Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Water Up In the Dunes Yesterday |
The high tide on Friday got up into the dunes. That is when we had the dune banger. Actually the water hit the back dunes in some locations today too, but yesterday was the peak.
Above is a photo of one of the Treasure Coast beaches were the water got to the walkover and back dunes. That hadn't happened for quite a while.
Some of our wreck beaches are broad and low like the one shown in the photo, and some are narrow and have a steep cliff at the back. On beaches where there was a steep cliff at the back of the beach, it got hit and eroded to some extent.
I still have not seen a beach along the Treasure Coast that I would say was cut. The only erosion was around the dunes, on beaches like that above, including John Brooks and Sebastian Inlet. The reason we had high waves but no other cuts is that the water came directly up onto the beach and ran back down the same way it went up. The cuts that bring cobs are caused by waves that hit the beach from and angle and create and arch, slicing away sand as it goes. This up and down stuff doesn't do it.
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| Eroded Dune |
The only time waves with out an angle will cut a beach is when there is an obstacle to the flow of sand like rocks or a jetty.
The shipwreck beaches in Indian River County were all closed this morning, from Amber Sands down through Turtle Trail. It was only the wreck beaches that were closed. Funny, isn't it?
There were cars waiting at all of those beach accesses this morning, including Wabasso etc., waiting for the access to open.
A lot of people ended up going to the beach at the state park at Sebastian because they couldn't get in anywhere else. I talked to locals as well as people that drove a long while to visit the wreck beaches and they weren't happy about it. What a shame!
The story I hear is that the wreck beaches are closed so one person who works for the county can detect it himself. I find it hard to believe that the county would allow that. I'd like to find out for sure so I can put the rumor to rest. If you can have details on the real story, let me know.
St. Lucie County beach parks remained open normal hours the entire time. I don't know of any exceptions.
Tom Gidus sent me a couple of photos showing erosion down at Jupiter from the Carlin Park/Civic Center area. See photo below. Thanks Tom!
Hurricane Sandy, despite the lack of cuts, did deliver. There were Spanish cobs that were found. I know that for certain.
There were also other finds, some not cleaned and identified yet. Plenty of clad coins, and even some silver US coins.
The wind is now out of the west and will continue out of the west for a few days.
The swells are decreasing, only being about five feet tomorrow and decreasing daily until they are down to about one foot by Tuesday.
As you know, it has been difficult to get out in the low tide zone lately. As the swells decrease the next few days that should become easier.
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| Jupiter Area - Photo by Tom Gidus |
I'm leaving my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Detecting Conditions rating at a 3 for now.
It will be interesting to see what happens the next few days.
Sandy is well north of us now and headed towards the nations capitol. Outer Banks get your equipment ready.
Sandy shows that it doesn't require a direct hit. Sandy was pretty quick though. A storm that just sits out there and churns can cause a lot of erosion. Again, angles are important.
Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net
