Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Bob K. Passing It On. Submitted by Bob K. |
You can easily see the various layers sometimes when you look at the face of the dunes or at the face of a cut on the beach.
You'll see layers composed of different colors and types of sand on top of each other. And when you dig a hole, you'll often see that below the top layer of sand is a layer of shells or another kind of sand.
Different layers will very often be associated with different objects and ages of objects.
On the front of the beach, the layers change very often. On the back beach behind the dunes, the layers seldom change.
Over time the beach tends to extend to the West. The wind blows the sand back into the dunes where it settles behind weeds or other things.
As you know, there were salvage camps set up on the beach right after the disaster of the 1715 Fleet. Some of those areas have partly washed away over time,
If you look at the face of the dunes where there is a cliff, you can sometimes see the layer where many of the objects were left in an area that was once a salvage camp.
Sometimes the face of the dunes slides down to the flat beach. A lot of good finds will be made when the face of the dunes erodes and the layers containing coins and artifacts end up on the beach.
Back in the 1980s several fellows were digging back in the dunes and finding things from the old salvage camp. Now those areas are private property and off limits.
The layer of sand that was deposited during the 1715 storm is still in place at some locations. That layer has been covered by at least a couple newer layers, plus the natural accretion of sand. At one location it is under nearly 40 inches of sand at the front of the dunes and a little over a foot near the west side of the camp.
The layer that was occupied immediately after 1715 is fairly distinct. They burned the vegetation to make the camps. If you learn which layer it is and what it looks like, watch to see where it goes the next time high water washes more of the dunes away.
I posted a picture of Bob K. dredging for gold a couple of days ago. Above is another photo submitted by Bob. I'll call that photo Concentrating.
Bob sent me an email telling why he likes treasure hunting and how he got started. I decided to post that email because it says something important about treasure hunting that treasure hunters will understand and outsiders don't realize.
Here it is what Bob had to say.
My love for treasure hunting has evolved over many years of my life. When it started, I didn't even know it. I was a commercial lobsterman off the coast of Maine. I would set my traps and being a beginner, just hope I caught some. It was one of the only things I have ever done in life that I couldn't get up early enough just to go see what I caught. I did that for about 4 years before moving on to catching giant Blue fin tuna for a living. Even though that paid much better, I was missing something. I missed the feeling I got every time I pulled up a trap to see what I got!
As time went on, I missed that feeling more and more. I saw a tv show on metal detecting one day on the tube and wondered if I could get that special feeling by "finding something" that someone else had lost by using a metal detector. Well, I did! Every time my detector beeped, I felt the rush and couldn't wait to get it out of the ground.
I began prospecting for gold a few years later and guess what? Every time I panned out my concentrates, I couldn't wait to see those little pieces of gold peaking up at me through the black sand. It was absolutely the SAME feeling I had come to love.
I moved to FL. for the warm weather but I chose the Treasure Coast to settle in, Guess Why??
Just looking for that feeling! Every time I dig a hole, it's there in my soul.
I know most all of your readers get the very same special feeling when they dig a target as well.
If they do, I hope they find it in their hearts to pass it on to a younger generation, the kids will thank them for it.
Here is one last thing that sums up what gives me that SPECIAL feeling:
"It's not about HAVING the treasure that gives me the feeling, it's all about FINDING the treasure that makes my heart smile.
Thanks for sharing Bob!
Bob said he'd like to hear the stories of other readers. If you send them in, I'll see what I can do about that. Less than 400 pages please. :)
I've commented on how much a person can learn from treasure hunting before, and how you can use it to interest young people interested in different subject areas such as history, geology, geography, archaeology, numismatics, electronics, etc. etc.
Get those kids out of the house and off those video games where they can do something with real life.
Did you notice the last few days when they replayed those video clips of the suspected bombers in Boston, how many people were walking the street looking at their cell phone. They didn't see the bombers or much of anything else until they were shocked out of the virtual world by that blast of reality.
I'm very aware of how much my depth and perspective my photos and video clips lose when compared to actually being there.
One of the things I like about metal detecting is feeling the wind on my face, and the sand and water on my feet. I like to feel nature and the world directly on my senses. When in the field, I don't like too much gear or too much technology to distract me. I like keeping it as simple as I can.
Here is a good 45 minute video by National Geographic on Ben Franklin's privateers and the search of an underwater shipwreck site near Holybrook Wales.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shw1hrG4szI
Christopher P. sent this link. Thanks Christopher!
On the Treasure Coast this afternoon, the wind is still from the southeast. The wind increased early this afternoon. I'm thinking the waves must have increased a little. The surf was predicted to be two feet this morning, and it was at least that. And the low tide wasn't very low.
The surf will be a touch rougher for a couple of days, while the wind is expected to remain mostly from the southeast.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
