5/14/20 Report - Tropical Storm Forming. Beach Conditions Around the Treasure Coast.

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

Turtle Trail Beach Thursday Morning.

It looks like we could get our first tropical storm of the year before long.  More on that later.

I took a look at a few beaches.  At Turtle Trail this morning, there was a little erosion, as you can see above.  Just the top of the bags was showing.

There was a flat area in front of the beach that had mostly aluminum bits but also a few pieces of lead.  The biggest piece of lead I got was a small strip, maybe two inches square if it wasn't folded.

Turtle Trail Thursday Morning.

The flat wet area is where I was finding most of the targets.

I dug a few small holes just to see how deep the orange sand was and found that it was more than a foot where I checked, but I didn't get all the way down to it.

As I was leaving, I saw Warren doing a few test holes.  He mentioned that the orange sand was down about 18 inches at one location.  That is about what I would expect when just the top of the bags are showing.

The parking lot at Seagrape Trail was still closed.

Ambersands Beach Thursday Morning.

Here is what Ambersands looked like.  I didn't check it with the detector at all.

Over the past couple of weeks, if anything, it has deteriorated a little.

Ambersands Beach Thursday Morning.

Wednesday evening I took a look at John Brooks.  It was much like Turtle Trail, with a small cut pretty far back on the beach and a lot of sand out front.

The cut at Turtle Trail was fresher, and the bar in front of Brooks was wider.

John Brooks Wednesday Evening.

John Brooks Wednesday Evening.

Frederick Douglass Beach Wednesday

Photo by SuperRick.

Rick lost his controller for his XPDeus, so if anyone finds it, let me put you in touch with Rick.  Here is what he said.

While there I lost my controller for my XPDeus that came off my chest high holder that was Velcroed on and I was using the controller for my pin pointer!

At the time I was using my Equinox 800 to hunt with down in the wet so if you hear of anyone finding a controller I lost it!

Frederick Douglass Beach Wednesday

Photo by SuperRick.

Rick found on cheap ring on the day.

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As I said, a tropical storm is forming down south.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

According to the NHC,  Environmental conditions are expected to become conducive for 
development, and this system is likely to become a tropical or
subtropical depression or storm this weekend when it is located near
or north of the northwestern Bahamas. The system is forecast to
move generally northeastward over the western Atlantic early next
week. Regardless of development, the disturbance is expected to
bring locally heavy rainfall and gusty winds to portions of
southeastern Florida and the central and northwestern Bahamas over
the next couple of days...

The beaches are not too far off now. If we can get some good direction to the wind and swells, we could get some nice finds.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

5/8/20 Report - Must Read: All About Near Shore Shipwrecks. Pre-Columbian Florida. Erosion.

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

South of Turtle Trail Access Around Noon 5/7

A front came through yesterday and the wind was coming from the north. As I expected, there was a little erosion to some of the beaches.

Ambersands Beach Around 1PM On 5/7

The wind continued into the evening, so there could have been some more erosion.

Ambersands Beach Around 1PM on 5/7

There was one detectorist at Ambersands.  You can barely see him in the photo above.

Treasure Shores Beach Around 1PM on 5/7.

The tides will be high Friday, but the surf will be only two or three feet.

Unfortunately the surf predictions for the weekend are now looking like only three or four feet, at the most.  A few days ago it was looking a little more promising.

I'm adding this photo from Jerry P. showing the damaged access to Seagrape.  The Seagrape access is still closed.

Seagrape Trail Access.

Jerry stopped at Turtle Trail yesterday also and said finds were very few.  He saw no other detectorists.

Thanks Jerry.

Looks like the wind has changed Friday morning.  I wouldn't expect much more erosion.  Probably some filling soon.

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It appears Florida tourism has been going on for thousands of years.

… Archaeologists estimate small-scale ceremonies began at Crystal River around A.D. 50, growing substantially after a residential community settled the site around A.D. 200. Excavations have uncovered minerals and artifacts from the Midwest, including copper breastplates from the Great Lakes. Similarly, conch shells from the Gulf Coast have been found at Midwestern archaeological sites.

"There was this long-distance reciprocal exchange network going on across much of the Eastern U.S. that Crystal River was very much a part of," Duke said.

Religious ceremonies at Crystal River included ritual burials and marriage alliances, Duke said, solidifying social ties between different groups of people. But the community was not immune to the environmental and social crises that swept the region, and the site was abandoned around A.D. 650. A smaller ceremonial site was soon established less than a mile downstream on Roberts Island, likely by a remnant of the Crystal River population....

Here is that link.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-05/fmon-dtt050120.php

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Anyone seriously interested in tracking shipwrecks or artifacts will want to read The Archaeology of Shore Stranded Shipwrecks of Southern Brazil, a dissertation by Rodrigo De Oliviera Torres, Texas A and M University, 2015.  While the study was conducted in Brazil the same principles apply locally, although the seasons are different and the most significant winds for us are from the north, while their's comes from the south.  Otherwise there is little difference.

I'll give you just a few examples from the dissertation to give you the idea of the types of things you will find in the dissertation.

First is the distribution of shipwrecks in the area (Fig. 19 below).  You will notice a clustering around the bar near the inlet.  Also most wrecks are near shore.  There are relatively few in deeper water.

Four sections of the hull of one wreck was buried on the beach.  Below is one of those after excavation.

Excavated Hull Section.

Below is a diagram showing the relative positions of the four beached sections of the hull.

While sections 1 and 2, which were larger and farther back on the beach, remained in the same relative position, sections 3 and 4 were moved over a three year period.

In the following photos you can see that the two sections are closer together in 2009 than they were in 2006.

It is not surprising, but it illustrates how even large sections like this can be moved on a beach.

Of course, weather and beach dynamics are discussed.  Below is an example.

Remember, the directions are reversed.  Their south winds are more like our north winds.

Notice the alternating erosional and depositional areas.

Here is one more diagram from the dissertation.

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------------

And here is another paragraph from the dissertation.

McNinch et al. (2006), studying artifact deposition in a similar shallow, energetic
setting in North Carolina (Queen Anne’s Revenge site), observed that wrecks in these
conditions will normally settle into the sand via episodic scour processes driven by
storms and inlet migration, favoring preservation of heavier artifacts and hull parts. The
authors concluded that depending on the underlying geology and hydrodynamics, a
shipwreck could in fact settle through several meters of substrate in highly dynamic
settings. Although no systematic survey has ever been carried out in the area
surrounding the sand shoals at the Rio Grande bar, shipwreck debris varying from small
coal chunks to glass bottles and large timbers are frequently washed out onto the beach
after storms, suggesting shipwreck remains are still being reworked (Figure 60).

I don't really like the word "settle" as it is used here, but it does explain that it occurs along with the scour processes.  It is not a passive process, as "settle" would seem to imply.

Well, I can't go over the entire dissertation, but think I've given you enough to let you decide if you want to browse it for yourself.

Here is the link,.

https://www.academia.edu/12852042/The_Archaeology_of_Shore_Stranded_Shipwrecks_of_Southern_Brazil_Torres_2015_?email_work_card=view-paper

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3/29/20 Report - Beach, Sand and Water Movemnts. Treasures in Books. Coronavirus Migrations.

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

I've been thinking about presenting this topic for a long time, but it is difficult to present.  There are so many variables and it is so complex that it is hard to illustrate and explain.  Everything I am going to present is simplified, but that is the way it has to be.

It does NOT apply to steep areas or areas that the waves are breaking on.  It applies mostly to the mid and back beach areas that are only gently sloped.

If you talk about coins or things sinking at the beach, one way to visualize it is like objects sinking in water.  In other words, gravity would pull them down to a lower level without anything else happening.  That is not how it happens in sand.

You can set a coin or ring on the sand and it is not going anywhere unless the sand is agitated.  Try it for yourself.  It doesn't matter how long the object sits on the sand, it isn't going anywhere unless you stir things up.

Illustration A, which shows three objects on the beach.  They are going to sit there until the sand moves.  Assume the objects all have the same shape and size and density and the force of the water is enough to move the sand but not the objects.   If six inches of sand is removed from that area of the beach, the objects will then be down about six inches and on the new surface (NS), as shown in illustration B.

They will stay there on the new surface until more sand is moved from under them (again the assumption is that the water force is enough to move the sand but not the objects).

If more sand is moved while the force of the water is not enough to move the objects, the objects will drop down some more.  Remember, I'm oversimplifying here.  However if the sand returns (while the water force is still strong enough to move the sand but not the objects, the objects will get covered.  If six inches of sand moves, but this time in the opposite direction, the objects will be under about six inches of sand.

This coming and going of sand can happen many times.  If the amount of force is only great enough to move the sand, we will have some idea how deep the objects that started near the original surface will be.  If additional layers of sand are moved (without the objects being moved horizontally) the objects will find the lowest layer where the sand had vacated.  If, for example, three times six inches of sand was removed without any sand refilling, the objects will be down about 18 inches.  In actuality that would be unusual.   More commonly you would see sand eroding and then refilling to some extent in between erosion events.

My observations of local beaches seems to show that a foot or two is really about as much as you'll usually see, and that amount can put you into productive sand, and likewise cover it up when the flow of sand reverses.

More than a 100 times to 1 some amount of sand will be left covering the newly settled objects.  Only when a slight wash of water, most often during a descending tide, uncovers the items will the items be exposed and laying right on the surface.

I haven't even addressed when the water force is strong enough to move the objects too.  In that case, the objects, either a few or all of them will be moved some distance with the sand, but usually not as far as the sand.  And if the objects have different densities, sizes or shapes, they will also separate.

Another complicating factor is the fact that the water will be usually coming in and then reversing and going back out over the same area.  That means that in those cases the sand and any other objects can be moved in both directions.  The relative force of the incoming and outgoing water will determine which objects are moved how much, and the important thing - the net movement.  An easily moved object will can move a large distance in both directions, but one direction more than another.  Sometimes other factors come into play, such as the slope or other obstacles.

Objects that move less easily will remain closer to their original spot.  But there are also times such as when you have a good angle that the water comes in and washes out at more of an arc, which means a steady movement either south or north will be observed rather than only the back and forth of the up and down hill movement.

Back to the simple case in which we only consider a single sand moving wash of water.  The main point is that less easily moved objects fall into lowest layer and will tend to remain there, periodically being uncovered a little and then covered more deeply again.  They'll mostly stay at the same level until the sand gets moved and they reach a new lower level.  That might sound like sinking, but it is not sinking into a stable layer of sand.

When you can identify an old layer of sand that has been exposed, it likely has been relatively unmoved for a long time.  It will take an unusual event for it to be washed out - yet it does happened.  Usually when such a layer is near the surface it will get covered fairly quickly again and then most future movements of sand will be the coming and going of the one or two feet above that, but not much more.

If the objects are in deep layers that haven't been exposed for long periods of time, they will probably remain there for long periods of time.  It will take an unusual event to expose once again those deep layers.  And if items get down to bedrock and caught in crevices or whatever, they will stay there until some very dramatic event occurs or somebody removes them.  It will take a very unusual event, probably a sequence of events, to dislodge them naturally.

I started out trying to be specific, but couldn't cover much that way, so I got more general.  Like I said at the beginning, there are a lot of variables and it isn't simple.

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Carpintero was working as an intern at the Z.D. Ramsdell Civil War Home Museum in Ceredo, West Virginia, when she discovered the letter tucked in a book. The letter, dated June 27, 1862, was written by then Lieutenant McKinley of the 23rd Ohio Infantry to Ramsdell. Carpintero found the letter Jan. 7 while researching another artifact in the museum and said her internship supervisor was just as surprised by her finding the letter as she was.

Here is the link.

https://www.herald-dispatch.com/wcn/wc_news/student-finds-letter-written-by-former-u-s-president-at/article_fbef0ecf-4267-5fcb-84ae-87eb74b1ef3c.html

I've written before about the surprises you can find in books.  I once wrote an article about that for a treasure magazine.

I have many old collectible books (over a hundred years old) that have never been read.   How can I tell?  The pages have never been separated.  They were never trimmed.

Old books are one of my favorite treasures, but unlike back forty or fifty years ago, the collectible book market is not good except for the most desired books.

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Population migrations are interesting and often result in good places to detect.  Ghost towns are one good example.

Here is a link to an article about the coronavirus migration.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-great-american-migration-of-2020-on-the-move-to-escape-the-coronavirus/ar-BB11QAma?ocid=spartandhp

A few days ago I mentioned that people are escaping the high-risk New York area that has around fifty percent of the nations confirmed cases.  Instead of self-isolating that are spreading the risk.  There was some talk of stopping that, but it was those with means that were doing it, so it wasn't stopped.

Some local areas did take measures to stop it even if the governors didn't want to.

...From beaches and resort towns to mountain cabins to rural family homesteads, places far from densely packed cities are drawing people eager to escape from infection hotspots. But virus fugitives often are running into fierce opposition on their routes, including Florida’s effort to block New Yorkers from joining their relatives in the Sunshine State, a police checkpoint keeping outsiders from entering the Florida Keys, and several coastal islands closing bridges to try to keep the coronavirus at bay... 

...As the threat of the virus intensified last week, Danette Denlinger Brown, 54, hoped to relocate from Williamsburg, Va., to North Carolina's Outer Banks, where she and her husband own a second home. But as she prepared to leave, she learned that North Carolina police had blocked the Wright Brothers Memorial Bridge connecting the mainland to the barrier island. Only year-round residents could cross, a restriction county officials said was necessary to stop migrating families from overwhelming the area’s only hospital, a 20-bed facility...

They tell those who are moving to self-isolate for fourteen days, but who takes with them two weeks of supplies when they travel.  It's a farce.  Cuomo is happy to export his problem to another state, along the needs and statistics that go with them.

As per the TV news, there are so many private jets from New York now at the Palm Beach airport that there is no more parking space.

The blue state elites are now escaping to the culturally backward blue-collar red states for refuge.  Actually those who could always did.

---

The surf will increase to 3 - 5 feet in a few days.



Act responsibly not selfishly.  Think of others as much as yourself.
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/9/20 Report - Recent Beaches and Finds. Tides Interacting With Surf Height.

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

John Brooks Sunday Near Low Tide.

Yesterday was National Women's Day, so I hope all you husbands were thoughtful enough to take your wives metal detecting in honor of that day.

It seemed to me from what I saw that there were more and better finds Saturday than Sunday.  But it is probably to early to say, and we might hear of more good finds as the reports come in.

These photos show how a couple of the beaches looked on Sunday.  John Brooks was one big gradual slope.  It was being thoroughly  gridded by multiple detectorists.

Turtle Trail on the other hand, had a few small cuts, but fewer than Saturday.  The cuts were mostly left over from Saturday and some were gone.

The wind shifted since Saturday.  Saturday's cuts formed when the front first came through and the wind was strong from the north.

John Brooks Near Low Tide Sunday

Turtle Trail Sunday.

There was a cut in front of the Turtle Trail access on Saturday but Sunday it was gone.

A beach can either improve, get worse, or stay about the same.  When you have a decent surf there will be changes, even though they might be small.

Turtle Trail Sunday.

I didn't see a huge number of finds Saturday, but I did see at least one very nice shipwreck treasure.  Maybe we'll get a photo of that one.   '

'I didn't see any interesting finds Sunday, although there could have been some.  Of course, I didn't see most of the beaches.

John E. sent in photos and had questions about his Saturday finds, saying Unusual group found today … modern coins, I have been fishing 50 years and never seen a lead weight like this one, the “Indian princess” rings up 29-30 on equinox, also a 1930-S wheat cent.... anybody have any ideas on weight and small statue ? 

Saturday Finds by John E.

Weight Found by John E.

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Below is the surf prediction for Monday.  The time of the tides can be important factors that interact with the surf.  For example, Monday's high tide is supposed to occur during peak high tide.

I drew the approximate high tide and low tide on the surf prediction.  High tide (H) occurs while the surf is near its peak, and low tide (L) occurs as the surf is decreasing.

Having high tide at the same time as the peak surf will have more effect than if the peak surf occurred during low tide.

The high tide will add to how high on the beach the water gets, while the low tide will take it lower.

The low tide will drop the water X amount but appear to have a greater effect when the slope near the water is less steep.  A drop of a foot can move the water line out many yards.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

3/8/20 Report - Higher Surf and Some Erosion On The Treasure Coast. A Few Finds Made. Charles and Joanna Coins.

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

Wabasso Saturday.

Erosion started on some of the beaches Saturday.  Some beaches were cut, others weren't.  

The access gate was closed at Seagrape.  That will be an obstacle for some, but for others it might be an opportunity.  Some reales were found there last month.

DJ sent the following photos taken Saturday at Turtle Trail.

Turtle Trail Saturday.

Turtle Trail Saturday.

Turtle Trail Saturday.

Turtle Trail Saturday.

A gold ring was found and another part of one.  They need to be cleaned and tested though.  

Here are a few other finds from Saturday.

Flat Button Found Saturday.

Back of Same Button After Light Cleaning With Detergent.

Sometimes all you need is a little light cleaning.  A little detergent and a toothbrush can help make a a button readable without much danger.  I just used a toothbrush and a little dish detergent on the above button.  You do have to be careful if there might be gilt which can be easily removed by accident though.

Encrusted Bullet.

Folded Lead Strip With Couple Holes.

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Peter H. who lives across the pond but reads this blog daily and sent in the following link to a Sedwick article about Charles and Joanna coins.

https://www.sedwickcoins.com/articles/carlosyjuana.pdf

Great article.

Thanks Peter.

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The surf is expected to be higher Sunday - 7 - 10 feet.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/27/20 Report - Cuts and Eroding Beaches That Expose Treasure. Photo Comparison. 1715 Fleet Silver Rings.

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

Seagrape Trail As It Looked Last Saturday

I distinctly remember watching Monday Night Football maybe thirty years ago when Howard Cosell commented to Dandy Don, "You have a tremendous grasp of the obvious."  It was meant as a humorous insult, but it strikes me now as something of a complement.  Advances in understanding are often made painfully slowly and often involve gaining a deeper appreciation of what was hiding in plain sight all along.

Were you ever metal detecting when a surprise wave hit you and almost knocked you off your feet?   It has happened to me numerous times over the years.   In fact I remember once actually getting knocked off my feet.  Inspiration can come with a sudden rush too.

I've talked a lot about the importance of what I call cuts.   If you looked at some of the beaches that were eroded last week, you might not have noticed any cuts, but there were cuts.  Those cuts were very high though.  The face of the dunes was cut.  At the bottom of the dunes you could see a layer of black sand over a layer of the old orangish sand exposed in some locations.

It is not often that we get a surf of over ten feet, but that happened on the Treasure Coast in both January and February.  And shipwreck treasures were found both times.

On the 22nd the high tide was bouncing off of the dunes, and the water was rushing with good force back down the slope carrying sand and other materials with it.  You can see from the photo above where probably two feet or more of sand was removed.  Old wooden posts that were previously buried were exposed, and stairs were left hanging two feet off the ground.

If you take a volume of sand two feet deep by maybe thirty by fifty yards, that is a volume of 3000 cubic yards of material being classified.  That can easily happen in one six hour tidal period, and that is undoubtedly a small part of what actually happened on the beaches that day.

So what is it about cuts that makes them so significant to the beach detectorists?  I mentioned it above.  When the water hits the face of a cut, or dune, the water rushes back down the hill with a lot of force.  If you get caught in it, you can feel how strong the flow is.  There are times when it can knock you off your feet.  That is obviously strong enough to carry sand - and other materials with it.

Yesterday I talked about the amount of water velocity required to suspend different kinds of particles and objects, and the amount of force required to transport those objects.  When the force decreases below the amount required to transport objects, they drop out and settle.

My main point today is that even though there weren't any obvious cuts on the slope of the beach last Saturday, there were cuts to the dunes at the top of the beach, and at high tide the water was bouncing off the face of the dunes and flowing down the slope, carrying sand and other objects until the flow slowed enough to drop whatever objects were being carried.

If you look at the photo above, the yellow line runs parallel to the beach.  There is something of a momentary dead spot.  The incoming water hits the water rushing back down the slope there.  But that is only momentary, as the next wave is already on the way.

Obviously that area will move as the tide comes in and goes out.  It proceeds up the hill towards the dunes during the incoming tide and then recedes down the slope and out as the tide recedes.

The red line shows how much sand has been removed from under the steps.

Compare these two photos.

It is always handy to have more than the most recent photo.   Old photos give you a base line.   You can compare different times and see what is happening.

If I know a beach is especially high, for example, then I know it will take more weather and erosion to make it productive.

The fluctuation on a beach is seldom two feet or more over a wide area.  Down at Turtle Trail, when the sand is low you can see a foot or so of the blue bags, but when the sand is high they are covered again.  There are posts down there that also appear and disappear.

Notice  the foot of the dunes and the slope right in front of the dunes in the last photo.

Thanks to DJ for those photos.

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Silver Finger Rings From the 1715 Fleet.

One of the most experienced Treasure Coast salvage divers said that no silver rings have been found on 1715 Fleet wrecks.  That is something that has interested me for a number of years, especially because of how commonly old silver rings are found on the wreck beaches.

I know of three examples of documented silver rings that have been correctly or incorrectly attributed to the 1715 Fleet.  That is such a small number that even if they are all correctly attributed, they are undoubtedly personal property rather than cargo.

Below are those I have seen listed as being from the 1715 Fleet.

1.  In Artifacts of the Spanish Colonies of Florida and the Caribbean, 1500-1800, Vol. 2: Portable Personal Possessions, by Kathleen Deagan, a silver Claddagh ring shown on page 126 is attributed to the 1715 Fleet.

2.  In the Winter Beach Salvage Camp, by Doubglas R. Armstrong (2012 revision), on page 52 a gold plated silver ring is attributed to the 1715 Fleet.

3.  And just this year, VeroNews reported that West Bay Trading Company certified a silver ring found by Jeff Emlet on a Vero area beach as being from the 1715 Fleet.  See my 2/6/20 post, https://treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com/2020/02/2620-report-first-silver-ring-beach.html, for more information about that.

Without some type of specific markings and historical documentation, I do not know how you could tell that an isolated ring find would be from a particular fleet or wreck rather than from some other source, including, for example, contemporary salvage efforts.

In any case, I'd like to keep a list of silver rings attributed to the 1715 Fleet.   If you know  of any others, I'd like to add them to my list.  Please be specific about the source of information.

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Despite the most recent cold front, we're supposed to have nothing higher than a two or three foot surf for the next week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

2/26/20 Report - Reading the Water to Find the Treasure Holes. Test Your Detector. Beach Privatization.

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

Stairs at Seagrape Trail Saturday Morning.

Clipped form video submitted by DJ.

The posts at the bottom of the stairs at Seagrape Trail were getting washed out Saturday morning.  They had recently repaired them, but they were damaged again.  I was there that day but forgot to take photos.

Take a look at the stairs and the short posts sticking out of the sand in the photo below.  The posts are lower than the bottom step.  They weren't showing until the beach eroded.

Just To The North of the Seagrape Trail Access on 2/20

Clipped form video by DJ

Also notice the mass of water that is just below the stairs.  Just a few yards out is a wave surge behind that mass of water.  The surge will push the mass up the face of the slope, and the surge will rush up the slope towards the dunes.

Before I go much farther, I'd like to refer to what I think is the most important thing I've ever learned about beach dynamics.  The same principles apply to how things are moved in rivers and streams too, but for now I'm interested in these principles as they explain how sand and other items move on a beach.

Breaking it down, there is a certain amount of force needed to pick up different materials, including clay, silt, sand, pebbles, gravel and other items.  It takes more force to start an item moving than is required to keep the same item moving.

There is a certain amount of force required to suspend specific types of sand and other materials.  Generally it takes more water velocity and force to suspend clay than it takes to suspend sand, for example.  Even though the particles of clay are smaller, they are more cohesive so it takes more water force to pick it up.  And it takes more force to move pebbles than sand.  Things like the density of the objects, cohesiveness and even shape are important factors.  Pebbles are not more cohesive than sand, but they are more dense, so it takes more water velocity or force to get them moving.

There is also a certain amount of force required to keep an object moving once it is moving.  It takes less force to keep an object moving than it does to overcome the inertia and other factors that keep a particle or other object stationary.

The above chart shows velocity increasing from left to right on the horizontal axis, and particle size increasing from bottom to top on the vertical axis.  The right most red line shows that clay requires more force to suspend than sand, which requires less force to suspend than pebbles (or coins, rings, etc.).

Looking at the left most red line, you see that it takes little force to move already suspended clay or silt, but the force required to transport sand and pebbles or larger objects is greater.

Lets say you have enough water flow to get the sand moving, and enough to keep it moving, but then the force diminishes and the sand settles. The sand will be picked up where the force is relatively high, such as where the wave crashes, and carried up the slope until the water slows enough that the sand drops out of suspension.  If the water rushes back down the hill instead of slowly decreasing on the slope, sand can be carried down the hill, resulting in erosion.

The sand is moved when the force is great enough to pick it up and move it, and it is dropped when the force slows.  That part seems obvious enough, but there are other factors.  You have the tides and interacting multiple waves interacting.  Returning waves hit incoming waves, for example.  And there are irregularities in the surface of the beach.  And there is liquefaction.  (That is another topic for another time.)

There are different kinds of objects on the beach in addition to sand.  There are shells, and there might be coins and things.   Coins have their own peculiarities and methods of moving.  I once posted a number of ways that coins move.  But that is another discussion for another time.

Without getting into all the variables, sand will be moved differently than coins and things.  Different amounts of force are required to suspend and transport different objects.

Lets say you have just enough flow at the base of the slope to pick up and move sand.  It will be transported up the slope, and if the force slowly decreases, the sand will drop out and the sand will accumulate.   On the other hand, if the water picks up the sand and keeps it moving up the hill, and the water bounces off a cut or dune so the force is maintained at a high enough rate, the sand will wash down the hill again.  That is one way you get erosion.

Coins can be picked up if the force is great enough and carried up the hill along with the sand, but since it takes a greater amount of force to keep the denser objects moving, the water can slow enough to drop the coins while the sand continues to move out.  If the returning water force is great enough, the coins can be carried down the slope too.

You'll notice that when the water is bouncing off the face of a cut or off the dunes, the returning water can have a lot of force.  That means things will be carried down the slope until they drop out of suspension and settle in.

Different objects will settle at different places.  Like things will be dropped together.   As the water slows, coins and other things will drop out and settle before the sand.  That is how coin lines and coin holes are formed.   I've talked about that a lot in the past.

So what you are looking for is places where good targets have just been uncovered by eroding sand, or where those targets have been dropped.

After all of the fast moving water is over, slower water will move the grains of sand up the hill and drop the sand, building the beach and perhaps cover denser objects, such as any coins that were left behind.  Since you are interested in the areas where good targets are being uncovered or being dropped, you are looking for areas where the sand is being eroded or areas where the water has slowed enough to drop good targets.

It is all a beautiful balancing act.  Items are sifted and sorted like they are a gold pan, but on a beach the area is much bigger and there are a lot irregularities and complexities.  Still, I think you'll benefit if you get the ideas presented in the above chart.

...

PS: I lost the original source of the chart, so if anyone can find it I'd appreciate it.  I'd like to be able to credit the source.

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I received some questions and know that some of you might be wondering if your detector might not be working ok because you didn't find anything good last weekend.   Your metal detector is probably fine.  If you are not sure, test it on some small silver coins.  Maybe cut an old silver dime in half, take it to the beach and test your metal detector.  If you can detect a small piece of silver like that, you can detect a silver reale unless it is too deep or something is wrong with your sweep.  So pay attention to your sweep speed and height when you do your tests.   It never hurts to take some test targets to the beach to make sure.  But I'd bet that your detector is fine.  There is a lot of beach out there and you just have to put your coil over the right spot at the right time.   If you understand what I wrote above, that will help you.  Finding the spots is the main thing.

I know how it is.  When you don't get any hits, you start to wonder if you detector is working well.  Usually it is, but you can test it to make sure.

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Seems like there is some talk about beach privatization again.  I received the following emails from DJ.

Thought this bill died a couple years ago. 

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/newswire/2020/02/03/privatization-coming-beach-near-you-opinion/4643308002/?fbclid=IwAR3H3OMcGB98u3ZpMiBp3FHuUbF_5KtXjwu8EHnbrEWL-V13REygssrCgFg

HB 631 was approved and still on the books, lots of legaleaze

https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2018/html/1888

These bills are filed to repeal 631 and protect beach access for the public (as far as I can tell)

House Bill 6063 (2020) - The Florida Senatewww.flsenate.gov › Session › Bill › 6063

Senate Bill 1680 (2020) - The Florida Senatewww.flsenate.gov › Session › 2020

I’ll try to get more current info, they don’t make it easy to understand.

Hope we don’t have to face this too.

We had a petition going on this back some time ago.   Somebody needs to stay on top of this.

There is also some proposed legislation for the Florida Keys that the Fisher organization is fighting.  I've been meaning to post what I received about that, but there has been so much local news lately that I didn't get around to it yet.

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The surf will be small this week.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net