordinates of wrecks and maps of many of the leased areas in this blog.
My 9/21/2010 post shows maps of some of the leased areas.
And my 8/18/20120 post gives the center point of many of the wreck leases and information concerning how large the lease areas are.
Here is that information again.
Cabin Wreck North 27.49.8 West 80.25.55
Anchor Wreck North 27.48.2 West 80.24.70
Corrigans North 27.46.2 West 80.22.67
Rio Mar North 27.38.3 West 80.20.90
Sandy Point North 27.35.8 West 80.19.65
Nieves North 27.25.3 West 80.16.50
Power Plant North 27.21.2 West 80.13.65
The leased areas include the area defined by a radius of 3000 yards out from the center point. That means an area of around 3.2 miles across (diameter).
I just don't want you getting yourself into trouble. And if you didn't already know, if you find anything historic in those leased areas or in any state waters, it belongs to the state of Florida.
There are plenty of stories of people who have found things and attempted to conceal the location or otherwise misled the authorities and some of those cases did not end well.
I hate to be a downer, but be warned. As they say, "Ignorance of the law is no excuse."
Jon M. wrote in saying that he was inspired to take a shot at some of the spring break treasure that I've been talking about. He was glad he did because he found his first ring.
First finds are fun. I'm always glad to mention them.
Congratulations Jon!
One thing Jon did that is worth noting is that he emailed the life guards and asked them what beaches they'd recommend.
Too often people don't talk to the life guards enough. If you get to know them, they'll give you some good tips, sometimes telling where things that were lost. Don't be a pest though.
One guy I know would often give a silver ring or something to a life guard that often gave him good leads.
One of this blog's readers purchased the eBay Potosi half reale from the Cabin Wreck that I mentioned not long ago.
The survey that I posted on this blog about your oldest coin find has concluded. Of those responding to the survey, the oldest coin find for 34% was a 20th Century coin, while 40% of the respondents had found an 18th Century or older coin. So a lot of the readers of this blog have had some success with older coins. I would guess there is a relatively good mix of new and experienced detectorists on here.
I'll leave the results of that survey on the main page of this blog until I start a new survey, which probably won't be long.
I also plan to add the Tequesta article on pirates and treasure lore to my treasure link list.
The wind blew almost all night on the Treasure Coast. The tides should continue to be more extreme than normal for a few days. Seas are up to a about 5.5 feet today after being calm yesterday.
This morning there were only small cuts on a few beaches at the high water mark, and the sea weed was starting to pile up. That means that the cutting is probably over at those spots.
There were a lot of beach goers this weekend, but also a lot of detectorists. It seemed like the easy spots were pretty cleanthis morning.
Remember, stay out of the water in the leased areas. If you water hunt, do it where it is permissible.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
