One Strange Iron Encrusted Object. This is one of those old pieces of iron in which the iron has almost completely dissolved. Really strange shape. I can't figure out what it might have been. It was found with the other iron objects found Monday.
One day I talked to a guy on the beach who had a detector that was what I would call an economy model. It wasn't a very good detector, but it would detect coins and things to some extent.
The guy was a beginner. I noticed him watching me and trying to do what I did even if he didn't really grasp what I was doing. When I was on my way back to the car he came down and talked to me and asked if his detector was good enough to find anything. He said it would detect coins and stuff. He had tried that.
I told him that a metal detector never found anything - all it does is make a noise when you put the coil over a target. He seemed a little surprised at that answer. I don't know what people expect out of a detector, but that is about it. That is basically what I want out of a detector.
It seemed that he expected the detector to attract him to treasure, something like a magnet or dowsing rod or something. It doesn't work that way. You have to put your coil over a good target. All your detector will do is give you a signal when you have done that.
Now I know that sounds very basic and obvious, but it is an important point. Success in metal detecting is not so much determined by the detector, as it is by your ability to narrow down the thousands and millions of square yards of sand and put your detector in the right place.
Although you don't know that one best spot to put your coil, you can improve the probabilities dramatically and the frequency of success by continually looking at the signs, reading the beach, or water, and spending your time in the areas that have the highest probability of concealing the target you are looking for.
Not all sand is created equal. Some conceals high concentrations of pull tabs and other junk. And some sand conceals good targets like gold and silver. It is your job to learn to spend more of your time in the areas where the good targets are and avoid wandering around over all the millions of cubic yards of sand that contain nothing of interest.
Granted, some metal detectors do a better job than others. Some detect smaller objects at deeper depths, and some are better at detecting different types of materials, but the main determinant of success over time is what goes on in your head.
Success over the long run depends upon what you learn about where to spend your time for greatest productivity. And how you use your detector.
I've said this before, but detecting is a lot more like hunting wild game than you might think. Treasure moves. That is very true on a beach.
Beach treasure also travels in flocks. And it travels according to seasons and certain physical principles.
To use an analogy, if I was lost in the wilderness in the olden days, I would bet on a wise old Indian armed with his bow and arrow to bring home the bacon rather than a city slicker with the greatest most accurate rifle ever made. The old Indian would know where the game would be and how to stalk and bring it home.
A detectorist who knows what he is doing will find more with a beat up out-of-date old detector than someone with all of the best equipment but who doesn't know how to stalk treasure.
Your detector isn't a treasure magnet and it won't draw you to treasure. Learn to read the signs and stalk treasure. The next time you go hunting, be determined to learn something new that will help you do that.
Observe, test, think and learn. It takes time.
I know this is general information, but it seems like some people need to hear it and some need to be reminded.
Odyssey Marine Exploration stock (OMEX) is still doing very well. It hit a new 52 week high yesterday. It is down some today.
It seems they have contracted to use a Russian salvage vessel in the hunt for a ship-load of WWII sunken silver. All of their other vessels are currently commited to other operations.
Here is a link if you want to read about that.
http://eresearch.fidelity.com/eresearch/evaluate/news/basicNewsStory.jhtml?symbols=OMEX&pageno=1&storyid=201106070700PRIMZONEFULLFEED223810&provider=PRIMZONE&product=FULLFEED&sb=1&st=1&sc=1&san=1
If you invested in OMEX one year ago, the stock was under $1 per share. Yesterday it was over $4 per share. You could have more than tripled your money in one year.
Small print: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell the above mentioned stock.
I always say that there are a lot of easier ways to make money than treasure hunting. Stock picking isn't really that easy though.
Riding the Treasure Cycle.
If you are lucky enough to live in an area where there are a lot of beaches where a lot of people frolic and swim, you have a choice of beaches to choose from. Some people don't have that luxury, but if you do, you can create a sequence of beaches to hunt and cycle through them on a regular basis.
First try a bunch of different beaches and then go back over your records to see which ones are the most productive. Select a number of them to hunt on a regular basis. Some people would say to hunt the first on your list one day, the second on the second day, etc. That is simple enough, but maybe too simple.
Cycling through a regular series of beaches offers several advantages. First, you you get to see and try a variety of beaches. If one of them develops into a really good spot, you are likely to discover that before long, especially if the list of beaches on your list is not too long. One week would probably make a good length for a cycle.
Second, when you work your sequence of beaches, it gives some time for the first beaches to replenish before you get back to them. The cycle keeps you from overworking one beach and moves you on to other beaches that have had a chance to accumulate new treasure.
If you are smart, you can schedule each beach on a particular day when they will tend to be the most productive. Some beaches are heavily used on weekends for example. Schedule them for Sunday or Monday. Other beaches are used heavily all week long, and others tend to be hunted by others detectorits according to a regular schedule that you can discover. The point is, to soem extent you will be able to schedule your beaches so you will be hunting them at the best times.
This is a good strategy when beach conditions are not changing much or when you are hunting beaches that are usually pretty busy.
Simple tips like cycling the beaches that you detect can be useful, but you need to know when to vary from your schedule. Don't stick to your list too rigidly. Move on more quickly or less quickly depending upon conditions. Ideally you want to be at the beach that is producing the most at the right time. Don't waste a lot of time at beaches that aren't producing. You want to get around to see a variety of beaches as often as you can. But don't be afraid to spend two or three days on one beach if it becomes very productive and you havne't cleaned it out.
If a site is not producing, and you can quickly tell that when you visit the site. Don't be afriad to jump ahead and move onto the next beach. There will be times when the first site, or the first two or three beaches will not be producing while one of the others probably will. You want to find the one that is producing.
Again, when conditions are not changing much, or when you have beaches that produce continually and there are no real stand-out spots, you can stick to a regular schedule, but be ready to vary from your regular routine when there is good reason. Once in while the doors to Davey Jones' locker will open up and you don't want to be locked into some routine that will cause you to miss those super detecting spots.
I put a new survey up if you haven't noticed it. Respondez si vous plait.
Huh?
Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.
The seas were a little rougher today than Monday. The swells were up to around four feet today. It looks like it will stay that way for a while - probably into next week.
At low tide I found some broad low beach fronts. I was fining more iron in that area on one beach. There was also, however, a few, and i do mean a few, scattered soft cuts. By "soft cuts" I mean small gently sloping mushy cuts. Nonetheless, they were area where sand was being eroded and pulled down and into the water.
Of course my rating on my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions Scale is still a 1 (poor). Conditions for finding cobs has been so poor for so long that I haven't even been giving my rating. Someday conditions will improve and I'll be giving those ratings on a regular basis again.
That is it for now.
I haven't proofed this yet. I hope it isn't too bad.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
