Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Interesting Spot On The Treasure Coast Yesterday. |
The low spot is just a touch above and to the right of the center of the picture. That would be in the wet sand just behind the bigger rocks.
Cuts were very few and far between that day. This spot was not at all typical.
When I look at a spot like this the first thing I look for after looking at the cut is the low spot in front of the cut. In this case, the low spot was bordered on one side by rocks.
The cut in this picture is about four feet high and maybe a little more. As you can see the cut extends to the north a good ways. It also extends a good ways to the south (out of the picture).
I'd take a look at the bottom of the cliff to see if it is a fresh cut or if it is a few days old and deteriorating. Also look at the sand in front of the cut to see if the cut is filling yet, and if so, how much. Check the firmness of the sand in front of the cut.
There are boards sticking out of the sand. Check them to get an idea of how old they are. In this case I was disappointed by how modern they looked. I really should have taken a better look at them and the nails that were in them. Nails can tell you a lot about the age of the boards. I didn't take the time to uncover the nails. That could have been a mistake.
Rocks can function as traps. Both the rocks and boards can serve as markers, as they are covered and uncovered it will tell you how much sand is being added or removed. Always take a good look at such markers. They can provide valuable information.
In this picture you can see a bend in the beach. Look at any cuts or dips to try to determine how they were formed. There may be other similar places along the coast where similar cuts were formed. I'd check other spots south of bends like this one. Sometimes you'll get a good idea of where other cuts will occur along the coast by looking at how and where one cut was formed.
Just under the top layer of sand was a layer of course but hard packed red/brown shell sand. You will learn to identify different types of sand and what types of items might be found in them. That sand had been undisturbed for a good while, but the boards suggested to me that the sand had not been undisturbed as long as I first thought might have been the case when I first saw it.
Watch any spots like this over time. They can fill or become deeper. They can move any direction. By watching the various markers, including boards and rocks, you should be able to tell if the dip is moving one direction or another from one day to the next.
Note when the dip was formed. What was the wind direction at that time?
When a cut like this is formed south of an eastward bend in the beach, it would normally be a north/northeast wind. When the wind changes there is a good chance the cut will fill again.
Any cut like this is worth checking out at least briefly.
Today we have a southeast wind. That won't change until around Tuesday when we'll get a northeast wind again and a bit of a bump in the surf.
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Here is the kind of day you'd like to have. A herdsman found a 17 pound gold nugget laying on the ground. Now that is the type of eyeball find I'd love to make.
Here is the link for the whole story.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chinese-herdsman-stumbles-onto-a-17-pound-gold-nugget-2015-02-05?mod=MW_story_recommended_tab
Thanks to Leo for sending that in!
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.ne
