Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Source: nhc.noaa.gob |
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'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.
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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
