9/30/19 Report - Stratigraphic Discrimination For Metal Detecting. Big Tides and Surf Predicted.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

A few days ago I introduced the term stratigraphic discrimination to refer to selectively ignoring a particular layer or layers of ground.

There are times when you might be interested in only one or more layers.  For example, if you are interested in old items at a land site, you might ignore surface targets.  I mentioned the Surface Blanking feature of the Royal Sabre detector from the 1980s that provided a Surface Blanking function for that purpose.  While I haven't seen a surface blanking setting on other metal detectors, many do give a depth reading.

There are times when you might choose to hunt only for surface targets, such as when you are hunting a specific item that was recently lost.  In that case, you would ignore all of those more faint detector signals that night indicate a more deeply buried target.

On a beach the situation can be a little more complex due to the frequently shifting sands and changing of layers.   On the Treasure Coast the brown/orange deeper sand is often associated with old shipwreck items, however the same old items can end up on or very near the surface.

These days a light-colored sand from recent renourishment projects is often seen covering the dunes and the beach.  In most cases that sand is a bad sign, however there can be times when good old targets can end up laying on top of that sand.  That can happen, even though it is not common.

In the past I would never ignore deep targets, or any target for that matter, but as you know, deep targets on a beach can be very difficult to recover, especially when near the water's edge, and sometimes you might not have time to spend on a target like that, especially when there are easier good targets.

People are usually very focused on deep targets on a shipwreck beach, but in my experience most of my shipwreck finds have not been real deep.  In fact, many have been laying on or very near the surface.  My usual strategy is to focus on those areas of the beach where coins and such things can be found very near the surface.  I've mentioned before that I've eye-balled several reales over the years.  They were just laying there to be easily seen.  Hunting those types of areas is what reading a beach is all about.

There are times when I will try to get the very deepest targets and struggle to get the maximum depth out of a detector, but it is my opinion that the deepest targets represent a very small total value compared to the total value of near surface targets and take a disproportionate amount of time to find and recover.  Still, if you have the time, there is no reason to leave anything.

I'm not saying that I never go for the very deepest of targets.  There are times when I do, and when I do that I have some reason to believe that it will pay off.   I have reason to believe that those targets could have a high value and there are not equally valuable targets in the area that can be recovered more quickly.

Let's say I have a good coin hole, and the top layers have produced some very nice targets and the signals are becoming more scarce and faint.  Then I might change my settings and search techniques or even switch metal detectors that will be more effective on the deeper and fainter targets.

I often use one metal detector for general scanning, but will then switch detectors when I have reason. It is my opinion that constantly seeking the deepest and faintest targets is not efficient.  That can be a poor use of your time.  Techniques and strategies can be situational.  That is why I often like to do a little scanning, which provides additional information on the situation.

If you want to do stratigraphic discrimination and use the depth readout to do it, you might want to test the depth meter on your metal detector to become more familiar with the peculiarities and how accurate it really is.  That is something that I hope to test some day on the Equinox.  Perhaps you will want to test your own depth meter and offer some of your observations.

I could at this point get into some details on the shifting layers of a beach, but that will have to wait for some other time.

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Here is the predicted surf from MagicSeaWeed.com.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

They are predicting some pretty high surf for later today and tomorrow.   It has been pretty breezy lately, and we are supposed to have a very high tide today.

I'm curious to see what, if anything, will happen to the beaches.

You can't go home again because it never leaves you.  TG.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/29/19 Report - Tracking Station Open Again. Flood Warnings Issued for St. Lucie County. Big Organized Hunt. Big Tides.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Tracking Station Beach Friday.

Photo by Joe D.

I very recently posted a photo of the Tracking Station beach and indicated it was closed for repairs and renourishment.  It looks like those repairs have been made and the beach is open again.

Joe D. also sent this photo of Vero South Beach Park. 

Vero South Beach Park.

Photo by Joe D.

I haven't been there for quite a while.  It was probably two or more years ago.

Joe mentioned that he just discovered that Blind Creek is now a nudist beach, so if you didn't know that be warned.   It has been a nudist beach for a few years now.  For a while only the beach to the south was, but it now extends both directions.

If you like naked dogs a lot more than naked humans, visit Walton Rocks instead of Blind Creek.

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I received the following in an email message from Kellyco.

Join hundreds of metal detecting enthusiasts for Rhode Island Relics’ annual ‘Pound the Ground’ event in Chazy, New York! It’s a metal detectorist’s dream.

Who: Rhode Island Relics and Adirondack Detecting invite you!
What: Pound the Ground 2019
When: Oct. 5-6, 2019
Where: 398 North Farm Rd., Chazy, New York
Ticket price: Between $75-$150 per person

The hunt is one of the biggest detecting events in the U.S. Spend two days metal detecting on over 1,200 acres of prime farmland along historic Lake Champlain and the Great Chazy River...

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DJ forwarded this flood warning issued for St. Lucie County.

Coastal Flood Statement for St. Lucie County, Florida

From 8:00pm EDT, Sun Sep 29 until 12:00pm EDT, Wed Oct 2

Action Recommended: Attend to information sources as described in the instructions

Issued by: Melbourne - FL, US, National Weather Service,

...Minor Coastal Flooding Possible For Several High Tide Cycles Early This Week Beginning Tonight... * COASTAL FLOODING...Wave runup from a combination of large swells from distant Hurricane Lorenzo and high astronomical tides may cause water to overtop or breach the dunes in some locations. * TIMING...The threat will start with tonight's high tide cycle, which will occur between 930 an 1030 PM. The next several high tide cycles are... Monday morning between 930 AM and 1000 AM Monday night between 1000 PM and 1030 PM Tuesday morning between 1030 AM and 1100 AM Tuesday night between 1045 PM and 1115 PM Wednesday morning between 1115 AM and 1145 AM * IMPACTS...The threats for minor beach erosion and dangerous Rip Currents will also increase early this week as winds, seas and surf increase. Advisories and Statements for these increasing threats will likely be needed starting tomorrow. 

Hurricane Lorenzo.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Lorenzo is the only storm showing on the National Hurricane Center map now, and is now a category four hurricane that is still sending swells our way.

The surf predictions from MagicSeaWeed don't look that promising even though there will be some nice high tides.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/28/19 Report - Detectorists Finds Ancient Gold. Swimming IPhone. Stratigrahic Discrimination. Some Big Surf Coming(?)

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Source: See News.err link below.

… Metal detector hobbyists consider themselves lucky when they come across an old button or coin instead of just the usual old nails or scrap metal. Amateur treasure hunters, however, don't even dream of finding the type of thing that set off Jegor Klimov's metal detector in Saaremaa earlier this month.

Among the items found at a 1,700-year-old sacrificial site were luxurious local crossbow brooches, some made of silver, some gold-plated silver, as well as Scandinavian-looking belt plaques with silver plates, writes regional Saarte Hääl (link in Estonian).

The most unique item to be found at the site, however, is a massive gold bracelet or collar from the 3rd century.

"With this find, the signal was sort of indistinct, sort of heay," Klimov described. "I doubted whether or not to dig. But here it is! It's like winning the jackpot! Unearthing something like this is amazing. And it is amazing for Estonian history too, because nothing like this has been found in Estonia before. Gold finds are rare in Estonia to begin with; we know of just four or five finds. But this is the coolest of them all." ...

That quote is from an article you can find by using the following link.

https://news.err.ee/983708/archaeologists-find-rare-gold-bracelet-in-saaremaa

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In forty feet of water off the coast of Boca Raton after Dorian a scuba diver found an iPhone that was lost by a boater 20 miles south near Hollywood Florida about a year earlier.

Here is that link.

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-beach-county/boca-raton/missing-iphone-travels-20-miles-in-atlantic-ocean-found-off-south-florida-coast

Remember that iphones will trap air.  They are water resistant.  Some have a water-proof case.  That means trapped air and buoyancy.

The same thing happens with watches, which can end up in areas where less dense things tend to accumulate.

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Concerning the one mystery item I posted yesterday Sebastian Steve said,  My guess is a clock, and not that old as it has phillips screws.

Anybody else?

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When we talk about discrimination we are usually talking about discriminating a particular type of item or items made of a particular type of meta..  There was at least one metal detector that provided an option that you might call stratigraphic discrimination.  The metal detector I'm talking about is the Tesoro Royal Sabre that, which was sold in the 1980s and had a number of nice features, one of which was Surface Blanking.   It also had notch discrimination and reject.  Not bad for an 80s detector.

The online manual for the Royal Sabre says of the Surface Blanking Battery Test Switch - This switch is used to control the surface blanking function, and to perform the battery test. Surface blanking is used to eliminate the detector's response to good targets which are shallow.

I used the Royal Sabre some over the years and up until the time that they refused to honor the advertised Tesoro Lifetime Warranty, but I only used the surface blanking function a few times. One time that I remember using it was on a very trashy site where it appeared that a cabin or shed of some type once stood.  It blanked out a lot of loud surface signals and permitted me to pick out smaller signals, such as coins between the surface trash.  Surface Blanking might seem like a good idea in theory, but I never got a lot of use out of it.

Wikipedia says, Stratigraphy is a key concept to modern archaeological theory and practice. Modern excavation techniques are based on stratigraphic principles. The concept derives from the geological use of the idea that sedimentation takes place according to uniform principles. When archaeological finds are below the surface of the ground (as is most commonly the case), the identification of the context of each find is vital in enabling the archaeologist to draw conclusions about the site and about the nature and date of its occupation. It is the archaeologist's role to attempt to discover what contexts exist and how they came to be created. Archaeological stratification or sequence is the dynamic superimposition of single units of stratigraphy, or contexts.  

There are times when I do what could be called stratigraphic discrimination, but I can do it by listening to the signals and using the brain for the processing rather than letting the electronics do it for me.

I don't recall anyone talking much about using Surface Blanking, and I'm not aware of it being provided by newer metal detectors.  While I can see the theory, I don't know how effectively it was implemented in either the technology or practice.  For me, I'd usually rather remove the surface trash.

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Like Elvis, Karen has left the building.  Only Lorenzo remains on the Atlantic National Hurricane Center map.  We are having some big tides now.

Here are the surf predictions.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

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9/27/19 Report - Tracking Station Closed for Beach Repairs. Couple Mystery Items. Painting Discovered Worth Millions.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Tracking Station Beach

Source: VeroNews.com

Tracking Station Beach is one of those beaches that doesn't get much attention - at least not by people that don't know about it.   It looks pretty good in the photo above, but it is one of those that is already closed for repairs.  I knew this would be coming.  

Here is the link for the source article.

http://veronews.com/2019/09/25/two-county-beaches-to-close-for-emergency-sand-repairs/

Thanks to DJ for the link.

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JK sent these photos and would like to know if anyone can come up with an ID.  Here is what he said.

So I dug this item about a year ago on Florida’s east coast. It was probably almost 10inches down. Strong Iron signal. It’s got some weight to it. I have no idea what it is, but it always interested me. It has what looks to me like four screws or something on each corner on the back. At the bottom of the front it has what kind of looks like a horse or dragon head on it?? A little piece came off the bottom of the “head”...

JK actually sent several more photos, but I think these three excellent photos are enough to give you the idea.

What do you think?

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Here is one I've had sitting around for a while.  It looks very much like an unstruck penny, which is what I thought it might be for a while. The diameter is right but the weight is too light.  Notice the rough surface.

Copper Round Blank.

What do you think?

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A painting that has been hanging in the kitchen of elderly woman was discovered to be by a Renaissance artist and worth something like $6.6 million.  It will go up for auction.

Here is the link.

https://www.tellerreport.com/life/2019-09-25---a-painting-in-an-old-french-kitchen-could-be-sold-for-six-million-dollars-.H1x1zCOdwS.html


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It looks like Karen and Lorenzo will be nothing more than fish storms.  It also looks like we won't get as much surf as was predicted earlier by MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/26/19 Report - Karen Turns Our Way. Software Update for Equinox. Metal Detector Maintenance.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Tropical Storm Karen and Hurricane Lorenzo

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

We have two systems in the Atlantic to watch now, although neither is likely to affect us much, but they weren't sure about Dorian and Karen has already made a turn.

Projected Path of Karen.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Karen, which was heading north/northeast, has made a turn and is now heading west towards the Bahamas.  They are still saying she isn't anything for us to worry about.  That doesn't necessarily mean she won't eventually send us some nice surf.

Predicted Surf for the Fort Pierce Area.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

As you can see the surf is supposed to increase next week.  Unfortunately I'm not seeing any north winds to go along with it.

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Several people notified me of the 2.0 software update for the Equinox detectors.  I'll include the note from Joe D. because he added some other useful information, including his experience with the update.

Here is what Joe said.

   I hit Carlin Park today after a quick look, just before low tide! I really liked what i saw, and hunted multiple lines from dune cut to water line! And also amongst the rocks! I love hunting here when this much is exposed by the weather! Although there were some mushy spots, there was plenty of areas to search!  

    On the not to love side, there were few good targets! A lot of minute can slaw, and probably 50 pull and pop tabs! I was mostly aware of what the targets were, but dug everything anyway to reinforce 

sound differences! I pulled a few coins in the rocks that were near cemented in, and had to work to get out! But nothing old! Still and all, l still like it there!

     I got a notification from Minelab of a new software update! This was the first update since I've owned this machine! The process was fairly quick once i figured out where to find it on the site! It was listed under the specific detector, not the main page! 

    I also took the time to disassemble and clean my detector! I've used it a lot lately so the need was there to check out all the parts! I had noticed that the plastic arm cuff was creaking a lot when detecting, and i thought it may break a few times today! (Really the only cheap part) I added a temporary fix until i get a new aluminum Jeff Herke cuff from Steves Detector Rods; that i ordered today! I've emailed Steve several times in the last several days, and he was extremely helpful, and accommodating for the order!

     I also checked the silicone seal that i installed a few months ago in the handle, and cleaned before reinstalling! Its doing a great job keeping water and sand out of that area! Well worth the money! 

    The cleaning process reminds me a lot of cleaning my rifles!  I got nailed by a few carbon fiber strands from inside the shaft sections, but now I'm ready to go again! 

     Also, i pull the coil cover off and wash the coil out after every beach run! It can build up a lot of sand there, as well as the lower section of the shaft, which can clog and hold water and sand! Some people hate coil covers, but i would not hunt without one! Or my coil would be destroyed by now!

    I will send a few pics, as always!

 Joe D.

Thanks Joe, and thanks to all of those who took the time to notify me of the update.

Here is what Minelab describes as the benefits of the update.

Difficult ferrous targets — the common enemy for all detectorists. That is until EQUINOX. Hit the download on our EQUINOX update to make those pesky bottle caps, rusty nails and other falsing targets a thing of the past. Fire up the Minelab Update Utility and you’re on your way. It’s simple. You’ll experience the enhanced Iron Bias feature, improved EQUINOX 600 backlight and much more.

Improved Iron Bias

Iron Bias has been enhanced with the addition of a new Iron Bias settings profile. The original EQUINOX Iron Bias 'FE' settings will still be available, but there is now the option to switch to the new Iron Bias 'F2' settings, which have an improved capability to reject a much wider range of difficult iron targets, including bottle caps.

EQUINOX 600 Backlight Brightness

The EQUINOX 600 now has the ability to adjust the backlight brightness to an additional 'Low' setting that matches the minimum setting on the EQUINOX 800. This 'Low' brightness is ideal for detecting at night and in low light conditions.

And here is the link for the update.

https://www.minelab.com/usa/equinox-software-update-2-0?fbclid=IwAR3QcyFBFqKsq-uzIG0tAhWewoMFjvKAP2DCuqhRGGIrzB7cR2GZG9i4L9g

I really didn't have much trouble with iron or other trash using the Equinox 600.  I've discussed the reasons for that in the past.  It is more the possibility of skipping gold than hitting trash that bothers me.  There are a variety of ways of staying away from or identifying iron.  Sometimes you don't want to skip it though.

I think I'll quit there today.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/25/19 Report - Reflections On The Past Few Weeks. Chair Life Raft.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Source: nhc.noaa.gob

We had some decent surf today.  Yet after the week of big surf we just had, it didn't seem like anything.  There have been times though when 4 - 6 feet made some nice cuts.  Everything else had to be right though, and yesterday it wasn't.  If you start out with a beach that is already producing, it doesn't take much to help.

Lets see - what did I learn since Dorian?  The first thing I learned is that they still can't always predict what a storm will do.  I had become a little complacent and felt they were getting pretty good at it, but Dorian showed that it is still tricky business.  They might be able to predict the path and force of storms pretty well now, but they still also make mistakes.

One thing we saw, perhaps once again, is that it takes more than big waves or a high surf to erode beaches.  I think most people understand that now, but in the not too distant past every time there was a big surf, people expected a lot of erosion.  This time we had an extended period of high surf, but very little erosion.

I think most of us now realize that it takes more than big waves.  Beginning with Dorian and continuing pretty much through last weekend, the waves hit the beach directly.  Despite the north winds that occurred from time to time, the waves still hit the beaches straight on almost all of the time.  There was no angle.   I was surprised that I never saw any deviation.  The waves were always hitting at a 90 degree angle.  Yes there were a few spots that eroded.  You saw the photos, but they were few and far between and were mostly in renourishment sand.

Beaches that produce old shipwreck coins are not always cut though.  Mostly they are, but not always.  Occasionally beaches will produce cobs without being cut at all.  I've found cobs on beaches that were only lightly scalloped too.   It depends a lot on what you start with.  Unfortunately this time we started with beaches that had accumulated all summer and many that had been covered by renourishment projects.  A lot of the dunes were still protected by renourishment sand, and there was a lot of sand in front of the beaches.  And most of them had tons of sand covering the more productive layers.

In the most recent picture I posted of John Brooks you could see twenty or thirty yards of sand in front of the beach.  Actually that twenty of thirty yards was part of the beach, and will show again as part of the beach when the water backs off some.  We were simply starting with beaches that were heavily padded and didn't get any good angles from the water.

As much as I love to hunt a cut beach, a beach doesn't have to be cut to produce old shipwreck coins.  I've found cobs on beaches that were not cut at all and on beaches that showed only very shallow scalloping.

I much prefer to hunt a cut beach though.  It is easier to know where to focus your efforts.

There are times though when you can find a cob or two in the most unexpected places.  I've found them right at the high tide line on an uncut beach.  On a formless beach, even if there are one or two cobs out there, the chances of finding them are slim because you have to cover the entire beach or just get lucky.

The history of the beach is important.  Up by the condominiums north of John Brooks beach, there were times when that beach was cut all the way back to very near the condominiums.  Now there is something like a hundred yards of beach extending out there.  And immediately after the storms of 2004, John Brooks was cut back under the walkover.  Now the beach extends way out from there before it drops off, and tons of sand cover layers that were once exposed.

• 
  

I think the coin line I found a few days ago at one beach was from coins that were washing up.  If they are not removed, they'll wash back down into the water again.

I've traced coins and other items washing out of the dunes before.  If the dunes are eroding into the older sand, coins and things will fall down onto the beach even if there is still a lot of sand on the beach.  I've traced items on the beach back up to their source in the dunes before.  I've also found them in slabs falling down the face of the dunes.

DJ sent this photo of one little washout that was being filled already, but I think there will probably be more big renourishment projects next summer.  In the mean time, we have the rest of the Fall and Winter, historically the best hunting time of the year for finding old shipwreck coins.

Sand For Filling Small Washout.

Photo by DJ.

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An 85-year-old lady survived the flood waters of Dorian floating in a chair until she was rescued.

Here is that link.

https://wsvn.com/news/local/bahamas-woman-85-survives-dorian-after-floating-in-ocean-waters-for-3-days/

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I like to wake up and bid good morning to the quiet black before sunrise and drive to the beach on lonely roads visible only as far as the headlights beam.  Occasionally a fellow nocturnal trying to beat the sun home flashes through the light.

After the headlights are extinguished, you hear the surf call as get out of the car and gear up to meet her.  When you feel the sand, your feet become your eyes and lets you know where you are and what the beach looks like. The curtain of clouds briefly draws back to reveal a few twinkling friends that peak out long enough to remind you they are there and that you have sight.  Feeling the wind on your face and sand under your feet and hearing the orchestra of the breaking surf tells you that you've found it.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/24/19 Report - Using Target ID Numbers. Three Tropical Storms. Green Cabin Wreck Coin.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Three Tropical Storms.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Now we have three tropical storms in the Atlantic: Jerry, Karen, and Lorenzo.  None are supposed to come our way.  Also there is a little system down by the Yucatan.

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It appears that the Mexican reale found after Dorian and said to be found near the Disney resort came from the Green Cabin wreck - the 1618 wreck of the San Martin.  I think that is what the certificate issued by the West Bay Trading Company says.  It also must say that the coin is from the late 1500s.  I can't really read it all.

Coin Certificate

Photo submitted by Kenneth T.

Somebody recently asked me how to get an artifact certified.   I didn't know that the West Bay Trading Company issued certificates, and I still don't know if they would certify a dug artifact.

Many of the certificates of authenticity that you see on eBay or similar sites are made by whoever is selling the item and are worth no more than the reputation of the person or company that issues them.

You might remember that I mentioned people parking along the road and going to the beach between Wabasso and Seagrape Trail right after Dorian.

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I've been informally field testing the target ID readings on the Equinox metal detector and trying to determine the usefulness of the numbers. I have concluded that you can NOT safely decide whether to dig or not just on the basis of the ID meter readings - at least not if you do not want to miss something good.  The readings do seem to provide some information though.  I am still very much in the dig it up and look at it camp, but I also understand that some people hate to dig trash and aren't bothered by what they  might have missed.

Joe D. has commented on the usefulness of using the signal tones of the Equinox, and I've observed that you can really reduce the amount of junk (defined as non-coins) you dig by using the tones alone.

Here is a section from the Equinox Manual, which you can find online.

Source: online Equinox manual.

Notice that "Aluminum, Gold" is in the 11 - 20 range, which is also where you'll find nickels, pull tabs and bottle caps.  Also tiny gold nuggets, gold nuggets and larger gold nuggets range from close to 1 up to about 30.  That is a huge range and very much agrees with some YouTube videos showing that gold rings can show up almost anywhere on the scale.

Providing some information (in other words, increasing the probability of a correct ID) the ID numbers can be more useful when combined with other sources of information.

Lets take one other source of information - information about the site itself.   Targets are not randomly distributed, and you can make good use of whatever information you have acquired about a site.  For example, many sites have one or two prominent types of junk.  It might be nails or pull tabs or bottle caps.  But that information, when combined with the target ID numbers can be useful.

Lets say you are finding a number of bottle caps of a particular type.  They might show as a narrow range of target ID numbers -  lets say 21/22, for example.  Some pennies will produce those numbers too, but pennies are of low value, so it is no big deal to miss some of those.  After you have found a few bottle caps showing as 21/22, and you conclude you are in an area where those types of items are common, the probability is greater that when you do not dig a 21/22 item, that you will be missing a bottle cap, or at least something not real valuable.   The likelihood of a correct rejection has been increased by combining your the target ID number with your knowledge of the most probable targets in that area.  Furthermore, if you can gain additional knowledge from the audio signal, such as a dual tone, which you can get with some kinds of bottle caps.   That additional information can also help you increase the probability of a correct target ID.

There are a variety of other types of information that you could and perhaps should use, but I could go on for a very long time about that.  The point is that combining different types of sources of information can help you improve your target ID and improve the probability of a correct dig or reject decision.  Notice that I said "probability."  You won't be completely accurate every time.  There is still the possibility of making a big mistake.  How comfortable you are with that will have a lot to do with your strategy.

Unfortunately I've forgotten most of what I once knew about probability theory and statistics so I can only talk about this in general terms now.

Knowledge of different sites can be very helpful.  You have closer to a random distribution of targets in the dry sand, however the distribution in dry sand is still far from random.  More targets will be lost where there is more activity, such as volley ball courts, and of course, there will generally be more targets where there are more people, and the targets will be more valuable where there are more wealthy people, and there will be more gold where people from certain cultures assemble, etc., etc.

In the wet sand the target distribution is determined more by the forces of nature.  Of course human and socio-cultural factors are also involved, but there are definite patterns that can be discerned.  I've talked about those a lot in the past.  The bottom line is that you can improved your pre-dig target ID by using a variety of sources of information.

One additional note: although I'm talking about the Equinox, you can generalize to other similar metal detectors that provide target ID numbers.

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The surf will be decreasing for a few days.  That can allow you to get out into ground that you haven't been able to metal detect for a while.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

9/23/19 Report - From the Treasure Coast to the Palm Beaches - Conditions and Finds. Triton Submarines Visit the Titanic.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Palm Beach

Photo by Joe D.

Palm Beach.

Photo by Joe D.

The South Hutchinson Island beaches were not looking good this morning.  In fact those beaches haven't changed much at all in the last few weeks even though they were hit by Dorian and a lot of high surf.  The swells have continued to hit the beach directly at a ninety degree angle for weeks now.  Its amazing how little the beaches have changed during that length of time.

John Brooks was unchanged this morning, except for some very shallow dips, which could also be found on other beaches.

Walton Rocks Beach Monday Morning.

Walton Rocks looked very much like the other beaches I saw.  The beach was more convex than is apparent in this photo, but there was a very sparse coin line just above the water line.  I'm pretty sure those coins and other items were washed up out of the water, but I'm not completely sure.  The water had been up to the vegetation.

A bit farther south ( I don't know the name of the beach ) I found the cut shown below.

Eroded Bank in Renourishment Sand.

Even though there is a cut here, the cut is in renourishment sand and the same beach was cut down much lower a year or so ago.

I found an MRE this morning.

MRE on Beach This Morning.

Overall, beach conditions remain poor.

Before long I'm sure they'll use Dorian or any other excuse to spend some FEMA money to dump more sand on the beaches.

DJ sent a link to the coastal management plan for our region.

Here it is.

https://connect.xfinity.com/appsuite/#!!&app=io.ox/mail/detail&folder=default0/INBOX&id=176559

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Triton Submarines of Sebastian recently made the first manned dive in fourteen years to the Titanic to document changes to the wreck.

Here is that link.

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-county/2019/08/21/triton-submarine-sebastian-documents-titanic-wreckage/2071692001/

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There are three storms in the Atlantic, but it looks like they'll stay away from Florida.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

9/22/19 Report - $30,000 Find by Detectorist on Melborne Beach. Another Tropical Storm. Other Finds.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Eroded Melborne Beach

Photo by Jerry P.

I received this message from Jerry P.

I had an interesting day on the Treasure Coast yesterday. I found the conditions much as you described them in your Friday Post. The Big surf had beaten up the dunes pretty good, but it was mostly renourishment sand that was knocked down. Then because the waves were hitting square on to the beach, that sand wasn’t moved off the beach. I didn’t find any shipwreck items but did find the most expensive item I’ve ever found.  It’s a one-kilo brick of cocaine (See below.) that washed up on the beach in Melbourne. Not my best find but definitely the most valuable. After turning it over to the local Sheriff deputy, he told me the wholesale value is about $30,000! My jaw hit the ground😎

  

Regards,

Jerry P.

$30.000 Brick of Cocaine

Photo by Jerry P.

That reminds me of the morning I arrived to see three huge bales of pot washed up on John Brooks beach.  Each bale was a cube of about five feet.

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Plaque Washed Up On Melborne Beach

Source: FloridaToday.com

Talking of things washed up on Melborne Beach -

Bobbing amid then-Tropical Storm Humberto's swells, a wooden wall plaque bearing Jesus Christ's image reached the beach just as former professional surfer Bryan Hewitson and his daughter, Olivia, approached carrying bags of litter.

"It was still wet. It had just washed up," Bryan recalled from their beach cleanup walk shortly after sunrise Saturday...

Here is the link for the rest of that article.

https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2019/09/17/mystery-jesus-plaque-washes-ashore-near-melbourne-beach-tropical-storm-humbertos-waves/2343070001/

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My Friday Finds.

I've done more detecting in the past three days than I've been able to do in a long time.  I went out three times and spent an average of about an hour detecting each time.  I also spent time scouting beaches that I didn't detect, but I averaged about 25 modern coins per hour detecting by working eroded renourishment sand.  That is not what I'd prefer to hunt, but it was easy, and I was also getting to know the Equinox detector so I wanted to hit a good number targets.  If I had a lot more time I would have spent time detecting for shipwreck items too, but that didn't look like a good bet under the circumstances.

If you look at that ring shown above, you'll notice it is broken.  It gave a much weaker signal because of the broken band.

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Now a correction:  Yesterday I posted a photo of a watch that was like the one found by Joe D.  The way I mistakenly labeled the photo, you would have thought that the brand new watch was the one found by Joe.  It was not.  Joe's find was beat up.   Rather than taking the time make that clear in yesterday's post, I just removed the incorrectly labeled photo from that post.

Joe provided this handy link to a database on pocket watches, which provides detailed information on any watch that you can find in the database.  I've found a few pocket watches over the years that I have never researched, so when I get the time I'll be using that link.

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/

And here is the link to the particular make and model found by Joe.

https://pocketwatchdatabase.com/search/result/hamilton/1752320

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John Brooks Beach Saturday Evening Near Low Tide.

Notice all the sand between where the waves are breaking and where the water is on the sand.

The beach is still mushy even though the water has been getting pretty high.

John Brooks Beach Saturday Evening Near Low Tide.

The coins I picked up Saturday were not the easy ones.  They were deep in wet sand where the water was still coming and going at low tide.  That makes recovery more difficult.


Now we have another tropical storm - Karen.  Looks like she'll pretty much follow Jerry.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov.

For the next few days the surf will be decreasing.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net