Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Calm Seas on Treasure Coast This Morning. |
The big news for me today is tropical depression number 9. It could become a hurricane by Thursday when it will be south of Peurto Rico. After that, it is expected to work its way West, passing below Haiti and then over Cuba. It could also turn north towards us.
There is also another area that could turn into a good storm right behind that. And a distrubance down in the Gulf by Mexico that could form.
The surf web sites are predicting increasing seas this weekend, reaching 5 to 8 feet by Monday.
We haven't had anything like that for quite a while.
After all of the news about the recent anchor discovery on the Treasure Coast, I wanted to find a good source that would help people identify different types and ages of anchors. I didn't find much of anything that I found real helpful until I found the following study.
It is a thesis on the history and development of English anchors from 1550 to 1850 written by Harold Jobling in 1993. It focuses on documented anchors found on British wrecks but also includes a lot of information on Spanish wrecks of the same era.
It is a great study of about 150 pages and includes illustrations, sources and many useful bits of information. The biggest problem you might find with this study is that it isn't easy reading. It is very technical and can't be absorbed in one quick reading. On the other hand, if you really want to know what you can learn about anchors, you must read this. I certainly learned a lot from quickly browsing the study and plan to go back and read it more thoroughly. I think I now have a good chance of telling the difference between a 17th Century British anchor and a 17th Century Spanish anchor.
Just as an example, the hole through which the ring was attached at the top of the anchor on British anchors was usually punched, while the hole on Spanish anchors of the period was typically made by looping the bar and welding.
Spanish anchors also generally had a longer thinner bar. They often failed because of the design and how they were manufactured.
http://nautarch.tamu.edu/pdf-files/Jobling-MA1993.pdf
You might have trouble loading this PDF file if you don't have the latest Adobe Reader software, and even then it will probably be slow. It is worth it if you are interested enough to work your way through all of the technical detail. I found many interesting facts.
The Terra Nova, a three masted sailing schooner, was discovered off of Greenland.
Here is the link
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19288188
Keep watching. We might actually see improved beach detecting conditions before long.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
