4/1/20 Report - What Is Open Or Closed.

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

The following is my understanding at the present time.

Governor DeSantis said he is not going to order all beaches closed (as of March 25).

DeSantis issued a "Safer at Home Order" beginning Saturday, which mandates staying at home 24/7, except for "essential businesses and individuals."  You may travel for essential activities and outdoor activities. No gatherings of more than ten people.

Dade, Broward and Palm beaches are closed.  Governor DeSantis closed all businesses in those hot spots. 

There was a suit against DeSantis to force him to close all beaches.  I don't know what happened with that, but most local areas closed their beaches anyhow. 

•  St. Lucie County beaches closed effective March 23 based upon failure of crowds to honor social distancing, according to TCPalm.

•  Indian River County beaches closed as of March 23.

• Martin County beaches closed as of March 22.

• Brevard County - some beaches closed. This one is a little more complicated.  Beaches in unincorporated areas are open (as of March 31).  Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbor Beach, Indialantic Beach, Melborne Beach are closed.

In most of those areas, beach accesses are closed, gated and patrolled by officers.

As of March 24, in Vero beach people can walk along JC Park boardwalk but they can't go to the shoreline.  They can use the park areas of public beach, such as the grassy areas.

People with private access, such as hotel guests, HOA and condominium residents and community association members can visit the beaches.

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Question: if you kick ten gathered people off a beach, are they just going to gather elsewhere?  Or do you ask them to separate or just shut the beach for everyone?


I consider my readers to be intelligent people who can read and independently think for themselves.


The surf will be building up to 6 to 9 feet by Sunday.


Do well,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/16/20 Report - Mucking Through Heavy Trash With a Metal Detector. Last Hutchinson Island Black Bears.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeaches report.

Broken Old Salter's Eye Lotion Bottle.

That would be a bottle I'd like to have if it wasn't so badly damaged.

Can anyone provide any information on Salter's Eye Lotion?

If you want a challenge or you want to learn to understand your metal detector a little better, here is a recommendation: visit the banks of the Indian River Lagoon where you can get to the river without passing on private property, find an area where the surface trash covers the ground and try to pick out any good targets that might be hiding between the trash.  That isn't easy.  First of all there isn't a lot of good metal targets down there.  And secondly, the trash is horrendous.  You might find something interesting, and if you don't, you'll still improve your detecting skills.  I don't think I really have to tell you that the exercise will require a ton of patience.

As sad as it is to say, the shallow water and banks on the west side of the river are virtual trash pits.  Before garbage pickup, many residents just dumped their garbage over the hill.  Much of it is still there, appearing and disappearing with the storms, weather and whatever.  You'll see the remains of everything and anything; wrecked cars, model T parts, wrecked boats, tires, cans, bottles and glass, old commodes, pressure tanks, etc. etc. etc.

Trashy Area Along the West Bank of the Indian River.

Some of the residents have tried to clean up the areas in front of their property, but it is a seemingly unending task.  One day it will look good but eventually the trash will show up again.

Recently I took a metal detector down to the edge of the river and gave it a try.  I quickly found out that many of the bottle tops gave a coin tone and a conductivity number to match.

You might want to focus on a particular tone or conductivity number for a while.  After digging enough of those, change it up and focus on another range of targets for a while. 

It won't take long to get to know link signals with target types.  And there is no end to the number of targets that you can quickly sample.

You might find to pick good targets out of the trash.  It isn't easy because of the amount of trash.  The trash can be so dense that you are almost always over more than one target.

It isn't likely that you will find many coins, but there are some to be found.  On my trip, I found a few.  One was a 1982 penny that had lost one third of its weight to corrosion.

It is like reading any beach bur different too.  There are signs that will tell you where coins are more likely, and where they are highly unlikely.

The sand on the west side of the river is about six feet deep.  That is what I was told by a fellow that builds docks.  Like on the ocean beach, there are places where coins will be closer to the surface.  The penny was found in an area where weeds had been growing in past years, and even though they weren't there now there was still a dense patch of organic material where the roots were.  That is the reason the penny did not get buried more deeply, and the organic material caused it to quickly corrode.

It is not likely you'll find many coins and it will be difficult to find quality coins, but that is the challenge.  There is a good chance, however that you will find some older things of interest in the process if you keep your eyes pealed.  The bottle at the top of this post was found when I was mucking with my metal detector through the trash.

When picking through such dense trash, you'll be forced to go slow enough that you'll have a good chance of making a sight find of some sort.

Side Rail of Houseboat That Sank In The River During the 2004 Storms.

There are some old shipwrecks in the river too, as well as more recent ones.  I've mentioned some in the past.

Metal detecting in the river will test your patience.

An occasional fossil can also be found in the river.  In fact, almost anything can be found in the river.

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DJ sent me a link to the story of the last black bear killed on Hutchinson Island.  Interesting local history that you might find interesting and maybe sad.

http://archive.tcpalm.com/yournews/martin-county/historical-vignettes-when-bears-roamed-hutchinson-island-ep-383116750-343477372.html

Source:

https://www.treasurecoast.com/my-dream-of-the-last-black-bear-on-hutchinson-island-and-the-one-sided-war-slrirl/

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I'd like to see some more good high surf.  Maybe we'll get it.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

1/8/20 Report - Land Mine Found by Detectorist In Indian River County. Using the River For Information About The Ocean Beach and Erosion.

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

WWII Land Mine Uncovered by Detectorist Near Reef Road in Indian River County.

A man using a metal detector made an unexpected find on an Indian River County Beach Tuesday...

Here is the link submitted by Jorge Y.

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-indian-river-county/old-land-mine-found-on-beach-in-indian-river-county-sheriffs-office-says

And another link on the same story submitted by DJ.

https://www.newsbreakapp.com/n/0Nm6iA9f?pd=03GjMPEp&s=i3

Thanks guys.

It appears that it was found down around Sandy Point.

I remember back around thirty years ago when they removed a lot of the obstacles from the shallow water used for landing exercises at Avalon Park, which is a bit farther south.

I always wished that I had taken photos of the huge barge they brought down A1A to use for that.  It was as wide as A1A, both lanes.

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The Indian River makes a convenient observation station for watching how water moves sand and things.  The waves are not as big, and there are other differences, but there are also many similarities to the beach.

You can take a look at the river and get some idea of what is going on at the beach.  It won't always be correct, but it will often give you a good idea.

The one thing you can usually tell from the river, is if the wind is causing waves and the direction of the wind swell.  When the river shows white water coming in from the northeast, for example, there is a good chance that the beach will also be having some good waves from the northeast.  You can take a look at the river before deciding if you want to go over to the beach.

Concrete Block At Bottom of West Bank of Indian River Lagoon.

Above is a concrete block that I originally found in the water and moved to the edge of the water.  It is one of the landmarks I occasionally use to observe the movement of sand.

I brought the block in from out in the water (which might explain my back problems) and placed it against the lowest block on the last sheet on concrete erosion control sheets that were installed after the 2004 hurricanes.

The block is roughly 27 inches, by 12 inches by 7.5 inches.  It rests on the edge of the lowest block with about a six inch overlap.  For a short while I had it standing straight up.  You can't see the last block in the photo because it was covered by sand when I took the photo.

During the nearly fifteen years since I positioned it there, the block has not moved a noticeable amount and the level of sand has not varied up and down any more than a about a foot.  As you know, we've had some good storms in that time period.  The top corner is only visible some of the time, and most of the block is visible at other times.  I can't remember a time in those fifteen years seeing the block entirely covered, but it has come close.  When the tides and wind is pushing water against the bank, there might be as much as five feet of water over the block.  Still the sand has not varied at that spot a lot.

The connected block sheets were originally at about a thirty or forty degree angle, I would guess.  For most of the fifteen years, they stayed put very much undisturbed.  In the past two or three years, however, the sand is getting moved and the block sheets are falling in.

Erosion Under Block Sheets.

In some places I'd say three or four feet of sand has eroded from under the blocks.  I was surprised that they lasted more than ten years with almost no erosion, but now they are beginning to show the effects of erosion.  In some places it is still almost as it was originally constructed, but there has been a definite acceleration in the block sheets falling in.

During the 2004 storms, some of Indian River Drive fell in.  A smaller area fell in once sometime after that where a homeowner did not allow the blocks to be put in.  The homeowners in the area own down to the river - not down to the road - so the land along the east side of the road is private property.

Generally speaking everything is on a smaller scale along the river than on the ocean beach.  That isn't surprising, since the waves are smaller.  The erosion is smaller too.

Erosion Exposing Old Tire.

The tire shown above was covered one day, but when the wind shifted from southeast to northeast, it got uncovered again.

Some of the items along the west side of the river are remarkably stationary.

Line of Cinder Blocks Running Perpendicular to the Bank and Old Truck Springs.

Both the blocks running east/west in the above photo and the truck springs in the photo above have not moved over the past twenty or more years  despite all the storms.  They were there and remained unmoved even after the 2004 hurricanes, which heavily eroded the west bank in spots.  One of the reasons for that is that there is a good hundred yards of shallow water along the east side of the river.  

Wall of Fiberglass Play House (Approximately four feet by five feet)

The playhouse wall shown above was came from about a mile south during either hurricane Matthew or Irma.  I'm not sure which.  Since it was moved by the storm, it has remained very stationary ever since (two or three years).

It took a good storm to move it about a mile originally, but nothing strong enough to move it inches or feet has occurred since.  Besides marine growth that now weighs it down, I suspect sand has filled the openings.

The biggest problem with the river as an experimental observation station is that the concrete erosion sheets were placed soon after the 2004 storms.  It is therefore difficult to know how much is due to the man-made changes rather than mother nature.

The relatively small amount of erosion in front of the bank is primarily due to the large expanse of shallow water, and the concrete sheets definitely reduced erosion to the bank.  You seldom see as much as a foot of erosion in front of the banks, yet that can be enough to uncover a lot of junk.  

I was starting to think the erosion control sheets would stay in place relatively undisturbed for a very long time, but they are now showing a lot damage from erosion.  I haven't studied how the water gets in behind the sheets and washes the sand out, but it obviously does.  The sheets have withstood lots of storms but now seem more vulnerable.

The point is that you can look at the river and learn a lot.  The general principles of how water moves sand and objects is the same in the river as on the beach. 

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The surf is very small today, but as you can see from the predictions below, it will be building.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com

I just realized that I have been posting this year's posts wrong and had to go back and change them all to show the year as 2020.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

10/8/19 Report - Interesting Treasure Coin Lots in Latest Sedwick Auction. Teeth in the River. Storm Activity.

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

Gator on Lagoon Side of Indian River Drive Across From Old Fort Park in Fort Pierce.

Photo by Joe D.

Gators are not uncommon in the Indian River.  I almost ran into one that was submerged in the muck. There are also sharks in the river. 

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The 26th Sedwick Treasure Auction is now online.  Here are some of the lots you might be interested in.

Gold Cobs begins with The John Pullin Collection of Dated Mexican Gold Cobs from the 1715 Fleet, an important assemblage of choice coins with clear dates recovered from 1715-Fleet wreck sites, including a 1714J 8 escudos that was photographed in the famous January 1965 National Geographic article that first brought fame to the 1715 Fleet (lot 3). The section then continues with other gold cobs struck by Spanish and Spanish colonial mints across all periods and reigns.

The Shipwreck Ingots section contains many gold, silver, and copper ingots of various weights and shapes representing the sporadically ill-fated means of transporting the wealth of the Americas across the Atlantic Ocean. Three gold “finger” bars and seven(!) large silver ingots represent the ever-popular Atocha, while the historically important “key bar” from the “Tumbaga wreck” plated in both Armstrong’s and García-Barneche’s books is offered as lot 88.

Shipwreck Coins has an array of silver coins recovered from wrecks like the Capitana, 1715 Fleet, Rooswijk, and SS Republic as well as gold coins from the Luz, SS Central America, and SS Brother Jonathan. Atocha collectors will want to pay particular attention to the Atocha Classics Collection, an unprecedented numismatic compilation of top-quality cobs from the Atocha, including examples of the first coinage of Lima and Potosí, plus dated Potosí cobs by die variety, many quite rare.

The Mexico Silver Cobs section commences with The John Pullin Collection of Dated Mexican Silver Cobs, a date run of all denominations where most boast pedigrees to the 1715 Plate Fleet, including a desirable 1715J 8 reales. The section continues with several Charles-Joanna “Early Series” 4 reales, shield-type 8 reales and even a Royal 1715J 8 reales (lot 407).

The Lima and Potosí Silver Cobs sections contain many rarities, like a Lima 1659V 8 reales struck using a Royal obverse die (lot 437) and an abundance of Potosí Royal coins (plus a couple Hearts), including a very rare, unholed 1704/3Y 8 reales (lot 509). The Potosí section also features many Philip II cobs this time, chief among them being a choice assayer-L 8 reales (lot 450).

In Other Silver Cobs, highlights include a Santo Domingo Charles-Joanna 2 reales (lot 542) and a Panama Philip II 1 real (lot 544), both key coins that are considered among the finest known. Ferdinand-Isabel coins from mainland Spain feature prominently.

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Source: nhc.noaa.gov

There is still activity in the Atlantic, and some of it isn't too far away from us.  That system up by North Florida has a 40% chance of developing in the next 48 hours.

As a result, it looks like we'll get another bump in the surf later this week.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

Take a look at Friday.

It isn't too late in the year yet.  We could still get some good storms.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/11/17 Report - Page-Ladson Site Yields Pre-Clovis Finds. Treasure Coast Finds From Last Week. More On How Objects Sink.

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

Source: See link below.

Radiocarbon dating of a prehistoric archeological site in Florida suggests that 14,550 years ago, hunter-gatherers, possibly accompanied by dogs, butchered or scavenged a mastodon next to a small pond. The findings, based on a four-year study of the Page-Ladson archaeological site in the Aucilla River, about 45 minutes from Tallahassee, Florida, provide a rare glimpse of the earliest human occupation in the southeastern United States, and offer clues to the timing of the disappearance of large animals like the mastodon and camel that roamed the American Southeast during the Late Pleistocene. Additionally, the artifacts at Page-Ladson highlight that much of the earliest record of human habitation of the American Southeast lies submerged and buried in unique depositional settings like those found along the Aucilla River, which passes through Florida on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. This record can only be accessed through underwater investigation, which, if undertaken with precision and care, should reveal a rich and abundant pre-Clovis record for the American Southeast, the authors say...

Here is the link.

http://popular-archaeology.com/issue/winter-2017/article/prehistoric-site-in-florida-confirms-pre-clovis-peopling-of-the-americas

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Back on the 3rd of the month when our windy period started there were a few old finds. Here is what Trez told me.

I was able to hit the beach couple weeks ago, on the 3rd. I went right after work, had the beach all by myself for the first hour...1 guy was working farther south from where I decided to work. There wasn't much of a cut maybe a foot, the bags were not showing except for a few threads from the previous cuts months ago. But I found a 20 yard section (NO BLACK SAND exposed) just above the shell/rock line but mid up...had my Sov Elite Threshold humming and within minutes had 2 copper targets, moved farther south and shortly followed by 2 Musket balls and a small piece of the lead strap that the musket balls were attached to (DEEP TARGETS) fine orange sand...then nothing else. Only an area 100' square...

Thanks for the report Trez.

One other fellow found a small lead pistol shot. And another guy told me he found a musket ball and a couple odd pieces. I haven't heard of any cobs though.

I'm glad I changed my "2" rating on my beach conditions scale. That suits that kind of thing I'd expect during that rating.

You might also remember my discussion of John Brooks which had a three foot or greater cut about three times in the last month or two. It has been cutting, then the cut fills for a number of days and then it cuts again and fills again. Each time it cut lately, it cut when a front came through with a stiff north wind, then when the wind changes direction, the cut disappears.

A cut can disappear even when there is still a big surf. One way that happens is that the surf washes straight up and over the cut. That will remove the cut in a hurry.

We're supposed to get another front this weekend and a north wind for a short while Friday night, then again Thursday. Check out windytv.com.

The surf is supposed to remain small for the entire week though.

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I sometimes use the Indian River for observations.  It acts something like the ocean in some ways, but is on a smaller scale.  The wind kicks up waves from time to time, the sand moves around, erosion occurs and objects are exposed.

The west side of the river typically takes more of a beating than the east side, but, of course, depending upon the wind, that will change.

I made a couple of observations recently.  Recently I noticed nails used to construct docks laying exposed under many of the docks.  They were not that visible a month or more ago, but now you an see a lot of them.

One of the docks where the nails are now exposed was made a good ten years ago, yet you can now see nails lost during construction laying exposed under the dock.

So what!  Well, one thing it shows is how slowly things sink (if you can call it that) even on the higher energy west side.  Those nails, have been there within a few inches of the surface for like ten years.  Sometimes they disappear but then reappear again.  Not much sand was removed to reveal them.  A lot of sand has been moving west from slightly deeper water, but there is a little dip in some locations close to the bank.

In my opinion, contrary to what people often say, items don't sink, no matter how dense they are, if the sand beneath them is not moved, or at least agitated.  Upper layers of sand will move more than lower layers of sand.  That sounds obvious enough.  For an item to sink, uncovering it won't cause it to sink.  Deeper layers will have to be moved, or at least agitated.

An item can be uncovered and covered several times before the sand below it is moved enough for it to sink down.  Another way an item can sink is when a wave crashes over the item.  That can push water into the sand, agitating the sand and pushing the grains farther apart while putting downward pressure on the item.

My main point here, however, is simply that items do not quickly sink in the river sand, as my nails seem to show.  The process in the ocean is similar but quicker because of the higher energy environment.  Still, it is not a passive process governed primarily by gravity as some seem to imply.

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We'll have about a two foot surf for the next few days.  We are, however, having some nice negative tides.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/13/16 Report - Treasure In The Indian River Lagoon.

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

There has been at least one Exploratory lease in the Indian River Lagoon.  As far as I know, not much was found in that lease area, however there is evidence suggesting the possibility of wrecks in the river. 

We know that just south of the nuclear power plant a large piece of an old wreck was found in the river.  Some think that it might have washed over the island during a storm.

I can't imagine that there are no old wrecks in the river.  There has to be.  The question is if there are any treasure wrecks there.

Caches of Spanish reales have been found west of the Indian River, such as those found when a bulldozer uncovered a large cache while clearing a site for the Sebastian Walmart.

How did those cobs get there?  I don't think anyone knows how they got there, but I think they must have crossed the river at some time.  Who moved them or when remains unknown.

I imagine that the Spanish salvage crews used the river for many purposes.  As in later times, the transportation would have provided easy transportation.

My thinking is that there has to be some treasure in the river.  Any treasure that might be in the river would probably be more scattered and harder to get to.

I've been told by the guys that build docks on the river that the sand is about six feet deep near the western edge of the river.  That is a lot of sand.  There is also a LOT of junk in the river.  Whether it is centuries old or not, there has to be shipwrecks and some amount of treasure in the Indian River.

Part of what appeared to be an old Spanish shipwreck was found in the river.  There are other rumors of wrecks in the river.  Items found in the river or on the banks also suggest the possibility of wrecks.

I've heard of or seen various nautical items found in the river or on the banks.  Besides native American artifacts and 18th century buttons and anchors and other nautical items, I know of about a half ton of lead ingots that were  found along the river.  I don't know how old those might have been. Where the ingots came from is anyone's guess.  They could be old or more recent.

Although I've done a little (very little) research, I've not found any newspaper articles reporting steamships or other wrecks in the river either Indian River or St. Lucie County.  Perhaps there are some, but I haven't found them.  Maybe someone can point me to some that they have found.  I'd appreciate that.

As we know, the inlets have changed position from time to time and there were times when inlets opened or closed for a period of time.

We also know that the inlets were dangerous and were near impossible to enter at different times.  We know, for example, how the army payroll was lost near the old inlet.  Not only were the gold coins from the army payroll found, but also a number of muskets that were found.

There are also reports of buried treasure along the Indian River, such as that found many years ago at Sewalls Point.

Some old items were dredged up onto the spoil islands at one time.  One spoil island in the Vero area is known for the fossils that are found there.

Just after hurricane Matthew the east side of the river along A1A was damaged opposite the McLarty museum.  I made a mental note of that, but never investigated it any further.  I wish I had taken a photo.  Maybe it hasn't been totally repaired yet.

Much of the east border of the river is artificial and there are tons of sinkers and a lot of trash.  That is a problem, but a few old items have been found along the east side.

Remember any old artifacts found in the Indian River are the property of the state of Florida.

I'm sure there is a lot of history in the Indian River that we'll never hear about.  If you have any old newspaper articles or other documentation of treasure in the Indian River, I'd like to hear about it.

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We had a beautiful full moon last night.  We also had some nice low tides.  The surf is small too.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/2/16 Report - Miscellaneous Finds. Shark Tooth. Button. Flat Indian River.

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

Foggy Morning on Flat Indian River This Morning.

This morning the river was beautiful.  It was flat, clear and blue.  There was some fog too, which made it even nicer.

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Here are some nice recent finds by Joe Dirt.  Above is a nice great white shark tooth and below some miscellaneous pieces including a couple of spikes.

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A few days ago I showed some coins found by Willim M.  They were inland finds.  Here are more nice finds from the same hunt.

Finds and photos by William M.

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Congratulations guys! And thanks for sharing.

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We'll have a few more days of south winds and small surf.

That's it for today.  I had a very busy day.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

7/12/15 Report - Steamboats On The Indian River. Flip-ups And Eye-Balling. Good Coca Cola Bottling Plant Web Site.

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

The St. Augustine - Indian River

Terry T. has a blog on railroads and has a nice post on the Jupiter and Lake Worth Railroad that you might want to look at. 

 http://jterryt.blogspot.com/

I once talked about steamships traveling the Indian River.  There were a few docks where steamboats such as the St. Lucie made regular stops.  One was down by Jensen.  

Here are some nice photos that Terry sent along with the links to the source of each photo

Library of Congress Link for above photo:

http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/det/4a00000/4a03000/4a03600/4a03624v.jpg

The Steamboat St. Lucie.

Library of Congress link:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/related/?fi=subject&q=St.%20Lucie%20%28Steamboat%29

Off For The Indian River

 Library of Congress link:

http://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/det/4a20000/4a23000/4a23600/4a23616v.jpg

Brantley's Landing - Indian River.  Probably Merritt Island.

Library of Congress Link:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994003265/PP/

Thanks for the photos Terry.  I'll bet there is some good treasure waiting to be discovered in the Indian River.

Some of my favorite bottle finds came from the River.


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Clint L. sent me the following email.

Hi. I wanted to comment on "flip-ups". I was searching south of Lake Worth Beach around winter of 1990. There was a 3 foot "berm" and it was almost to High Tide with rough winter-time waves.

I was searching around the berm and moving south when I spied a ladies Gold Nugget Ring laying at the base of the berm. As I reached to pick it up, I was hit by one of those waves and knocked off balance.

I got up and looked for the ring but it was gone. I searched about 30 minutes all the way into the water but to no avail.  I went back to the point where I was hit by the wave and was ready to continue to search the berm when I spied that very same ring laying on the edge of the top of the berm.

That wave literally, threw the ring straight up and it landed on the lip of the berm.

I always am looking around as I search because I do not need to look at the coil as I know where it is going. This habit of looking around lets me find good stuff by eye.

Another example is that at Lake Worth Beach, I have seen and recovered herring bone chains as they roll up the beach and roll back down. I found out that herringbone chains straighten out due to the micro sand particles filling up space between joints in the chain.

I saw 6 inches of a heavy Gold chain moving back and forth in the interzone where water runs up the beach. People were walking all around it. I stopped and pulled it and at the end of the chain was a 14 Kt. 3/4 oz. Maltese Cross. Surfer's necklace I bet!

Always look around when you are in the water. I saw many "pieces of seaweed" just under the surface that I scooped and it was $10 and $20 bills!! ...

You might remember that I also posted how Bill P. said his first cob find was a cob that apparently flipped up on top of the beach just behind a cut.

I've seen it happen and now have heard from others who have seen it happen too.

Clint provides some good advice about keeping your eyes open while you detect.  You can cover a lot more ground visually than you can with your coil.

Thanks or the helpful email Clint!

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Here is a really good web site that gives the starting dates for the bottling plants.  I see that the Fort Pierce plant began in 1914, for example.  You'll find Coca Cola bottles from all around the country on the Treasure Coast, but our local bottles are some of my favorites.

http://earlycoke.com/bottlers-beginning-dates.html

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No change in Treasure Coast beach detecting conditions.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/19/15 Report - Indian River Treasures. Steamboat St. Lucie. Pot Shard, Old Bottle & Fossils.

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



Picture of the Steamship St. Lucie
Docked Not Far From Jensen.

In the old days the Indian River Lagoon was one of the main highways on the Treasure Coast.  Boat traffic was used by early settlers.  Later there was steamship service.

Here is a picture of the steamship St. Lucie at dock near Jensen.  I haven't found the name of any others, but feel there must have been others.

If any of you know of other steamships that sailed the Indian River along the Treasure Coast, I'd like to hear or read about that.  I've done a little research on that but haven't found very much.

You will occasionally see old things along or in the river.  One day just walking along Indian River Drive I saw a check-stamped pottery shard.  That was a surprise. 

Back after the hurricanes of 2004, the west side of the Indian River was lined with bottles.  It really was amazing.  They were solid along the water line.

The bottles gradually disappeared.  There weren't any to be seen for a few years.  I didn't know if they would ever return because many of them came from the banks where people used to throw their garbage.  That, of course, was in the days before they had garbage service. 

After the hurricanes they put sheets of concrete blocks over the banks of the river to prevent Indian River Drive from getting washed out again.  I thought with all of that we might not ever see the bottles again.

Last year a few of them started to appear.  And in the past few months some of the older ones started to show up again in spots where there was erosion along the water line.

My guess now is that there are still tons of them covered by sand that will be washed up again some day.

Years and years ago an embossed blob top beer bottles was found in the sand down by where the steamship shown above was docked.  The dock is no longer there.  It was destroyed by a hurricane way back in the day.

The thing that revealed the bottle was a spot of moss in the sand.  The moss, or seaweed or whatever it was, was growing on the bottle.  That bottle was not along the water line but out in the shallow water.

There are still the remains of a few garbage burn piles that can be found on the banks of the river.  Not many though, because of the erosion control structures.

I've never gone out to hunt fossils along the Indian River but have twice seen fossils there.  The first was this nice Great White tooth found along the edge of the river

Great White Shark Fossil Tooth.

.When I first saw it I thought it was the corner of a buried bottle.  When I bent down I saw it was a shark tooth. 

It is a very nice example with sharp serrations.  It is over two inches long.

One other time I was walking along the river bottles and noticed a fossil tooth of an extinct horse.  That was a surprise too.  I didn't really think that would be what it was when I first saw it.

Even though the fossils are there, I think in most places they are very rare.

When it comes to metal detecting along or in the shallow water of the Indian River, it is very difficult.  There is a ton of trash on the banks and in the shallow water.

I did spot an old pair of ear rings in one old burn pile once.

Even without a metal detector you can find all kinds of stuff along the river.  Those that I've mentioned today include include pot shards, old bottles and fossils, all of which I have seen when not hunting them. 

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The surf predictions and wave data is now found below the popular posts list.

This week we'll have very smooth surf and south winds.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@Comcast.net