3/11/18 Report - One Man's Winning Ways at Yesterday's TCAS Annual Hunt.

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

Friday I posted notice of the TCAS annual hunt.  Sebastian Steve was there, and won the AT Pro.  Last year another reader of this blog won the detector.  If I correctly recall, it was won by Warren D. last year.  

This was the first organized hunt for Steve in almost fifty years.  It was a fun and profitable day, which Steve described in an email to Ken.   Steve sent a copy to me and said I could post it.  Below is the email in which Steve described his day at the TCAS hunt.  

If you never attended a TCAS hunt and want to know what it is like, you'll definitely want to read this.  And if you did attend, you'll still want to read the story and perhaps pick up a few tips from the winner of the AT Pro.

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Ken,

Make it happen....your turn is NEXT AND COMING!!! Just watch and see...

LUKE 15 : 8

"OR WHAT WOMAN, IF SHE HAS TEN SILVER COINS AND LOSES ONE COIN,DOES NOT LIGHT A LAMP AND SWEEP THE HOUSE AND SEARCH CAREFULLY UNTIL SHE FINDS IT?"

LUKE 15 : 9

"AND WHEN SHE HAS FOUND IT, SHE CALLS TOGETHER HER FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, SAYING, "REJOICE WITH ME, FOR I HAVE FOUND THE COIN WHICH I HAD LOST!"

Hey Ken,

So I tell my wife Ann that I asked the minister to call you and bless your detecting expedition to England.

She replied...”Well did you have the minister BLESS YOU TOO”? I said why? (Off hand besides a thousand health issues). Ann replied...because Saturday we have a “competition hunt” that you signed up for, that cost a $100, we really did not have to spend... that you are ill prepared for”. I snapped back...”I have been practicing every single day for two weeks now!!!” She said...”Not that...but your health.” “How do you intend to compete?” “Did you even read the form from “The Treasure Coast Archeological Society”? “All the hunts are based on -speed-!!!” “What will you do?”

Well...here is a lesson in KARMA for you...

I was tired and slow...yes...all true. But this ole boy was full of a bag of tricks. I did miserable on the morning speed hunt for tokens (which were silver painted pennies). I got 44 in an hour. The 1st place was 124. Yeah. Mornings are normally my nap time...what do you expect?

But the afternoon hour hunt for silver to keep, I got 14 Silver Mercury dimes. But the real goal was special tokens and 6 numbered pennies. Instead of an inch down, these 6 pennies were down 3-4”. Right up my alley working the neighborhood here. Relentlessly...squeezing every last stray coin out of them... sometimes in desperation...they capitulate and even cough up an Italian 14 karat gold bracelet! Hee..hee. (;

So the great guys, but “tricky devils” planted a dime an inch from a tree root. But wait! Don’t we always re-check our target? Just a natural habit. -The tree root read live-!!??? Sure enough 4” away from the dime (a ruse) was a -token -under- the tree root-!!! “Oh My” (real words deleted by author for family readership.). That got me a new -Garrett Detector Carrying Bag-. $40-50.

BUT...as I went along after 10-15 minutes...EVERYTHING DISAPPEARS. I mean everything...one minute a silver dime target every 20 feet, then in the blink of an eye...nothing. They clean it up that fast...like locusts. It truly is the only word that fits!

After a half hour... 3/4s of the “detectorist’s” leave the search area...but I plug on. All the silver is easily recovered once you have a target, you just kick the sandy dirt over and the shine of silver gives it away. Bend down pick it up. I see I’m the only one with my trusty Lesche 31” detecting shovel. Why? Because I need it as a crutch, to get back up on my feet! Again...all the silver is buried about 1” deep • ON AVERAGE•. Simply pick it up, after getting a valid signal. To be honest...the Minelab CTX3030 was grand overkill for competition hunting. I’ll go so far as to say the weight and size makes it actually a hinderance. So as the “Boss” here has often said...the detector is -the last- in the long line of winning attributes when it comes to metal detecting success!

But I see nobody down digging on their hands and knees. Never. But I don’t know any better, and when the 3030 gave out a nice sweet mid-high tone... I dug a quick “lever-over” plug. I see nothing. Then down on my knees because this is 3-4” deep at this point. People going by like rabbits...looking at the “Chump” down on his hands and knees. And finally with the Pin Pointer out comes this dark normal colored penny. I am -really- upset now...a “ducking leftover penny from the morning hunt!!!!” “Darn” (yeah right), and I wasted over five minutes on this.!!! Too beat to even realize it was not painted silver, like all the morning hunt pennies. Or that it was wrapped in cellophane tape. The other side I never saw. But it had a small number on a tiny square of paper, under the tape.

So they soon call an end after the hour was up. Thank God it was like 15 minutes without a target.

So I stumble in and say to one of the club organizers... “Is this worth anything”? showing him the cellophane taped penny with #6 on it. He replied with a smile...”Oh hang on to that for later, for the awards ceremony.” That’s all.

I come to find out there are only 6 of these pennies (not necessarily at 1”) Not!!! out of 700 silver coins. But being #6, the other five lucky finders got to pick —-first before me—- from a row of pretty little wood treasure chests. I by default being #6, got the LAST ONE. I yell out: “The underdog always wins!!!” (An impressive call... if it would only work).

The others guys got $50-$50 $75-$100-$100, something like that. I open mine at the end and the one club organizer tells me to smile for the photographer. Ok, I was last...I can take a joke as good as the next.

I open my treasure chest and it’s full of rusty old nails and bullets. I did not even notice they were square nails, etc. (Actually nice finds from a club member). I thought...”Great...LAST...THE BOOBY PRIZE... RUSTY DIRTY METAL... FAIR ENOUGH...I WAS LAST AFTER ALL.

And the guy points to the inside lid of my treasure chest...and here is a picture I had again never seen...

A BRAND NEW SEALED BOX...is handed to me. GRAND PRIZE... JUST BY BLESSINGS, BECAUSE I LOOKED OUT FOR YOU •FIRST•...remember 5 others picked which chest they wanted FIRST, B4 ME!!! I got the “leftovers.” NOT!!!

A BRAND NEW •GARRETT AT PRO• METAL DETECTOR....to of course...of course...go with my new Garrett Carrying Bag... that I had just won a half hour earlier! What is a new Garrett bag without a brand new-Garrett detector???

THANK YOU...so much •Treasure Coast Archeological Society•. It was an enjoyable, fun and exciting day, and everyone seemed to be very happy with the event. The food was wonderful too. And plenty to go around. That dessert table...WoW!

God Willing I’ll be back next year again...for the 32nd annual hunt. And guess what? My wife Ann wants to compete too next year with her White’s Coinmaster GT. Plenty machine for an event like this. A true case of “less is more.” If you have a modest detector...go for it! It is most definitely all you need... light and speedy. But watch out for those tricky tree roots! (:

All the Best,

Sebastian Steve

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Great story Steve. Thanks for sharing.

I

1/17/11 Report - Conquistador Helmet & Garrett AT Pro

Cabasset for Sale on eBay.

This Spanish Conquistador helmet is something you don't see too often.

I got a couple of emails in response to my comments about the feathers, which I don't know if I mentioned, were scattered along the beach for at least a few miles. I suspect further than that, but that is what I saw.

Jason F. said he has been running across dead pelicans that did not appear to have any physical signs of injury. And Aaron D. said he found a half buried pelican when he detected a metal band around it's leg.

Adam called the USCG to report the found tag and received a nice certificate. It is good to report any tagged birds or animals you find.

I once found a tag on a bird's leg bone. The bird was long gone. That bird was originally tagged in Virginia and found near Key Biscayne.

Watch for and report any tagged birds or other animals.

Some detectors are better than others in the wet sand. Some detectors are best in the dry sand, and are especially good for working in shallow water.

Marc M. sent in the following tips for using the newest Garrett all-terrain detector, the Garrett AT Pro.

When you are using the Garrett AT Pro at the beach, it’s very important that you be properly ground balanced. When you move from, say a dry sand environment to wet sand at the water’s edge where you are not ground balanced, you are going to hear some feedback and see some erratic behavior. So what you want to do is ground balance either manually or automatically. It’s recommended to go into automatic mode, push the button and move the coil up and down just above that wet saturated sand. Once you have a nice quiet operation, release the button and you will hear neither chatter nor feedback while resuming your hunt.

Once you move out into the deeper water, away from the edge of the shore, you’ll again want proper ground balance. And in some cases you might want to go a little into the negative (or negative bias) to achieve the stability you need. If you are hearing any chatter you can hit the ground balance button and take it down a few clicks, swing your coil and see if it’s stable and has lost some of the chatter you might have heard. If you are not happy, you can push down the button and take it down a few more clicks. Does this until you have got a nice stable operation and then begin hunting. If you go over a target, it’s still going to ring in loud and clear over any other background sound that might be going on.

In other situations you might decide you want to reduce the sensitivity a notch or two, try that. It depends on the beach you are going to be hunting on. How mineralized the sand is, is it white sand, is it black mineralized sand. Different beaches are going to require different ground balance situations and reductions on sensitivity. You’ll have to find what works best for you and your hunting situation. But you want to get it ground balanced to the conditions as best as you can. And any background chatter you might hear, you should still hear a good target ring out above that loud and clear.

Another main thing to keep in mind is that when you are searching in salt water conditions, keep the coil level, swing it level, don’t let it bang against the ground or swing it up at the end of your swings. Although you may not be able to see it, imagine how you would do it on the land, keeping that coil level just above the edge of the bottom without banging into the sand down below. Just keep a nice smooth level swing with a good ground balance and you can achieve good results on beaches and in the salt water.

For more information on the Garrett AT Pro, visit Hollands Brook Metal Detectors (authorized dealers of Garrett, Fisher, Tesoro and DetectorPro metal detectors.

As you know this blog is quickly growing and becoming more popular. I receive a lot of requests to provide links to commercial sites. I generally don't do that because space is at a premium and I can't provide free advertising for everyone.

This blog is not monetized in any way at this point. The assistance that I most appreciate comes directly from this blog's readers in the form of tips, reports, ideas, information, or questions.

Some people have offered to make a contribution to help keep the blog going. I have not accepted contributions and probably never will, but do appreciate kind offers like that because it tells me that people appreciate what I am doing. And it also tells me that there are people that are not trying to get something for nothing.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that just because I provided a link to one commercial site doesn't mean I will ever do that again, so don't expect me to provide free advertising for everyone. I can't do it.

On the other hand, I will try to mention sources and provide some type of value or recognition to those that provide some valuable input that I use.

Sometimes I do forget or simply lose things that people sent to me. I do try to keep up with the demands of this blog, but don't always do it perfectly. Don't take it personally if you don't get a response from me. Like I said, sometimes I do lose track of things.

I took one of my older detectors out in my back yard this morning just to check it out. My experience in the yard reminded me of two things I'll talk about in the future. One is a trait that will help any detectorist keep going when finds are not coming very fast, and the other is the topic of how history repeats and how you can use that fact to your advantage.

Forecast and Conditions.

Conditions remain poor for finding shipwreck cobs. It doesn't look like there will be much of any changes this week either.

The surf web site shows the seas at three feet or less for the next few days. The wind is out of the south this morning.

When your favorite spots aren't producing, as I would expect to be the case for many of you now, one thing I would recommend is taking a look at new spots.

I believe that most people identify a few favorite spots or beaches and when they are no good, do nothing. Instead, that might be a good opportunity to go scout out some new spots. Maybe you'll find a place that is worth hunting now, or maybe you'll find some new places to hunt when conditions improve.

Don't get stuck in a rut.


Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net